Expatries Network
Italy

Employment contract and termination in Italy

In Italy, the drafting of the employment contract commits the payroll for its whole duration: the language used, the form adopted and the mandatory particulars are fixed by local law, not by the practice of head office.

Termination is the moment when drafting errors are paid for. Final settlement, notice, severance and exit documents obey local rules that the payroll manager applies every month: it is that person, and not the legal department at head office, who spots a poorly drawn contract. Having the model contract reviewed by the firm that will run the payroll costs little and avoids most disputes.

The end-of-service allowance, trattamento di fine rapporto, has no French equivalent: it is an amount accrued throughout the employment relationship and paid to the employee on departure, whatever the reason for leaving. It must be provisioned from the first payroll run, and its destination, whether retained by the company, paid into a pension fund or into a fund managed by INPS, has to be settled at hiring.

Almost every Italian collective agreement also provides for a thirteenth monthly instalment, and some add a fourteenth. A salary budget expressed over twelve months is therefore, in almost every case, understated.

Two certificates, finally, are routinely confused by candidates: the DURF, covering tax compliance and issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate, and the DURC, covering contribution compliance and obtained online from INPS and INAIL.

The local framework in Italy

Working languages
Italian
Payroll currency
EUR
European status
European Union member state

Points to watch in Italy

Le contrôle italien décisif est le nom et le numéro d'inscription à l'ordre du professionnel qui couvre la prestation : une société de services de paie, même importante, ne peut pas s'en dispenser et doit désigner un consulente del lavoro ou un dottore commercialista de référence. Ne pas confondre DURF (régularité fiscale, Agenzia delle Entrate, valable quatre mois) et DURC (régularité des cotisations, INPS/INAIL, valable cent vingt jours) : certains candidats fournissent l'un pour l'autre. Enfin, une visura camerale ne suffit pas à prouver la capacité à exercer : elle décrit l'objet social déclaré, pas l'habilitation professionnelle.

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