Area · Businesses and professionals
Employment law
Employment-law advice for employers and professionals: contracts, policies and management of the relationship, set up well from the start. Out-of-court work, not disputes.
What we do
The relationship, set up well
Employment and collaboration contracts
Hires, collaborations, engagements and internships: clear contracts, with duties, term and clauses suited to the case.
Internal policies and regulations
Company regulations, tool-use policies, codes of conduct: written rules that prevent problems.
Remote work and agreements
Individual remote-work agreements, business travel, specific covenants: tailored drafting and review.
Managing the relationship
Written advice on changes, classifications and termination of the relationship: understanding the options and their effects, before acting.
Our work is strictly out-of-court: contracts, policies and opinions. We don’t handle employment disputes, settlement conciliations in the statutory protected forums (sede protetta) or representation in court; for those we refer you to qualified professionals.
- Your foreign company is about to take on its first person in Italy and you need to understand the options — employee, contractor, engagement through a local entity — and what you risk if the classification is wrong.
- You want to set up or regularise remote work, including staff working from Italy for a company based abroad: Italian law requires a written individual agreement with clear rules on hours, disconnection, tools and safety.
- You work steadily with Italian freelancers and want contracts that describe a genuinely independent relationship — without drifting into de facto employment, which Italian courts requalify with expensive consequences.
- You want a policy on the use of e-mail, internet and company devices that complies with Article 4 of the Italian Workers' Statute and the GDPR — a legal precondition before activating any form of monitoring.
- You need to change an Italian employee's duties, hours or place of work, or manage a termination, and you want a written opinion on the options and their consequences before making a move.
Signature-ready texts and opinions you can decide on: employment and collaboration contracts with clauses calibrated to the applicable national collective agreement (the CCNL, which in Italy shapes pay, duties and notice far more than the statute alone), individual remote-work agreements, policies coordinated with your privacy documentation, and written analyses of options with their risks. Documents come in English with the Italian version where signature or filing requires it, and each arrives with a usage note: how to present it, have it signed and keep it on file.
How it works
The path, in three steps
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The picture of the relationship
You tell us about the headcount, the collective agreement applied (or the one to choose) and the concrete need: a hire in Italy, remote work, a policy, a change to an existing relationship. We collect the contracts and rules already in use — in whatever language they exist — and agree scope, timing and fee in writing.
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Legal structuring
We check the constraints of Italian statute and collective bargaining and the delicate points of your case: classification of the relationship, ancillary covenants, limits on monitoring, the differences from your home jurisdiction that matter in practice. You receive the proposed solution in writing, with the alternatives and the risks of each.
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Ready texts and liaison with the payroll consultant
You receive contracts, agreements or policies ready for signature, with instructions for adopting them correctly. Payroll, mandatory hiring notifications and social-security filings are reserved by Italian law to the consulente del lavoro (the Italian payroll and employment consultant): we liaise with yours — or help you find one — so every formality lands in the right hands.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Do you replace the Italian payroll consultant (consulente del lavoro)?
- No — the roles are complementary. Payroll processing, mandatory notifications and administrative employment filings are reserved by Law 12/1979 to consulenti del lavoro and, under conditions, certain other regulated professionals. We handle the legal side — contract texts, policies, written opinions — and work in coordination with your payroll consultant, not in their place.
- We are a foreign company with no Italian entity: can we employ someone in Italy?
- Often yes: a foreign company can generally employ staff in Italy without opening a subsidiary, by registering as a foreign employer for Italian social-security purposes — but the set-up has legal, tax and collective-agreement implications, and alternatives (a local entity, an employer-of-record) may fit better. We map the options in a written opinion and coordinate with the payroll consultant and your tax advisers for the registrations and filings.
- Is a written agreement really mandatory for remote work in Italy?
- Yes: Law 81/2017 requires an individual written agreement governing work performed outside company premises — tools, rest times and measures ensuring the right to disconnect — followed by an electronic notification to the Ministry of Labour, which normally goes through the payroll consultant. We draft an agreement that fits how your team actually works, including cross-border arrangements.
- Do you handle dismissals, disputes or represent us before Italian courts?
- No: we do not manage employment disputes, settlements in the statutory protected forums or court representation. What we can do — and it is often decisive — is give you a written opinion on the options and risks of a termination before you act, so you decide informed. If the matter turns contentious, we refer you to qualified Italian lawyers with an organised file.
- How much does it cost, and how quickly?
- A single contract or a remote-work agreement usually closes within a few working days, at a contained fee communicated up front. A set of policies or an overall review of your Italian workforce arrangements requires deeper analysis, which we quote in writing after seeing the documents: no engagement starts without an agreed scope and fee, and everything runs remotely, in English, from Rome (CET).
Insights
Related insights
Contact
A contract to prepare, a rule to write?
Describe the employment relationship or the policy you need: we’ll tell you how we can help.
First reply within one business day. The first contact is free and carries no obligation.