Posting workers to Italy, the six obligations of foreign employers
A company established abroad may temporarily send its employees to Italy to provide services. No authorisation and no prior permit are required. Six things are required instead, and they must exist before the worker sets foot on the site or in the plant. If one is missing, the fine applies for each worker involved.
When the rules apply
Legislative Decree 136/2016 covers foreign companies sending workers to Italy under a service or works contract, within a group of companies, or through a temporary work agency. It applies to every sector and also to companies established outside the EU, which may not be granted more favourable treatment. Construction sites and road transport carry additional sector rules, covered in dedicated articles of this series.
The six things that must be in order
A prior declaration to the Italian authorities, filed by midnight of the day before the posting starts and updated within five days if the data change.
A contact person domiciled in Italy, the most underestimated obligation, to which we return below.
A documentation file available in Italian, including the employment contract, payslips, working time records, proof of wage payments and the A1 certificate, to be kept up to two years after the posting ends.
Italian working conditions. The rule is blunt, posted workers are entitled, during the posting and where more favourable, to the same working and employment conditions provided in Italy by law and collective agreements (Article 4(1)). This covers working time, rest, holidays, safety, housing where provided, travel allowances and pay.
The A1 certificate, attesting that the worker remains in the social security system of the home country.
A genuine posting, meaning a company with real activity in its country of establishment and a genuinely temporary presence in Italy. It is the premise on which everything else rests.
The contact person in Italy, the duty nobody can keep abroad
The law requires the company to designate a contact person electively domiciled in Italy in charge of sending and receiving deeds and documents and, for the whole posting, a representative empowered to deal with the social partners (Article 10). Both functions may sit with one person, and usually do, but that person must be domiciled in Italy.
The practical point is this. The contact person is the company's Italian address. It is who the inspectorate contacts when opening an investigation, who receives document requests, reports and orders, and who deals with the local unions. A foreign address, a head office mailbox or the site foreman's phone number do not satisfy the duty. Without a contact person domiciled in Italy the company is not only liable to fines, it risks missing deeds whose deadlines for defence run regardless.
What happens if something is missing
Breaches of the declaration, documentation and designation duties trigger administrative fines multiplied per worker. If the posting is not genuine the consequence is even sharper, the worker is deemed for all purposes an employee of the party that used the work (Article 3(4)), with effects on both companies. Non-genuine postings remain a stated priority of Italian labour inspection and of EU-coordinated enforcement campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a permit to post workers to Italy?
No. There is no authorisation regime, but the prior declaration is mandatory and its omission is fined per worker.
Can the contact person be located abroad?
No. The law requires a person electively domiciled in Italy, because it is the channel for all dealings with inspection authorities and social partners.
We can act as your company's contact person in Italy. Write to us for a free assessment of your position.
Informative content, updated at the date of publication. Legal quotations are courtesy translations, the Italian text prevails. Every actual case requires a dedicated review.