An Italian job offer has its own accent. The salary often comes in 13 or 14 instalments, the contract mentions a CCNL you have never heard of, and the working day ends with lunch as an institution. The legal framework, though, is clear and EU-friendly. This guide explains working in Italy as a citizen of the EU: what you need, how pay and contracts work, and what protection exists if it ends.
What do you need for working in Italy as an EU citizen?
No work permit. EU citizens may take a job in Italy, or work for themselves, on the same terms as Italians. In practice you need:
- a codice fiscale (how to get it);
- a written contract, which must name the employer, your role, the start date, any probation period, hours, pay and the CCNL that applies;
- a bank account for your salary (bank account in Italy);
- if you stay over three months, your registration at the Comune (residence in Italy).
To look for work you can register with a Centro per l'impiego (public employment centre), which needs a digital identity (SPID) and a declaration of immediate availability to work, and use the ministry's cliclavoro.gov.it portal and EURES. The former national agency ANPAL was abolished on 1 March 2024; its tasks moved to the Ministry of Labour.
How does pay work if there is no minimum wage?
For years Italy had no single statutory minimum wage, and EURES confirms that the law does not guarantee one to everybody. Pay floors are set by the CCNL (contratto collettivo nazionale di lavoro), the national collective agreement of your sector, signed by employers' organisations and unions. It sets the minimum salary, the thirteenth and fourteenth months (tredicesima, quattordicesima), job grades and a lot of detail. A 2026 decree-law on "fair wage" (decree-law no. 62 of 30 April 2026) bases the fair wage on the total economic treatment of the most representative CCNL of the sector, which cannot be undercut by another agreement.
The practical consequence: always ask which CCNL applies and read its pay table. A contract that does not mention one is a red flag.
Which contracts are common when working in Italy?
- Open-ended (tempo indeterminato): the norm.
- Fixed-term (tempo determinato): up to 12 months without a reason. Up to 24 months only in cases allowed by the CCNL, to replace a worker or, until 31 December 2026, for technical or organisational needs set in a company agreement. Beyond that, or after 24 months of successive contracts for equivalent duties with the same employer, it becomes open-ended.
- Others: apprenticeship, agency work, part-time, on-call contracts.
The probation period (periodo di prova) is six months at most, often shorter under the CCNL. Keep copies of every contract: counting the months is how you prove the 12 or 24.
Reading an Italian contract and its CCNL is the hardest part of the first week: abbreviations, grades, "assorbimento" clauses, bonuses that are or are not guaranteed. If you want a second pair of eyes before you sign, Moovy, Hello Expat's AI assistant, can explain the terms in plain English and tell you what to check on the official pages. It does not replace a lawyer or a union adviser for a dispute.
What are your hours and holiday rights?
The standard working week is 40 hours, or less if your CCNL says so. Averaged over four months (more under some CCNLs), the limit is 48 hours including overtime. You are entitled to 11 hours of rest between working days and 24 consecutive hours a week. Paid leave is at least four weeks a year: two to take in the same year (consecutively if you ask), the other two within the next 18 months. Pay in lieu is allowed only at the end of the contract.
What if you lose your job while working in Italy?
Employees who lose their job involuntarily can claim NASpI, paid by INPS. In 2026, the conditions and figures are:
- at least 13 weeks of contributions in the previous four years;
- 75% of average monthly pay over those four years (a different formula applies above €1,456.72), capped at €1,584.70 a month;
- a 3% reduction each month from the sixth month of payment (the eighth for those aged 55 or over);
- a duration of half the weeks you paid in the last four years;
- you must apply within 68 days of the end of the contract, or the right is lost.
Resigning from an open-ended contract is not an involuntary loss, and since 2025, if you resigned from one in the preceding 12 months you need 13 more weeks of contributions since that resignation. After the claim, you register at the employment centre within 15 days and sign a job-search commitment (patto di servizio). If you worked in another EU country before, ask its institution for form U1 to count those insurance periods. If you arrive on unemployment benefit from another EU country, form U2 lets you transfer it, for at least three months.
How does recognition of diplomas and qualifications work?
It depends on what you want to do. For a private-sector job in an unregulated profession, nobody forces recognition and the employer judges your degree; a CIMEA statement of comparability can help. For a regulated profession (doctor, nurse, lawyer, architect, teacher), you must have your qualification recognised by the competent Italian authority first. Under the EU rules, you get an acknowledgement within one month and a decision within three months of a complete file. Doctors, general-care nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects and vets enjoy automatic recognition. For academic recognition (equipollenza), the Italian university decides within 90 days.
If you work for yourself, the rules differ: ask the Agenzia delle Entrate and INPS before you start. For the tax angle, including the 50% relief for some incoming workers, check the conditions with the Agenzia delle Entrate.
What changes for British citizens?
Since Brexit, a work permit or visa is in principle required, except for those who lived legally in Italy before 1 January 2021 (Withdrawal Agreement). Some employers also ask for a police certificate from the UK and from Italy. See moving to Italy from the UK.
What should your contract say, and when do you receive it?
The written contract has to name the employer, your position, the start date, the probation period if any, working hours, pay and the collective agreement (CCNL) that applies. For a fixed-term contract of more than 12 days, the employer must hand you a copy within five working days. Keep every contract and every renewal: the rules on 12 and 24 months count from them, and you will want proof if the employer later claims a different start date.
Ask also what the CCNL says about the thirteenth and fourteenth month, about notice periods and about seniority-based increases. Two jobs with the same headline salary can differ by a month's pay depending on these clauses.
What about public-sector jobs?
State and local administration hire mostly through public competitions (concorsi), which are in principle open to EU citizens (posts involving public authority are reserved). If you have a foreign degree, you can usually take part conditionally. If you win a place, you must ask the Department of Public Administration to recognise your degree for that purpose (equivalenza) within 15 days of the publication of the final ranking, or you lose your place. This recognition is valid only for that competition. Teaching competitions in schools follow a separate procedure, and professions such as doctors or architects have their own recognition rules, covered above.
Living in Italy and working across the border.
Cross-border commuting, for example between Italy and Switzerland, has its own tax treatment. Switzerland and Italy have an agreement on cross-border workers and a protocol amending the 1976 treaty, applying since 1 January 2024. For social security, EU coordination rules prevent you from paying twice: if you are posted by an employer abroad or work in several countries, an A1 certificate usually fixes which country's system applies. Ask the institution of the country that sends you, and keep the certificate with your contract.
Your tax position follows residence, not the workplace alone. Spend more than half the year in Italy and Italy taxes your worldwide income; the Agenzia delle Entrate explains the residence test on its website. And remember that working in Italy for an Italian employer can open the door to the impatriati tax regime, if you meet all its conditions, so ask the Agenzia delle Entrate before you sign.