The firm’s news desk · What matters right now
The measures people are actually discussing this season, explained in terms of what they change in the day-to-day work of a business and of those who advise it. Not a daily press review: the texts that are rewriting the rules, with the exact references so you can go to the source.
Updated to 9 September 2026.
The 14th-month payment (quattordicesima) has no basis in statute: it arises from the collective agreement, or the individual contract, which sets both the accrual period (under many CCNLs running from 1 July to 30 June) and the calculation base. Maternity leave counts in full for this purpose, excluding only allowances tied to actual attendance (Article 22(3), Legislative Decree 151/2001); since 13 August 2022, parental leave no longer reduces holiday entitlement, rest days or the 13th-month payment (Article 34(5)). For the 14th-month payment, which neither provision mentions, the collective agreement decides. The amount paid counts towards severance pay (TFR), unless the collective agreement provides otherwise.
Who needs to actPayroll staff: re-read the clause of the applicable collective agreement, check that payroll software has not kept applying the old rule on parental leave, and confirm that extending the accrual method to the 14th-month payment actually has a basis in the agreement, filing the recalculation sheet for every case reviewed.
The TUIR has been rewritten. Decreto legislativo 117/2026, implementing article 21 of enabling act 111/2023, brings together in a single body of law the taxation of the income of individuals, professionals, businesses and property, absorbing provisions that had accumulated over the years in dozens of separate statutes and replacing D.P.R. 917/1986.
Two dates not to be confused: the decree is in force from 4 July 2026, but its provisions apply from 1 January 2027. Until then, the current text remains the one to work with.
Why it mattersIt is the map that changes, not just the numbering: contracts, company by-laws, internal procedures and accounting software all contain cross-references to articles of the old TUIR which from 2027 will no longer match. 2026 is the year to take stock of those cross-references calmly, instead of discovering them under pressure.
The deadline for accepting the Agenzia delle Entrate’s proposal for the 2026-2027 two-year period has been moved from 30 September to 31 October 2026; as that falls on a Saturday, it moves to Monday 2 November. Sign-up is made through section P of the 2026 Redditi return. The conversion act introduced a cap on the proposal: no more than 30% of declared income for taxpayers with an ISA score between 6 and 8, and no more than 35% for those between 1 and 6. The bar on taxpayers with more than 5.000 euro of debts not covered by an instalment plan remains.
What to do nowThe decision has to be prepared with the 2026 figures in hand, not right before the deadline: comparing the proposal with expected income is the only way to see whether it is worth it. Anyone with outstanding debts still has time to arrange instalments and meet the requirements.
The Agenzia has begun a four-part commentary on the Code of business crisis and insolvency. The first part covers the procedures introduced by the Code (composizione negoziata (negotiated settlement), simplified arrangement with creditors, restructuring plan subject to court approval and the rules on groups) and clarifies the tax aspects of a settlement with the authorities, including the write-down of VAT. The draft of the second part, on over-indebtedness and debt discharge, has been put out to public consultation.
Why it mattersThis is the tax administration’s first comprehensive position on tools that have become routine for businesses under strain: it affects how a negotiation with the tax authorities is framed within a procedure.
The consolidated acts adopted under the tax reform enabling law are in force, but their provisions apply only from 1 January 2027. Article 4 of decreto-legge no. 200/2025 moved to that date the starting point of five consolidated acts already published: administrative and criminal tax penalties (Legislative Decree no. 173/2024), minor state taxes (no. 174/2024), tax justice (no. 175/2024), payments and collection (no. 33/2025), registration tax and other indirect taxes (no. 123/2025). The same starting point is set by the consolidated acts published subsequently: value added tax (no. 10/2026, art. 171), income taxes (no. 117/2026, art. 377) and compliance obligations and assessment (no. 141/2026, art. 368).
Beware of a common mistakeUntil 31 December 2026 the earlier provisions still apply: citing articles of the consolidated acts as already operative (on penalties, collection, assessment or VAT) means arguing from rules that are not yet applicable. Appeals, opinions and applications now in progress must cite the original provisions, which the consolidated acts have not yet replaced.
A sole trader had been ordered, in a recovery action (azione di regresso), to reimburse INAIL (the Italian workplace accident insurance institute) for the benefits paid following an employee’s accident while working a block of marble. The employer attributed the fall of the block to the worker’s inattention, but the lower courts had traced the accident to the obsolescence of the machine and to the failure to guard its moving parts. The Court dismisses the appeal and restates settled case law: the employer is liable even for damage caused by the employee’s negligence or carelessness, and contributory fault is relevant only where the conduct is abnormal, unrelated to the work process and the sole cause of the accident. That conduct must be pleaded and proved within the time limits: having entered an appearance late at first instance, the employer had lost the right to adduce evidence.
Who needs to actEmployers, health and safety officers (RSPP) and advisers: check older machinery and the guarding of moving parts now, because where the risk arises from the equipment the worker’s carelessness reduces neither the damages nor INAIL’s recovery claim. On receipt of the Institute’s claim, enter an appearance within the time limits and set out in the first pleading the abnormal conduct to be proved, with documents and witnesses: later, evidence is barred. Keep the risk assessment document, maintenance logs, training certificates and service instructions, which are also useful in asking the court for the reduction of the amount that Art. 11 of Presidential Decree 1124/1965 permits in light of the employer’s conduct and the safety measures adopted.
The Labour Section of the Corte di Cassazione (Italian Court of Cassation) dismisses the appeal of a metalwork company against a cartella (payment notice), issued after the labour inspection had classified as unlawful supply of labour the welding, assembly and metalwork contracts awarded to another firm, for EUR 537,098.80 of contributions from July 2005 to February 2008, plus the somme aggiuntive (statutory surcharges). The lower courts had found that an employee of the principal organised and supervised the work of the contractor’s staff, who worked side by side with the principal’s own employees, and no one on the contractor’s side was shown to be in charge of organising the work. In the Court’s view, even an in-house contract is unlawful where the contractor retains only the administrative management of the employment relationship (pay, leave, continuity of work) without any real organisation or business risk of its own. INPS may proceed against the user without waiting for the worker to bring a claim, because the contribution relationship is independent of the employment relationship. As to the contributions paid by the sham contractor, the Court of Appeal had held them capable in principle of reducing the debt, but had placed on the principal the burden of proving that they related to those workers and to the hours established; the Cassazione declared inadmissible the ground of appeal challenging that assessment. Statements made to the inspectors prevailed over evidence given at trial and over the workers’ statements in lieu of an affidavit, an assessment reserved to the lower courts.
Who needs to actPrincipals of contracts performed within their own production cycle, and consulenti del lavoro (employment and payroll consultants): check now, contract by contract, that the contractor has its own supervisor on site giving instructions, that the price pays for a result and not for hours of labour, and that complaints about performance are addressed to the firm, not to its workers. Every month, in addition to the DURC (certificate of social-security compliance), obtain the list of named staff employed under the contract, with the hours worked at the principal’s premises, and evidence of the related payments: without this match the principal will hardly be able to set the contractor’s payments against the debt (art. 29, comma 3-bis, d.lgs. 276/2003, which refers to the repealed art. 27, comma 2, now art. 38, comma 3, d.lgs. 81/2015). A contract lacking the requirements of art. 29, comma 1, is also a criminal contravention for both principal and contractor, punishable by arrest of up to one month or a fine of EUR 60 per worker and per day, in any event not less than EUR 5,000 nor more than EUR 60,000 (art. 18, commi 5-bis and 5-quinquies, d.lgs. 276/2003). Under a genuine contract, the principal is jointly liable for pay, TFR (severance pay) and contributions for two years after the contract ends, excluding sanzioni civili (civil penalties); the same joint liability expressly applies to a contract lacking the requirements (art. 29, comma 2, last sentence, d.lgs. 276/2003). Keep contracts, orders, final accounts and schedules for at least the five-year limitation period for contributions, ten years where the worker has reported the breach (art. 3, comma 9, L. 335/1995) and in any event until inspections and proceedings are concluded.
By an order declaring the appeal inadmissible, the Labour Section of the Corte di cassazione (Italy’s Supreme Court) closes a dispute over INAIL (national workplace accident insurance institute) premiums on flat-rate travel allowances and confirms, without breaking new ground, the approach of Cass. ord. 16033/2018, 22926/2024 and 22923/2024. Trasferta (business travel, comma 5) and trasfertismo (constant travel as part of the job, comma 6) are exceptions to full inclusion in the tax and contribution base, and the burden of proof lies with the employer. For comma 5, the employer must prove the travel and the amount for each day, within the exemption limits; for comma 6, it must prove the three concurrent requirements of art. 7-quinquies. The comma 6 regime does not apply if the contract states the place of work, and continuous mobility cannot be inferred from itinerant duties alone. In the case at hand, the amounts shown on the payslip with neither a base amount nor a reference period, and without supporting documents, remained fully subject to contributions and INAIL premiums, except for the team leaders, to whom the Tribunale (court of first instance) had applied comma 6. With effect from 1 January 2027 the matter will be governed by d.lgs. 19 June 2026, n. 117.
Who needs to actEmployer and payroll office: check at once, employee by employee, whether the contract or letter of appointment states the place of work, and how the travel pay item is structured. Where comma 5 applies, replace flat-rate amounts with daily allowances for travel ordered in writing (place, dates, purpose), recorded in the LUL (Libro unico del lavoro, the statutory payroll ledger) with the number of days and the daily amount. Comma 6 should be applied only if all three requirements are documented, including the fixed-rate allowance. Keep travel orders, expense claims and monthly statements for the whole period open to assessment; where proof is lacking, consider treating the amounts as fully subject to tax and contributions before any inspection.
Hiring documents of an informative nature may be made available in a secure personal area of the company platform, accessible to the worker alone, provided that the platform ensures secure access, the ability to view, store and reproduce the files, and the integrity and traceability of the act of making them available and, where required, of the worker’s acknowledgement that they have been viewed. This solution applies where the rules governing the individual document do not require specific methods of delivery; form and time limits remain unchanged. For the worker’s declarations, SPID (Italy’s public digital identity system) and CIE (electronic identity card) are not enough: an electronic signature (digital, qualified or advanced) is required, or the procedure under art. 20, comma 1-bis, CAD (Codice dell’amministrazione digitale, the digital administration code). The CNS (national services card) is not treated as equivalent to SPID and CIE as a means of identification (art. 64, comma 2-quinquies, CAD).
Who needs to actEmployers and advisers who run staff portals: check now that the system records, document by document, the date each one is made available and the date it is viewed; adopt an advanced electronic signature for the worker’s declarations; provide for an alternative form of delivery if the platform is unavailable; and keep the evidence for labour inspections. The platform may be run by the adviser or by a provider, but responsibility for compliance remains with the employer.
Refunds of contributions unduly paid to the Gestione separata (INPS separate pension scheme) are now requested through the Cassetto previdenziale del contribuente (the contributor’s online INPS account), under Altri Servizi > Domanda Rimborso Unico. The service covers self-employed professionals, including for a credit shown in the income tax return and not offset by 31 December of the following year; principals, for the two thirds paid above the annual ceiling on contributory earnings and in the case of duplicate payments or of errors in the rate or in payment; and parasubordinati (quasi-employed collaborators), for the one third borne by them and paid above the ceiling, even where the excess arises from more than one principal. The previous channels are no longer available; the service will be gradually extended to the other INPS schemes.
Who needs to actPrincipals with collaborators above the ceiling, and their advisers: once the INPS notification on the excess has been received (INPS message n. 1561/2025), submit one application for each collaborator through the new service, either directly or via an authorised intermediary; the parasubordinato applies directly for his or her own share. The message sets no time limit: the limitation period for the right to a refund still applies, and should be checked case by case.
The Portale TFR Esattoriali has a new item, «Estratto contributivo»: members of the Fondo di previdenza for employees of tax collection concessionaires who have not yet obtained payment of their TFR (Italian end-of-service allowance) can check the contribution data INPS uses to calculate capital benefits. The statement is informative only, not certifying. Firm’s note: it neither replaces nor anticipates the payment decision. For employers in the sector, and for the adviser handling payroll, it is a way of checking periods and taxable amounts before the claim for payment is filed.
Who needs to actHEAD OF PERSONNEL AT TAX COLLECTION CONCESSIONAIRES: tell employees who are members of the Fondo about the new function, and compare the periods shown in the estratto with the contribution returns filed, before the claim for payment is submitted.
INAIL states that compliance with health and safety law, a precondition for the prevention-based reduction of the average premium rate, no longer depends on the position at 31 December of the previous year: the wording left the guidance to the OT23 2025 form and is superseded by comma 1175-bis of legge 296/2006, introduced by decreto legge 19/2024. Employers who remedy breaches within the time limits set by the supervisory bodies keep the benefit; where a breach cannot be remedied, recovery is capped at twice the penalty recorded. A valid DURC, covering the autoliquidazione in progress, and evidence of each measure remain necessary.
Who needs to actEMPLOYER AND CONSULENTE DEL LAVORO (LABOUR CONSULTANT): complete by December 2026 the collection of documentary evidence of the measures carried out in 2026, and submit the OT23 form through the online service by Monday 1 March 2027. That is the date given by INAIL in its portal notice of 24 July 2026, because 28 February 2027, the ordinary deadline in the guidance to the form, falls on a Sunday.
By circular no. 92 of 4 September 2026, issued with the concurring opinion of the Ministero del Lavoro e delle politiche sociali (the Italian Ministry of Labour), INPS (the Italian social security institute) extends to visits at the doctor’s surgery the recognition, for benefit purposes, of the day immediately before the certificato di malattia (medical certificate of sickness) is drawn up, a recognition until now allowed only for home visits. The event still runs, as a rule, from the date the certificate is drawn up, and that date governs the carenza (the first three days, for which INPS pays no benefit), the benefit rates, the maximum period covered and any application of penalties, for instance for absence from the medical check-up visit. No earlier start where the previous day is a weekday public holiday, a Saturday or a Sunday: "continuity of care is guaranteed". Effective from publication.
Who needs to actThe payroll firm and the staff handling attendance records: the circular grants the recognition "from the date of publication of this circular", 4 September 2026, without saying whether the reference point is the certificate, the sickness event or the settlement of the benefit; as a prudent reading, this firm refers it to certificates drawn up on or after that day. On those certificates, read the "Dichiara di essere ammalato dal…" field ("declares that he or she has been ill since…") and, where it shows the day immediately before, start the event on that day even if the visit took place at the surgery, aligning the time record, the document justifying the absence and the carenza calculation on the payslip. No earlier start where that day falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a weekday public holiday, or where the date shown in that field is more than one day earlier. Keep the printout of the certificato telematico (the electronic sickness certificate) as consulted, filed with the payslip. A note from this firm, not from the circular: the sick pay payable by the employer remains governed by the CCNL (the applicable national collective agreement).
The Ministero del Lavoro (the Italian Ministry of Labour), having consulted the Ispettorato nazionale del lavoro (the Italian national labour inspectorate), answers Assodelivery on the obligation, introduced for principals engaging self-employed riders, to keep the Libro Unico del Lavoro (LUL, the single employment ledger). The legal obligation to keep the LUL arises on 1 July 2026 and, on the Ministry’s reading, its compilation runs from the July 2026 pay period; the ninety-day extension applies, on a transitional basis, to the July statement only, while ordinary deadlines govern the following months. Deliveries are recorded in the month the work is actually performed, payments in the month they are actually made, with the reference period shown in the LUL "note" field. The statement must be produced even where the values are zero; multiple orders follow the tariff scheme applied.
Who needs to actThe principal engaging self-employed riders (the duty falls on the principal, not on the platform as such) and the payroll firm keeping the LUL: update, print and deliver to the rider the July 2026 statement within ninety days of the entry into force of legge 112/2026, on 28 June 2026; the statute requires both drawing up and delivery, and the interpello (the Ministry’s official answer on a point of interpretation) does not specify the form of delivery. From the following months onwards the ordinary deadline applies: the end of the month following the reference month. As a precaution, extract from the platform system, for each rider and each month, the number of deliveries and the amounts paid, and keep that extract with the tariff rule applied to multiple orders. Complying with the interpello rules out the related criminal, administrative and civil penalties (art. 9(2), Legislative Decree 124/2004).
The Consiglio di Stato upholds the appeal by the Ispettorato nazionale del lavoro (the Italian national labour inspectorate), reverses the first-instance judgment and dismisses the company’s application. The power of disposizione (a labour inspector’s compliance order) under art. 14(1) of Legislative Decree 124/2004 does not presuppose breach of a specific obligation under ordinary statute or the collective agreement applied: pay that is inadequate to the tasks actually performed is itself an irregularity, in direct application of art. 36 of the Italian Constitution. A frozen-food distributor applied the CCNL Commercio (the national agreement for the commerce sector), which contains no allowance for work in particularly low temperatures; in the case decided, the staff of the frozen-food department were exposed to between -20 and -24 °C. The order to introduce such an allowance by company-level agreement, taking the CCNL Alimentari (the national agreement for the food industry) as a benchmark by way of equitable assessment and not by analogy, is lawful: the inspectorate does not take the employer’s place, it prompts the employer to act, and the objection based on contractual autonomy fails before the limit of social utility that art. 41 of the Italian Constitution places on freedom of private economic initiative. The Court extends to this case the reasoning of its own earlier judgments, given in different situations.
Who needs to actThe employer and the payroll firm. Start from the DVR (the employer’s risk assessment document) and the fitness-for-task opinions, which provided the proof in this case, and map the tasks that involve exposure to a severe microclimate and to cold stores; compare the CCNL applied with those of related sectors on hardship allowances; where there is no such cover, consider a company-level agreement quantifying the allowance by reference to hours of exposure and to temperature, and giving reasons on both points, as the disposizione required. A disposizione is immediately enforceable: an appeal lies to the director of the Ispettorato territoriale del lavoro (the territorial labour inspectorate) within fifteen days under art. 14(2), and is decided within the next fifteen days; silence counts as rejection and the appeal has no suspensive effect; the administrative courts decide thereafter. Non-compliance carries a penalty of 500 to 3,000 euro under art. 14(3), and the diffida (formal notice to remedy) under art. 13(2) does not apply. Keep the DVR, the fitness opinions, and temperature and attendance records.
Legislative Decree no. 96 of 7 May 2026 transposes Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency. Periodic pay-gap reporting follows progressive thresholds and deadlines (the first obligations apply to larger employers, and the 100-employee threshold only becomes fully operative once the regime is phased in) and remains distinct from the biennial report under Article 46 of Legislative Decree 198/2006. What applies to every employer regardless of headcount are the «upstream» obligations: stating the pay level or range in the job advertisement or before the interview, a ban on asking about pay history, and objective criteria for job grading and career progression.
Who needs to actThe owner and whoever handles recruitment: review job adverts and interview forms, put job-grading and pay-rise criteria in writing, keep a written record of every individual pay decision, and check the Official Gazette for the entry-into-force date and the schedule of the first reports.
Unilateral withdrawal from a company-level agreement of indefinite duration is lawful (a collective agreement without a term cannot bind the parties for ever) but notice of withdrawal does not cancel everything the agreement has produced. Rights already vested in the employee as consideration for work performed or for a completed phase of the relationship remain untouchable; mere expectations fall away. And where the payment is tied to a condition that cannot be removed (in the case decided, the geography of the municipality) it forms part of the pay protected by Article 2103 of the Civil Code and survives the withdrawal. Since the reason for the payment is established on the facts and cannot be reviewed on appeal to the Court of Cassation, the wording of the agreement is the principal evidence.
Who must actEmployer and labour consultant: set out in writing the stated reason for every item in the agreement (whether it rewards work already performed or looks to the future, whether its precondition is removable or structural) before serving notice on the signatory unions, and adjust payslips only from the pay period following the effective date of withdrawal, keeping the agreement, the notice, the minutes and the payroll ledger.
Email assigned to an individual account generates personal data of the employee, both in the content and in the system logs. Processing is possible within three cumulative constraints: a legal basis and specified purposes; compliance with Article 4 of the Italian Workers’ Statute, which Article 114 of the Italian Privacy Code makes a condition of lawfulness; and retention limited to what is necessary, with documented reasons. The mail client is a working tool, but prolonged and generalised retention of metadata allows an employee’s activity to be reconstructed after the event and therefore requires a union agreement or authorisation from the Labour Inspectorate. The Authority indicates a guideline period of a few days: it is not a statutory time limit, and the measure must be set case by case.
Who must actEmployer, DPO and IT manager together with the labour consultant: obtain from the mail service provider a technical schedule of logs and backups, set and document the retention periods in writing, activate the union agreement or the application to the Labour Inspectorate BEFORE starting any retention beyond what is necessary, update the privacy notice and the internal policy, and complete the data protection impact assessment.
The guidance document of the Garante (Italian Data Protection Authority), decision no. 364 of 6 June 2024, which replaced decision no. 642 of 21 December 2023, concerns the metadata recorded in the logs of e-mail transmission and sorting systems, not the content of messages. The 21 days indicated are guidance, not a statutory deadline: the obligation stems from Art. 5(1)(e) GDPR and from Art. 4 of Law 300/1970, referred to by Art. 114 of the Italian Privacy Code. Collection limited to the operation of the service falls within paragraph 2; prolonged retention, which makes remote monitoring possible, requires a trade-union agreement or the authorisation of the Labour Inspectorate.
Who must actEmployer: have the system administrator check the mail service's retention periods, update the privacy notice under Art. 13 GDPR and, where retention exceeds what is necessary, start the procedure under Art. 4(1) without delay.
In circolare no. 81 of 24 July 2026, INPS (the Italian social security institution) sets out the changes made by Article 7-bis of decreto-legge no. 19/2026, converted into law by legge no. 50/2026, to the assegno unico e universale for dependent children. The measure is brought into line with Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems: the range of children giving entitlement to the allowance is redrawn, opening it to dependent children resident in another Member State of the Union, and the criteria on citizenship, residence and social security registration are adjusted. The circular also clarifies how to apply, how the amount is calculated and when the allowance starts.
Who needs to actFirms advising cross-border, posted and other EU-national workers: applications previously refused solely because the children lived abroad should be reviewed, and new claims considered. A targeted check of households with family members abroad is worthwhile before answering employees, because the starting date follows the rules set out in the circular and is not automatically retroactive.
The draft agreement signed on 4 June 2026 by Unionmeccanica Confapi with Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil and Uilm-Uil was approved in the certified ballot that closed on 23 July 2026. The contratto collettivo nazionale (national collective agreement) runs from 4 June 2026 to 31 December 2028 and provides a fully phased-in increase of 200 euro gross at grade 5, with proportional adjustment across the other grades. It covers more than 42,000 companies and over 450,000 employees, making it one of the largest renewals in the metalworking sector after the one covering large industry.
Who needs to actCompanies applying the Unionmeccanica Confapi agreement: pay tables in the payroll system must be updated in line with the phasing dates, indirect and deferred entitlements recalculated on the new minimum rates, and the effect on labour cost checked against quotations already issued. Before paying arrears it is worth waiting for the final signed text.
INPS has set 30 September 2026 as the final date for filing applications for the three contribution reliefs of the decreto Coesione (the 2024 decree on cohesion policies): Bonus Giovani (art. 22), Bonus Donne (art. 23) and Bonus ZES unica (art. 24). From 1 October 2026 no further applications may be sent for hires and conversions already carried out within the period covered by each measure. The deadline does not open a new window for the relief: it concerns employment relationships already established for which no application has yet been filed. The relief covers the employer’s social security contributions, excluding premiums and contributions to INAIL (the Italian workplace accident insurance institute), up to 500 euro a month per employee for the Bonus Giovani, and up to 650 euro a month for the Bonus Giovani in the regions of the ZES unica (the single special economic zone for southern Italy), for the Bonus Donne and for the Bonus ZES unica, all within the authorised spending limits. Each measure has its own requirements: the Bonus Giovani requires the employee to be under 35 and never to have been employed on a permanent contract; the Bonus ZES unica is available only to employers with up to ten employees in the month of hiring.
Who needs to actPrivate employers who, within the covered period, hired on permanent contracts or converted fixed-term contracts and have not yet applied: check entitlement against the requirements of the specific measure and file the electronic application with INPS by 30 September 2026, keeping the filing receipt and the calculation of the relief. Note that the message gives, for all three measures, a covered period ending on 31 December 2025, whereas the text of art. 23 now in force runs to 31 December 2026: the instructions are not explicit on this point.
INPS has launched a campaign aimed at companies claiming the contribution relief for hiring disadvantaged women: because the measure is co-financed with European funds under the PON SPAO programme, employers must properly inform the workers concerned of the contribution of EU funding. This is a transparency obligation, not a new application: employers already benefiting from the relief simply have to make sure the notice reaches their staff, keeping evidence that it was given in case of an inspection.
Who needs to actCompanies already benefiting from the relief for hiring women: give employees the notice on the European co-financing of the measure and keep evidence of it.
From 19 June 2026 an employer hiring a non-EU citizen may also sign the residence contract for work purposes with a digital signature, without having to attend the relevant office in person. The new option sits alongside the handwritten signature, which remains fully valid: it is therefore an optional simplification, designed to cut time and travel when regularising the employment relationship. For businesses that use foreign labour the formality becomes lighter, but a valid signature device is needed and the forms must be completed correctly.
Who needs to actEmployers hiring non-EU citizens: consider using the digital signature to enter into the residence contract, checking that a valid signature device is available and that the documentation is complete.
The Council of Ministers has given preliminary approval to the draft legislative decree implementing the European directive on platform work. The text introduces a statutory presumption of employment where elements of direction and control over the work emerge, provides a comprehensive framework for algorithmic management (with transparency obligations on automated monitoring and decision-making systems and a right to human review) and strengthens platforms’ information duties, backed by a dedicated set of penalties. Implementation must be completed by 2 December 2026.
Who needs to actPlatforms and clients that organise work through apps: it is advisable to map the algorithmic assignment and rating systems now and to review contractors’ agreements, because the presumption of employment may shift onto the organisation the burden of proving that the relationship is genuinely self-employed.
The conversion act addressed so-called fair pay, anchoring remuneration to the overall economic package provided by the national collective agreements signed by the comparatively most representative organisations. On renewals, where an agreement is not renewed within the first nine months after expiry and unless the agreement provides otherwise, a pay adjustment is triggered as a flat-rate advance equal to 50% of IPCA inflation. The maximum duration of agency work contracts rises from 24 to 36 months.
Who needs to actAnyone managing staff: check which collective agreement applies and when it expires, because the adjustment mechanism operates automatically in the ninth month and affects budgeted labour costs.
INPS has issued instructions on the extraordinary wage supplementation measures for exceptional weather conditions, including abnormal heatwaves, for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2026. For employers in construction, stone working and quarrying, suspensions due to unavoidable events allow access to CIGO (ordinary wage supplementation) without those periods counting towards the 52-week limit in the rolling two-year period, and with exemption from the additional contribution.
Not to be missedThe application must be filed by the end of the month following the month of the event. This is the deadline most often missed: note it down when the site stops, not after the event.
How we read the news desk. We report only measures published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale or by the competent authorities, with the exact references so the source can be traced. This page is for information purposes and does not replace professional advice: the application of a rule always depends on the specific situation. For your own case, write to us.