ITALY

EUROPE

Great talent. New possibilities.

Hire in Italy.

Build your team in Italy with a clear path from hiring to payday. Explore local employment essentials and flexible ways to engage and pay contractors with Rise.

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Explore the guide

63.0%

Employment rate · August 2026

6.2%

Unemployment rate · August 2026

20.3%

Youth unemployment · August 2026

UTC+1 / +2

CET · CEST in summer

IN THIS GUIDE

Italy at a glance

Hiring employees

Hiring contractors

Cost & take-home pay

The Rise advantage

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LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. GLOBAL AMBITION.

Your next chapter starts here.

Italy combines deep industrial expertise with strong design, manufacturing, technology, life-sciences, and professional-services talent. Start with the right relationship for each role, identify the applicable national collective agreement, then align contracts, payroll, social security, severance accrual, insurance, and reporting with Italian requirements.

Country Snapshot

What To Know

Capital

Rome

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Working language

Italian; English is common in many international workplaces.

Time zone

Central European Time (UTC+1), with Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

Hiring approach

Local employment for integrated, supervised roles; independent contracts for genuinely autonomous professionals or businesses.

Payroll planning

Register with the relevant authorities, identify the applicable CCNL, run monthly payroll and withholding, file social-security reporting, and accrue TFR, leave, and any additional monthly salary payments.

Milan. A different perspective on your next hiring market.

BUILD YOUR LONG-TERM TEAM

Hiring employees in Italy

For roles that sit inside your organization, use an Italian employment arrangement. Budget for the applicable national collective agreement, payroll withholding, INPS and INAIL, TFR, paid leave, sick-pay treatment, and ongoing reporting.

Employment Essential

At a Glance

Employment terms

Open-ended employment is the standard form. Written terms should identify the role, level, salary, place of work, hours, probation, leave, notice, and applicable national collective agreement (CCNL).

Minimum wage and salary

Italy has no single statutory national minimum wage. Sector minimums and many other terms are normally set by the applicable CCNL.

Working time

Normal full-time work is generally 40 hours per week unless a collective agreement sets less. Average working time, including overtime, may not exceed 48 hours per seven-day period.

Paid annual leave

Employees receive at least four weeks of paid annual leave. Collective agreements commonly provide additional leave and determine rules for public holidays and permissions.

Employer cost planning

Budget employer social-security contributions that commonly approach 30% but vary by sector and employee, plus INAIL, TFR accrual, leave, thirteenth or fourteenth-month pay where applicable, and benefits.

Employment framework: Civil Code, Workers' Statute, Legislative Decree 81/2015, working-time and leave rules, tax and social-security rules, and the applicable CCNL.

Employer of Record

Explore an employment route with Rise.

Rise EOR manages local employment contracts, payroll, and compliance in supported markets. Discuss your Italy hiring plan with the team to confirm availability, timing, and the right setup.

Explore Employer of Record

Confirm Italy EOR availability with Rise before making an offer, including the employing entity, CCNL, job classification, benefits, and onboarding timeline.

WORK WITH INDEPENDENT SPECIALISTS

Hiring contractors in Italy

Independent professionals should control how services are delivered, organize their own work, use their own business structure, and bear genuine commercial risk. The real relationship matters more than the contract label.

Set Up For Success

Your Contractor Checklist

Scope & autonomy

Define deliverables and milestones. Avoid employee-style schedules, direct supervision, exclusivity, and organizational integration when independence is intended.

Service agreement

Document fees, currency, payment timing, VAT, withholding where relevant, intellectual property, confidentiality, data protection, liability, and termination.

Tax & invoicing

Confirm Partita IVA, tax regime, INPS or professional-fund registration, electronic-invoicing requirements, VAT treatment, and invoice details.

Onboarding

Collect identity and payment details, signed terms, registration evidence, professional insurance where relevant, and the documentation your engagement requires.

Payment preferences

Agree on EUR, USD, or supported digital-asset withdrawals and make fees, conversion, and settlement expectations clear.

Global Contractor Pay

One place to manage payday.

Onboard contractors, organize payments, and fund payroll in USD or supported stablecoins. Give contractors flexibility over supported withdrawals, including EUR

Explore Global Contractor Pay

Agent of Record

More support for your engagements.

Add contractor classification, contracts, onboarding, and compliance support. Ask Rise about coverage for your Italy team.

Explore Agent of Record

Florence. Local character, connected to a world of opportunity.

PLAN BEYOND THE HEADLINE SALARY

What does hiring in Italy actually cost?

Start with gross salary or contractor fee, then separate business costs from worker deductions. These examples use euros and 2026 rules. They illustrate a budget rather than a final payslip or tax return.

BUSINESS BUDGET

Employer costs

Cost

Budget Basis

Gross salary

100% of agreed pay, considering any 13th or 14th salary required by the CCNL

Employer social security

Often around 30% of gross pay, but the exact rate varies materially by sector, company, employee category, and incentives

TFR severance accrual

Accrued throughout employment; a planning approximation is about 7.41% of gross remuneration before statutory adjustments

INAIL and funds

Add occupational-accident insurance and any bilateral, health, pension, or solidarity funds required by the CCNL

Leave and benefits

Budget paid annual leave, public holidays, sick-pay treatment, equipment, allowances, and agreed benefits

Rise service fees

Request a separate platform or EOR/AOR quote, subject to Italy coverage

EMPLOYEE PAYSLIP

Employee deductions

Deduction

2026 TREATMENT

Employee social security

Commonly about 9.19% for private-sector employees, with variation by fund, industry, role, and income

IRPEF

23% up to EUR 28,000; 33% from EUR 28,001 to EUR 50,000; 43% above EUR 50,000, before credits and deductions

Regional and municipal surtaxes

Additional rates depend on residence and are normally settled through payroll

Payroll withholding

The employer withholds tax and employee contributions and completes year-end reconciliation and reporting

WORKED EXAMPLE · EUR 4,000 GROSS / MONTH

One salary. Two different numbers.

Illustrative employer monthly budget

EUR 5,496.40

Salary plus 30% contributions and 7.41% TFR accrual

After 9.19% employee contribution

EUR 3,632.40

Before IRPEF and local surtaxes

Employer Budget Component

Monthly Amount

Monthly gross salary

EUR 4,000

Illustrative employer contributions, 30%

EUR 1,200

Illustrative TFR accrual, 7.41%

EUR 296.40

Illustrative monthly budget

EUR 5,496.40

This illustration excludes INAIL, CCNL funds, additional salary months, leave effects, benefits, incentives, and Rise fees. Exact payroll requires the employer classification, employee level, CCNL, work location, and personal tax details.

Contractor costs: what the business pays, what the contractor keeps.

A contractor's invoice is business revenue. The provider must budget for social-security or professional-fund contributions, income tax, VAT where applicable, insurance, time off, and operating costs.

Cost Item

Hiring Business

Contractor

Service fee

Agreed invoice plus 22% VAT when chargeable.

Receives the fee before contributions, tax, and costs.

Tax & social coverage

No employer contributions apply to a genuine independent professional engagement.

A professional may pay INPS Gestione Separata or contributions to a profession-specific fund.

Payment & administration

Add the agreed Rise plan, payment fees, and conversion costs.

Confirm withholding, electronic invoice, withdrawal, and conversion treatment.

Benefits & operating costs

Include negotiated allowances in the agreement.

Set aside funds for pension, insurance, equipment, accounting, leave, and non-billable time.

Independent tax: what an Italian freelancer pays

Component

2026 Rate or Rull

INPS Gestione Separata

26.07% for many VAT-registered professionals without another compulsory pension scheme or pension; other coverage can change the rate

Ordinary IRPEF regime

23% up to EUR 28,000; 33% from EUR 28,001 to EUR 50,000; 43% above EUR 50,000, plus regional and municipal surtaxes

Regime forfettario

Eligible taxpayers generally pay a 15% substitute tax, or 5% for qualifying new activity, on income calculated using the relevant profitability coefficient

VAT

22% standard rate under the ordinary regime. Eligible forfettario taxpayers generally do not charge VAT on invoices

Advance payments

Income tax and contributions are commonly paid through balances and advance instalments using the F24 system

Company route

An Italian company generally pays 24% IRES plus regional IRAP where applicable; salary, social security, and dividend taxation are separate

Contractor Example

EUR 5,000 of monthly business profit

Using the 26.07% Gestione Separata rate as a planning reserve implies about EUR 1,303.50 per month, leaving EUR 3,696.50 before IRPEF or substitute tax, regional and municipal surtaxes, VAT settlement where relevant, insurance, payment fees, and personal reserves.

This is not equivalent to employee net pay. Actual contributions and tax depend on the professional fund, annual income, allowable costs, tax regime, profitability coefficient, deductions, and advance-payment history.

Make Your Budget Specific

Get a breakdown for your actual hire.

Share the role, Italian work location, gross salary or contractor fee, CCNL and level, benefits, business form, and preferred payment method. Ask Rise to separate statutory costs, service fees, and payment costs in your quote.

Book a demo for a custom cost breakdown

THE RISE ADVANTAGE

A better payday. A better team experience.

Give your global workforce more choice in how they receive their earnings, with payroll built around the way people work.

Daily payroll. More flexibility.

With daily pay schedules, eligible employees can receive pay more frequently and better align income with everyday expenses.

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Dicover Rise Direct Payroll

Daily payroll is available through Rise’s US Direct Payroll product. Confirm eligibility, state pay-frequency and final-pay rules, and setup with Rise.

Hybrid payroll. More choice.

Connect traditional and crypto payments. Fund payroll in USD, USDC, or USDT, with supported local-currency and crypto withdrawal options for your team.

USD

USDC

USDT

Explore Rise Hybrid Payroll

Options depend on location and engagement type. US employee wages must be paid in US dollars through compliant methods under federal and state wage-payment law; crypto withdrawals are a post-payroll option and do not replace those obligations.