EOR for Italy

Employer of Record in Italy

Employing someone in Italy normally means an Italian contract under a national collective agreement, monthly payroll with contributions to INPS and INAIL and severance accruing from the first day. Aspirock covers Italy and manages that end to end.

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Last reviewed 6 August 2026

The short answer

An Employer of Record in Italy employs the person on an Italian contract, runs Italian payroll for them and carries the employer-side filings and contributions, so a company can have someone working in Italy without opening an Italian company of its own.

That contract carries what any established Italian employer carries. A national collective agreement sets the pay grade and its minimum, the notice period, the probation period within the statutory six-month ceiling and the additional monthly salaries. On top of gross pay the employer funds social contributions to INPS, workplace injury cover with INAIL and the trattamento di fine rapporto, the deferred severance that accrues under article 2120 of the Civil Code from the first day of service with no qualifying period.

Aspirock provides compliant Employer of Record services in Italy, issuing the employment contract, running the monthly payroll, paying the INPS and INAIL contributions and accruing TFR, with a named account team accountable for the deployment end to end.

Worth knowing

Three things worth knowing

Since May 2026 the collective agreement's pay floor is compulsory

Italy has no statutory hourly minimum wage, but since 1 May 2026 the collective agreement's pay floor is not optional. Article 7 of Decree-Law 62/2026 requires a private employer to pay a total economic treatment no lower than that set by the national collective agreement of the comparatively most representative organisations for its sector, category, prevalent activity, size and legal nature. Since 28 June 2026, when the conversion law took effect, that floor also counts the additional monthly salaries.

The second income tax band fell to 33% on 1 January 2026

Italy's IRPEF runs in three bands: 23% to 28,000 euros, 33% from 28,001 to 50,000 euros and 43% above that. The middle band stood at 35% until the end of 2025 and was cut by two points by article 1, comma 3 of the 2026 Budget Law, though the same law cancels the benefit for total income above 200,000 euros. Because the tax is marginal, a quote built on the old 35% band overstates the deduction for any employee with taxable income above 28,000 euros, by up to 440 euros a year, with the full 440 applying to everyone above 50,000.

The contribution ceiling only reaches people who started paying in after 1995

The annual ceiling on pension contributions is 122,295 euros for 2026, set by INPS circular 6 of 30 January 2026 under article 2, comma 18 of Law 335/1995. It reaches workers first registered from 1 January 1996 with no contribution record before then and anyone who has since opted into the contributory system. An employee who was already paying contributions before 1996 and has not opted in has no ceiling, so employer pension contributions keep running on the whole salary. The ceiling also covers the pension element only: sickness, maternity, unemployment, family and wage-supplementation contributions stay due above it.

Reference

Employment terms in Italy

At a glance

Currency: Euro (EUR)
Employer social contributions: Roughly 28% to 32% of gross payINPS, on Italian gross annual pay, which includes the tredicesima and any quattordicesima. The pension element within it is 23.81% employer and 9.19% employee, capped at 122,295 euros for 2026 for employees first registered from 1 January 1996 or who have since opted into the contributory system. The rate varies by the employer's INPS classification and by company size, with industry and construction at the top of the range.
Workplace injury cover (INAIL): Priced by the risk class of the workAround 0.4% to 0.5% of pay for office roles and higher for manual and industrial classes.
Severance accrual (TFR): 6.91% of gross pay a yearArticle 2120 of the Civil Code sets the statutory quota at the year's gross pay divided by 13.5, which is 7.41%. Of that, 0.50 points are an additional pension contribution already inside the employer's INPS rate, so 6.91% accrues to the employee. It accrues from the first day of service.
Additional monthly salaries: A thirteenth month and a fourteenth where the CCNL provides oneAlready inside the gross annual figure the costs above are quoted on. The tredicesima is near universal and usually paid in December; the tertiary-sector CCNL also provides a quattordicesima, paid in June. Each is one extra month of pay, about 8.33% on top of a twelve-month salary, which is why a twelve-month cost model understates the cost.
Standard working week: 40 hoursArticle 3 of Legislative Decree 66/2003. The applicable CCNL may set less.
Paid annual leave: Four weeks minimumArticle 10 of Legislative Decree 66/2003. Two weeks must be taken in the year they accrue, consecutively if the employee asks and the remaining two within 18 months of the end of that year. Collective agreements may give more.
Public holidays: Twelve national days in 2026, plus the local patron saint's dayThe national days are set by Law 260/1949 as amended. 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, was added by Law 151/2025 with effect from 1 January 2026. In 2026 two of the twelve, 4 October and 1 November, fall on a Sunday, which means no day off but still the festivity treatment. The patron saint's day of the municipality where the work is based comes from the applicable collective agreement rather than from national statute, except in Rome, where 29 June is set by Presidential Decree 792/1985.
Notice: Set by the applicable CCNL, not by statuteUnder the CCNL for the tertiary sector, distribution and services, notice on dismissal runs from 15 to 120 calendar days by grade and length of service and on resignation from 10 to 90.
Probation: Six months maximumCollective agreements may only shorten it. For fixed-term contracts, Law 203/2024 sets one day of actual work for every 15 calendar days of contract, with a floor of two days.
Income tax (IRPEF): 23% / 33% / 43%Bands at 28,000 and 50,000 euros of taxable income. The 33% band replaced 35% on 1 January 2026. Regional and municipal surcharges apply on top, set where the employee has their fiscal domicile at 1 January.
Payroll cycle: MonthlySet by the applicable collective agreement rather than by statute. Monthly is the near-universal convention.

What does employing someone in Italy actually involve?

An Italian contract, an Italian payroll run every month and a set of employer-side costs that begin on the first day rather than at some later threshold.

The contract carries what any established Italian employer carries. A national collective agreement sets the pay grade and its minimum, the notice period, the probation period within the statutory six-month ceiling and the additional monthly salaries. On top of gross pay the employer funds social contributions to INPS, workplace injury cover with INAIL and the trattamento di fine rapporto, the deferred severance that accrues under article 2120 of the Civil Code from the first day of service with no qualifying period.

Two administrative points sit at the front of that. The hire has to be notified to the competent employment service by the day before employment starts and the contract has to carry the information required by Legislative Decree 104/2022, given to the employee when the relationship is formed and before work begins. Both sit before the first payroll rather than alongside it.

What sets pay, notice and the extra months?

The collective agreement and since May 2026 the floor it sets is a statutory obligation rather than a market convention.

Italy has no statutory hourly minimum wage. Since 1 May 2026, article 7 of Decree-Law 62/2026 requires a private employer to pay a total economic treatment no lower than that set by the national collective agreement of the comparatively most representative organisations for its sector, category, prevalent activity, size and legal nature. Since 28 June 2026, when the conversion law took effect, that floor also counts the additional monthly salaries.

What that leaves is a division of labour between the agreement and the statute, and it is worth reading before pricing an Italian hire.

What the collective agreement decides and what statute decides underneath it
	Set by the collective agreement	Set by statute
Pay for the grade	The grade and its minimum	No hourly minimum wage, but since 1 May 2026 the total economic treatment may not fall below that of the comparator agreement
Notice	The length, by grade and length of service	The duty to give notice and the indemnity where it is not given
Probation	The period and agreements may only shorten it	Six months maximum, in writing
Working week	May set less	40 hours
Annual leave	Often gives more	Four weeks minimum, two taken in the accrual year and the rest within eighteen months of its end
Additional monthly salaries	Whether a fourteenth is due alongside the thirteenth	Counted inside the statutory pay floor since 28 June 2026
Public holidays	The local patron saint's day, except in Rome, where 29 June is set by Presidential Decree 792/1985	Twelve national days in 2026

Which collective agreement applies, and at what grade, is therefore the entry that drives most of the others and it is settled before a contract is issued rather than after. The hiring guide sets out what each side of that table means in practice.

What does an Italian hire cost above salary?

For an office role, roughly 1.35 to 1.39 times Italian gross annual pay and nearer the lower end.

The base matters as much as the multiplier. Italian gross annual pay includes the tredicesima and any quattordicesima and those additional monthly salaries are inside the contribution base too. A model built on a twelve-month figure understates the cost.

On that basis the stack is social contributions to INPS at roughly 28% to 32% of gross, varying by the employer's INPS classification and by company size, workplace injury cover with INAIL priced by the risk class of the work at around 0.4% to 0.5% of pay for office roles and severance accruing at 6.91% of gross a year, before anything the collective agreement adds on top. The full cost breakdown prices every line and explains why the contribution ceiling does less than it looks like it does.

What changed for employers in Italy in 2026?

Four things: a new pay obligation, a tax cut that lands on employees, a new public holiday and a change to which section of the national archive a collective agreement sits in.

The pay floor became compulsory on 1 May, as above. The second income tax band fell from 35% to 33% on 1 January, by article 1, comma 3 of the 2026 Budget Law, although the same law cancels the benefit for total income above 200,000 euros. A new national public holiday arrived: Law 151/2025 added 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, with effect from 1 January 2026.

And the question of which agreements sit in the national-sector-contracts section got its first published answer. In April 2026 CNEL rebuilt its national archive so that deposit alone no longer places a contract in the national-sector-contracts section: that now needs INPS Uniemens data showing it applied to at least 5% of employees in an ATECO division, or 3% in at least one division for multi-sector agreements. CNEL reports that around 99 agreements signed by CGIL, CISL and UIL cover more than 97% of private-sector workers.

The position in Italy

The collective agreement settles pay, notice, probation and the extra months; statute settles hours, leave, holidays and the outer limits; severance accrues from day one; and the employer stack lands near 1.35 to 1.39 times gross for an office role. What decides the route is not whether any of that can be done, but who carries it. An Employer of Record already holds the Italian employer registrations, so the contract, the monthly payroll, the INPS and INAIL contributions and the filings sit with an employer that runs them as a matter of course. Aspirock provides compliant Employer of Record services in Italy, issuing the employment contract, running the monthly payroll, paying the INPS and INAIL contributions and accruing TFR, with a named account team accountable for the deployment end to end.

Cost transparency

What does it cost to employ someone in Italy?

Key statutory employer costs in Italy. Employer of Record pricing sits on top of them and is confirmed after a short discovery call, once the role, location and timeline are known.

Employer social contributions: Roughly 28% to 32% of gross pay
Workplace injury cover (INAIL): Priced by the risk class of the work
Severance accrual (TFR): 6.91% of gross pay a year

Employer costs in Italy

The provider

About Aspirock

Aspirock is an Employer of Record and payroll provider operating across 70+ countries from six global offices, founded on more than 22 years of operational EOR experience and supporting more than 5,000 workers. Every client works with a named account team that owns the deployment end to end, so contracts, payroll, visas, and compliance filings in each market are handled by people accountable for the outcome.

For hires in Italy that means Italian payroll with IRPEF withheld at source, contributions to INPS and workplace injury cover with INAIL, the pay grade and minimum set by the applicable national collective agreement and the trattamento di fine rapporto accrued from the first day of service under article 2120 of the Civil Code.

More about Aspirock Employer of Record service page

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed 6 August 2026

Can a company employ someone in Italy without setting up an Italian entity?

Yes. An Employer of Record already holds the Italian employer registrations, so it employs the person on an Italian contract, runs their monthly payroll, pays the INPS and INAIL contributions and carries the employer-side filings. The employee gets a normal Italian job: a grade and minimum pay under the applicable collective agreement, four weeks of paid leave, the national public holidays and severance accruing from day one. Aspirock provides the Employer of Record route in Italy.

How does a company hire its first employee in Italy?

Aspirock supports companies making a first Italian hire and coordinates it through a named account team, so the collective agreement grading, the cost position and the start date are settled together rather than one after another. A first Italian hire needs a registered employer standing behind it, an Italian employment contract carrying the information required by Legislative Decree 104/2022, the right collective agreement and grade for the work and notification of the hire to the competent employment service by the day before employment starts.

What has to be in an Italian employment contract?

Legislative Decree 104/2022, the decreto trasparenza, replaced the information duties in Legislative Decree 152/1997 and transposed the EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions. The employer must give the employee that information when the relationship is formed and before work starts. It covers matters such as the parties, the place of work, the applicable collective agreement, the pay grade and its components, working hours, leave, probation and the notice arrangements. Which collective agreement applies, and at what grade, is the entry that drives most of the others.

What applies from an employee's first day in Italy?

Several things apply immediately. The collective agreement's minimum pay for the grade applies from the first day, annual leave begins accruing and severance under article 2120 of the Civil Code accrues from the first day with no qualifying period, so it is a real cost from month one rather than something that starts later. Probation, where it is agreed, must be in writing, may not exceed six months and may only be shortened by the collective agreement, not extended by it.

How does Aspirock support employers hiring in Italy?

Aspirock employs staff in Italy compliantly, issuing the Italian employment contract, running the monthly payroll, paying the INPS and INAIL contributions and accruing TFR, with a named account team accountable for the deployment end to end. Costs are priced from the contribution stack that applies to the actual salary and the actual collective agreement rather than from a market average and the collective agreement grading is settled before the contract is issued, because in Italy that grading sets the pay minimum, the notice period and the additional monthly salaries.

General guidance on Italy employment rules, reviewed 6 August 2026. Rates and rules change. This is not legal or tax advice for a specific situation.

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