ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Angelo Zambelli, Barbara Grasselli and Alberto Testi, Zambelli & Partners
objective or technical reasons, or reasons inherent to the organisation of work, specified in the collec - tive agreements. Italian law provides working hours restrictions for cer - tain categories of employees. For example, pregnant employees and those with children under one year old cannot work between midnight and 6am. All work exceeding normal working hours is consid - ered overtime. Article 5 of Legislative Decree No 66/2003 provides that the use of overtime must be limited, and usually, it is voluntary. Collective agreements typically provide the conditions for performing overtime work. In the absence, overtime work is allowed only with the con - sent of the employee and for a maximum of 250 hours per year. Finally, overtime is calculated separately. Any increased salary for overtime is typically specified in the collective agreements; alternatively, the collective agreements may entitle the workers to take additional leave in lieu of increased salary. 1.4 Compensation According to Article 36 of the Italian Constitution, an employee is entitled to be paid in accordance with the quality and quantity of work performed, and payment must be sufficient to guarantee to the employee and his/her family a free and dignified existence. There is no national legislation that establishes a mini - mum wage. The minimum wage in Italy is determined by the NCBAs for each category of employee. Even if there is no NCBA applicable to the company, an employee can still commence a lawsuit to chal - lenge the sufficiency of wages paid. According to Article 2099 of the Italian Civil Code, the judge can determine the fair wage by reference to the salary level provided by the NCBAs commonly applied in the sec - tor of the company’s business or similar sectors. The part of pay exceeding the minimum wage or base salary is called the “super minimum”.
Salary increases are typically negotiated at a national level by trade unions and employers’ associations. An additional fixed item of remuneration, named the annual 13th monthly salary, is paid once a year on the occasion of the Christmas holidays. It usually cor - responds to one month’s remuneration. In addition, some NCBAs may establish a further payment of a 14th instalment, usually paid in June. Bonuses may be outlined in individual employment contracts or collective bargaining agreements. They are typically based on the performance of the indi - vidual and/or the company, and are subject to specific rules. Employees, especially when at management level, can also receive additional benefits (the so-called “fringe benefits”), the most common of which are company cars, mobile phones and laptops, which may be used exclusively for business purposes or both business and personal use (ie business and personal). Fringe benefits – whose value changes according to their nature – are a form of payment in kind, and they are subject to tax, social security contributions and insurance contributions. The relevant amounts and procedures vary according to the benefit. 1.5 Other Employment Terms Article 36 of the Italian Constitution and Article 2109 of the Italian Civil Code provide for employees’ right to annual paid vacation. The employee cannot waive this right. The minimum length of paid vacation is four weeks per year, but the applicable NNCBA may provide for a longer period. The four-week period can be used for almost two consecutive weeks at the employee’s request, and the other two weeks (and, if any, the remaining higher period provided by the applicable NCBA) have to be used within the eighteen months starting from the end of the accrued year. For example, a vacation accrued but not used in 2025 has to be used by 30 June 2027.
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