A company established in another EU Member State that sends its employees to work temporarily in Italy to provide a service is posting workers (distacco transnazionale). Italian law sets out notification duties and minimum working conditions for these workers. This guide summarises the rules, with links to the official sources. Last checked: October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
Legal framework
- Legislative Decree 136/2016 implements Directive 2014/67/EU on the enforcement of the Posting of Workers Directive. It applies to companies established in another EU Member State and, for several provisions, to companies established outside the EU (art. 1).
- Legislative Decree 122/2020 implements Directive (EU) 2018/957, in force since 30 September 2020. It rewrote the rules on pay and introduced long-term posting.
- The online notification procedure is regulated by Ministerial Decree no. 170 of 6 August 2021, which replaced the earlier decree of 10 August 2016.
Prior notification to the Ministry of Labour
The posting company must notify the Ministry of Labour before the posting starts, using the online form UNI_DISTACCO_UE (art. 10 of Legislative Decree 136/2016). The procedure is on the Ministry’s portal servizi.lavoro.gov.it, with information on distaccoue.lavoro.gov.it. According to the Ministry’s page on mandatory notifications:
- the notification must be sent at the latest at the start of the posting and can be cancelled until the start of the posting;
- any later change must be notified within 5 days of the event that causes it;
- a change of the start date must be notified by midnight of the day before the posting starts;
- for long-term postings, the reasoned notification must be sent within 5 days after the posting exceeds 12 months;
- the same form also covers chain postings and replacement periods of posted workers.
A correction to older guidance: some sources, including a previous version of this article, refer to a “decree no. 28” and to the CLICLAVORO portal. The current official sources instead point to Decree no. 170 of 6 August 2021 and to the procedure on servizi.lavoro.gov.it. The information in the Ministry’s portal is also accessible to the Italian Labour Inspectorate (INL), INPS and INAIL.
Contact person in Italy and documents to keep
According to the Ministry’s page on business obligations and art. 10 of the decree, the posting company must:
- designate a contact person domiciled in Italy to send and receive documents, and a representative with powers to deal with the social partners on second-level bargaining;
- keep available, during the posting and for two years afterwards, the employment contract or equivalent document, payslips, working-time records, proof of salary payments and the social security certificate (A1);
- provide an Italian version of the contract documents.
Working conditions that apply in Italy
Art. 4 of Legislative Decree 136/2016 applies the Italian rules on, among other things, maximum working hours and minimum rest, minimum paid annual leave, pay (including overtime), health and safety, protection of pregnant women, children and young people, and equal treatment. Where Italian law or the applicable collective agreement is more favourable, it prevails. Posting allowances count as pay unless they are real reimbursements of travel, meals and lodging costs. The European Commission’s Your Europe portal lists the same core rules.
Long-term posting (more than 12 months)
Under art. 4-bis, when a posting exceeds 12 months, most Italian employment conditions set by law and by national or territorial collective agreements apply, with exceptions such as hiring and dismissal procedures, non-compete clauses and supplementary occupational pension schemes. The company can extend the 12-month threshold to 18 months by sending a reasoned notification to the Ministry. Periods of replacement workers on the same job are added together.
Social security: the A1 certificate
Posted workers normally stay in the social security system of their home country, proved by the A1 certificate, issued by the home-country institution. The maximum period indicated in the A1 form is 24 months; see Your Europe.
Penalties
Breaching the notification and document obligations is punished with administrative fines per worker, set by art. 12 of Legislative Decree 136/2016. Amounts have been updated over time, so check the current text on Normattiva. A posting that is not genuine can be treated as direct employment by the Italian user company (art. 3). Also see the Ministry of Labour page on transnational posting and the INL guidance published on the distaccoue documentation page.
Official sources
- Ministero del Lavoro – Distacco transnazionale
- distaccoue.lavoro.gov.it – Comunicazione obbligatoria
- distaccoue.lavoro.gov.it – Obblighi d’impresa
- D.Lgs. 136/2016 – Normattiva
- D.Lgs. 122/2020 – Normattiva
- Your Europe – Posting staff abroad
Do you need to employ people in Italy without posting them? An Employer of Record in Italy can employ them locally, under Italian law. Get in touch to discuss your case.
