Hiring an employee in Italy
Last reviewed
The short answer
Hiring in Italy starts with the collective agreement and since May 2026 the pay floor that agreement sets has been a statutory obligation rather than a market convention. Italy has no statutory hourly minimum wage, but article 7 of Decree-Law 62/2026, converted by Law 112/2026, requires a private employer to pay a total economic treatment no lower than that of the national collective agreement of the comparatively most representative organisations for its sector, category, prevalent activity, size and legal nature. The agreement an employer applies sets the pay grade and its minimum, the notice period, the probation period within the statutory six-month ceiling and whether a fourteenth month salary is due alongside the thirteenth.
Statute sets the floor underneath it: a 40-hour standard week under article 3 of Legislative Decree 66/2003, four weeks of paid annual leave under article 10 of the same decree, the national public holidays under Law 260/1949 as amended and a probation period that may not exceed six months under article 7 of Legislative Decree 104/2022. That same decree carries the written information the contract must give the employee, transposing the EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions.
Aspirock supports companies making a first hire in Italy and coordinates the contract, the collective agreement grading and the payroll start through a named account team.
What has to be settled before someone starts?
Four things. The first drives most of the others, because both the contract and the pre-start notification have to carry the agreement and the grade, and the first three close before the start date.
- 01
Settle the collective agreement and the grade
This is the entry that drives most of the others. The agreement and the grade together fix the pay minimum, the notice period, the probation limit and whether a fourteenth month salary is due alongside the thirteenth. It is settled before the contract is issued, not after, because the contract has to state it.
- 02
Issue the contract with the required information
Legislative Decree 104/2022 replaced the information duties in Legislative Decree 152/1997 and transposed the EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions. The employer gives 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.
- 03
Notify the hire by the day before
The hire is notified to the competent employment service by the day before employment starts. This is a pre-start deadline rather than a payroll-cycle one, so it does not wait for the month the employee begins in.
- 04
Run the first payroll
Monthly is the near-universal convention and is what the applicable agreement will normally set, rather than statute. From the first payroll the employer is funding contributions to INPS, injury cover with INAIL and severance accruing under article 2120 of the Civil Code.
What does the collective agreement decide?
Pay, notice, probation within the statutory ceiling and the additional monthly salaries.
Since 1 May 2026 the pay side of that has statutory force. Article 7 of Decree-Law 62/2026, converted by Law 112/2026, requires a private employer to pay a total economic treatment no lower than that of 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. Italy still has no statutory hourly minimum wage.
The most widely applied private-sector agreement is the one for the tertiary sector, distribution and services, which INPS puts at 17.55% of employees. Under it, notice on dismissal runs from 15 to 120 calendar days: 60 to 120 for quadri and level I, 30 to 60 for levels II and III, 20 to 45 for levels IV and V and 15 to 20 for levels VI and VII. Notice on resignation is shorter, running from 10 to 90 days. Those figures move agreement by agreement, which is why the grading question comes first.
Which agreements carry weight got its first published answer in April 2026, when 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 the agreement 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.
What does statute guarantee underneath it?
A statutory layer underneath: a forty-hour week, four weeks of paid leave and a six-month ceiling on probation, each of which the agreement can improve on.
The standard working week is 40 hours under article 3 of Legislative Decree 66/2003 and the applicable agreement may set less. Paid annual leave is at least four weeks under article 10 of the same decree: two of those weeks must be taken in the year they accrue, consecutively if the employee asks and the remaining two within eighteen months of the end of that year. Leave cannot be replaced by pay in lieu except when employment ends. Probation may not exceed six months under article 7 of Legislative Decree 104/2022, must be in writing and collective 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.
Twelve national public holidays fall in 2026, set by Law 260/1949 as amended, with Law 151/2025 adding 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, from 1 January 2026. Calendars that list thirteen are counting Easter Sunday, which the law reaches through Sundays generally rather than as a named day. Two of the twelve, 4 October and 1 November, fall on a Sunday in 2026, which means no day off but still the festivity treatment. On top of the national days sits the patron saint's day of the municipality where the employee works, which comes from the applicable collective agreement rather than from national statute, except in Rome, where 29 June is set by Presidential Decree 792/1985.
Hiring a non-EU national is a separate question with a separate calendar. Nationals of the EU and EEA states and of Switzerland and San Marino, need no work authorisation. For other nationals the main route is the annual quota system under the Decreto Flussi 2026-2028, set by the Prime Ministerial Decree of 2 October 2025, which allows 164,850 entries in 2026 and more than 497,000 across the three years, of which 76,200 a year are for non-seasonal subordinate work. Applications are filed on set dates each year and the sportello unico then has 60 days to issue the nulla osta for non-seasonal entries. Some categories enter outside the quota altogether, including managers and highly specialised staff under article 27 of the consolidated immigration act and they do not wait for a filing date.
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.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Last reviewed
Since 1 May 2026 article 7 of Decree-Law 62/2026 requires an employer's total economic treatment to be no lower than that of the agreement of the comparatively most representative organisations for its sector, category, prevalent activity, size and legal nature. The most widely applied private-sector agreement is the one for the tertiary sector, distribution and services, which INPS puts at 17.55% of employees. 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.
Article 10 of Legislative Decree 66/2003 gives at least four weeks of paid annual leave. Two of those 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. Leave cannot be replaced by pay in lieu except when employment ends and collective agreements often give more. On top of that there are twelve national public holidays in 2026, set by Law 260/1949 as amended, plus the patron saint's day of the municipality where the employee works, which comes from the applicable collective agreement rather than from national statute, except in Rome, where 29 June is set by Presidential Decree 792/1985. Law 151/2025 added 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, with effect from 1 January 2026.
The length of notice comes from the applicable collective agreement rather than from statute, so it varies by agreement, by grade and by length of service. Under the CCNL for the tertiary sector, distribution and services, notice on dismissal runs from 15 to 120 calendar days: 60 to 120 for quadri and level I, 30 to 60 for levels II and III, 20 to 45 for levels IV and V and 15 to 20 for levels VI and VII. Notice on resignation is shorter, running from 10 to 90 days. Probation is capped at six months by article 7 of Legislative Decree 104/2022 and collective agreements may only shorten that.
Yes. Nationals of the EU and EEA states and of Switzerland and San Marino, need no work authorisation. For other nationals the main route is the annual quota system: the Decreto Flussi 2026-2028, set by the Prime Ministerial Decree of 2 October 2025, allows 164,850 entries in 2026 and more than 497,000 across the three years, of which 76,200 a year are for non-seasonal subordinate work. Quota applications are filed on set dates each year and the sportello unico then has 60 days to issue the nulla osta for non-seasonal entries. Some categories enter outside the quota altogether, including managers and highly specialised staff under article 27 of the consolidated immigration act and they do not wait for a filing date.
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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.