The Italian labour market is governed by a complex regulatory framework combining national legislation and sector-specific collective bargaining agreements (CCNL). For a foreign company hiring its first employee in Italy, the process can seem daunting. This guide outlines the main steps.<\/p>\n\n
The national collective bargaining agreement (CCNL)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Italy does not have a single standard employment contract: each productive sector has its own CCNL, negotiated between employers’ organisations and trade unions. The applicable CCNL depends on the company’s activity and establishes minimum salary levels for each job grade, working hours, holidays, leave, notice periods, and various allowances.<\/p>\n\n For a manufacturing company, for example, the applicable CCNL is typically the Metalworkers’ agreement (FIM-CISL, FIOM-CGIL, UILM-UIL). Service companies fall under sector-specific tertiary agreements. Identifying the correct CCNL is the essential first step.<\/p>\n\n Types of employment contract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u2014 Open-ended contract: the standard form of employment. <\/strong> Provides greater stability for the employee and requires specific procedures for termination.<\/p>\n\n \u2014 Fixed-term contract: maximum duration of 12 months (extendable up to 24 months in specific cases). <\/strong> Use is restricted by regulation.<\/p>\n\n \u2014 Apprenticeship contract: a training contract for workers under 30.<\/strong> Provides reduced social security contributions for the employer.<\/p>\n\n \u2014 Agency work (staff leasing): the worker is employed by a staffing agency and made available to the client company.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Social security and tax obligations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Every Italian employer must register with INPS (National Social Security Institute) and INAIL (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) before making their first hire. Total social security contributions average around 40% of gross salary, split between employer (approximately 30%) and employee (approximately 10%).<\/p>\n\n Payslips must be processed monthly in accordance with the applicable CCNL. The mandatory hiring notification must be sent to the relevant employment centre by the day before the employment relationship begins.<\/p>\n\n Hiring Chinese employees in Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n For Chinese employees transferred to Italy from the parent company, it is necessary to manage the work permit (nulla osta al lavoro) and residence permit. Timelines can be significant (3\u20136 months) and advance planning is essential. The intra-corporate transfer (ICT) route is also available for managers and specialist workers.<\/p>\n\n Rxconsult, in collaboration with Studio Baldini, supports foreign companies through every stage of hiring in Italy: from identifying the correct CCNL to payroll processing, from managing residence permits to handling employment termination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Italian labour market is governed by a complex regulatory framework combining national legislation and sector-specific collective bargaining agreements (CCNL). For a foreign company hiring its first employee in Italy, the process can seem daunting. This guide outlines the main steps. The national collective bargaining agreement (CCNL) Italy does not have a single standard employment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1603,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions\/1603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rxconsult.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}