Lugano: new allowance for internships in 2027

Context

TL;DR

• One-off allowance: 2,000 francs gross for 12 months' pay
• Budget 2027: 700,000 to 755,000 francs
• Estimated lower cost: 30,700 francs
• 43% of the budget is allocated to internships

Key facts

• City → Lugano
• New allowance → 2,000 gross francs per month for 12 months
• Budget 2027 → 755,000 francs
• Progression passed → 2'600, 3'120 and 3'640 francs
• Internship fee → 43% of the budget

In the 2027 Budget, the Municipality of Lugano increased the budget allocated to training staff by 55,000 francs: from 700,000 to 755,000 francs. The choice accompanies the confirmation of the reduction in compensation for professional internships in the City.

The new approach provides for a single allowance of 2,000 gross francs per month for 12 months. The previous progression is thus abandoned, which provided for 2,600, 3,120 and 3,640 francs for 12 months. The Municipality explains that that system was introduced when internships could last even several years and recognized economic progression over time.

The Municipality illustrated the revision by responding to the question of the municipal councilor Edoardo Cappelletti (Pc), which began as an interpellation. The Executive specifies that the change was not promoted to achieve savings on staff in training. Any reduction in spending, in its reconstruction, is a financial effect of the change and not its purpose.

The motivation of the Municipality

According to the City, the new scheme takes into account changes in training methods, in the needs of study paths, in the reference management framework and in the job market. For the Executive, internships now play an important role in training, professionally orienting and bringing young people closer to the public sector.

Hence the choice to harmonize the treatment of people in training and to adopt allowances considered balanced and adequate for the purposes of the individual courses. The Municipality wants to overcome differences that it believes are no longer fully justified by the current context.

The response also reports a significant reduction in both the number and duration of professional internships promoted by the municipal administration. The document indicates the introduction of the Minimum Wage Law and the related regulation as the prevailing cause; the regulatory framework allows internships to be promoted only when specific conditions are respected.

The financial data should be read in conjunction with the expansion of the types of internships offered. 43% of the 755,000 francs of the budget for staff in training is allocated to staff on internships. For this reason, the Municipality disputes the assertion that the City saves money on young people in training and on interns.

Operational details

For those who live on the border and are considering a training or work course in Ticino, the concrete significance of the news must be limited to the remuneration of internships in the City of Lugano. The examined answer does not indicate residency or application requirements and does not deal with G permit, AVS, LPP, KVG, refunds, withholding tax or double taxation. The connection with the border crosser therefore remains limited to the interest in an internship in the City of Lugano: from the source it cannot be deduced who can access the routes.

How to read numbers

The first comparison to make separates the individual compensation from the overall cost. The 30,700 francs are not presented as an equal reduction for each intern. The Municipality calculated that lower cost by applying the new rates to the volume of administrative students and professional internships last year. The figure therefore describes a hypothesis referring to the volume of activity of the previous year.

The second comparison concerns the budget. In the same passage in which it indicates the lower cost, the Municipality communicates that the budget for training staff rises from 700,000 to 755,000 francs in the transition from the 2026 Budget to the 2027 Budget. 43% is allocated to internships and the types offered are expanded. The two data do not describe the same quantity: the first concerns the application of the new rates to a past number of routes; the second concerns the overall allocation foreseen for personnel in training.

The third element is the structure of the offer. The source says that the number and duration of internships have been reduced, especially as a result of the Minimum Wage Law and related regulations, but he also says that the types have been broadened. For anyone reading a proposal, this means that knowing the monthly allowance is not enough to reconstruct the duration or nature of the route. The text does not list the types and does not specify the precise conditions applicable to individual internships.

Comparison with other references must also be kept within its limits. The Municipality considers the "Practitioner's Charter", prepared by the Bar Association of the Canton of Ticino, to be a set of recommendations with no binding value. The City considers the 2,000 gross monthly francs adequate: the amount is aligned with the cantonal administration internships and compatible with the other tertiary level internship paths contemplated by the new structure. However, the source does not provide a net calculation or a comparison between professions.

Key points

Whoever needs to use this information to evaluate an internship can proceed without transforming the municipal data into a general rule. The source does not publish an application process or a list of available positions - it offers checks to apply to the proposal.

Five checks before comparison

1. Identify the route. The answer distinguishes administrative students from professional internships. Before comparing the amounts, you need to understand which of the two categories the position described belongs to.

2. Check the compensation structure. The reference indicated by the Municipality is a single allowance of 2,000 gross monthly francs for 12 months. Gross and duration of payments must be read together; the source does not allow that data to be transformed into a net amount.

3. Separate the current model from the previous one. The progression of 2'600, 3'120 and 3'640 francs for 12 months belongs to the abandoned system. Its reference serves historical comparison, it does not authorize us to consider it still in force.

4. Don't confuse budget with compensation. The 30,700 francs are the lowest cost calculated by applying the new rates to the number of journeys last year. They are not the amount to be deducted from a single person's allowance. The 2027 budget of 755,000 francs instead concerns all staff in training, with 43% allocated to internships.

5. Check the path frame. The Municipality reports that the Law on the minimum wage and the related regulation allow internships only under specific conditions. The source does not list them: it is not possible to reconstruct documents, deadlines or administrative steps not indicated. The typologies have been expanded, but the list is not provided.

For a cross-border worker, this grid avoids attributing answers to the allowance alone that the article does not contain. The text does not clarify what the treatment of an applicant would be with regards to the G permit, AVS, BVG, KVG, refunds, withholding tax or double taxation. These are issues external to the Municipality's response and cannot be obtained from the 2,000 gross francs.

The reference used by the City remains verifiable: the amount is considered adequate, the Practitioner's Charter of the Bar Association of the Canton of Ticino has the value of a recommendation and the amount is indicated as consistent with the internships of the cantonal administration and with the other tertiary level courses of the new approach. Those looking for an opportunity can start from the distinction between type, duration and compensation, without adding conditions not described by the source.

To explore professional opportunities in Ticino, consult the annunci di lavoro.

Source: laregione.ch