Currency: Euro (Rate)

Public Holidays: 12 public holidays (see here)

Employer Taxes: ~30% of gross salary

Official Language: Italian

Payroll frequency: Monthly

13th / 14th Salary: 13th (June) & 14th (December) for certain roles (managers / executives)

3 things to know about employing in Italy

All employees receive severance pay (“Trattamento di Fine Rapporto") at the end of their employment. It accrues over their employment at a cost of 7% of gross salary to the employer
The normal weekly working hour limit is 40 hours in Italy, but this does not apply to executives, managers and remote workers (working from home or another office)
Italy has customary 13th and 14th salaries for some roles like managers & executives and some professions; one is paid at the time of the employee's summer holiday and one is paid at Christmas

Employment in Italy

Paid Holidays

All employees are entitled to a minimum of four weeks paid annual holiday.

Sick pay and time off

Sick pay and time off is defined in individual contracts & collective bargaining agreements.

Some sick pay is provided by the Italian state and some by the employer, the amounts depend on the length of service & business sector

Minimum Wage

There is no minimum wage but there are often minimum salaries set for certain sectors in Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Termination & Severance

At the end of any employment contract, even for just cause, and resignations, the employer must pay the “Trattamento di Fine Rapporto" which is a severance pay of all-time received salary divided by 13.5. It is an extra cost to the employer of ~7% per month.

An employer can terminate an employee based on two reasons: 1) Objective reason such as redundancy due to economic reasons or 2) Subjective reason such as a breach of their contractural duties.

If an employee believes they have been unfairly dismissed then they can go to an employment tribunal where paid damages for a typical case are between 3 to 6 months of salary.

Notice Period

There is no statutory notice period in Italy, but an agreed upon notice period must be included in employment and Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Working Hours

There are working hour restrictions in Italy but these do not apply to:
- Executives, managers and employees who have any form of independent decision
- Remote workers and employees working from home
The normal working week is 40 hours, and the maximum working week is an average of 48 hours every seven days, including overtime, calculated over a four-month reference period
Although no defined day length, employees are entitled to a daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours every 24 hours.

Overtime

Overtime can not exceed 250 hours per year. Overtime must be compensated with increased salary.

Probationary period

Probation period is:

6 months for managers
3 months for non-managers

Parental leave

It is compulsory for female employees to take maternity leave for two months before, and three months after childbirth.

During maternity leave, employees receive an allowance from the National Social Security Body equal to 80% of their salary.

Paternity leave is a mandatory 10 days in the first 5 months of the child's life

Non-compete agreements

Non-compete agreement must be in writing, must be limited in terms of duration (the maximum duration is three years for employees and five years for executives), and scope. It must also include financial compensation to the employee (paid on top of normal salary). Such compensation is generally evaluated on a case by case basis, and generally varies from between 20% and 40% of the gross annual remuneration paid to the employee.

Taxes in Italy

Employees

Total social contributions (~10%)

Income tax

0-15,000: 23%

15,001-28,000: 27%

28,001-55,000: 38%

55,001-75,000: 41%

75,001 and above: 43%