What an employee in Italy really costs
You pay the actual employment cost of your employee plus our monthly fee. Here is what the employment cost is made of, using two example collective agreements.
| Item | Per month (avg) | Per year |
|---|
Example figures, rates updated 2026-10-26. Contribution and insurance rates are indicative estimate and depend on the exact sector, company size and job risk class. We confirm them in your quote.
Your monthly invoices over a year
The annual cost is the same either way. The options change when you pay it: with both options on, every month costs the same and nothing accumulates for later.
| Month | Salary | INPS + INAIL | TFR | Fee | Invoice |
|---|
[Review: pro-rata payment of 13th/14th month must be allowed by the CCNL or an individual agreement; TFR to a pension fund depends on the employee’s choice, otherwise it goes to the INPS Treasury fund (companies with 50+ employees) or stays with the employer.]
What the employment cost is made of
Billed on actuals, month by month
The table above is an estimate. Each month we run the real payroll and invoice what it actually cost: overtime, bonuses, unpaid leave, sick days partly covered by INPS, salary changes and CCNL raises all show up in that month's figures. You receive the payslip summary with every invoice, so you can check every line.
Billing terms: one month's estimated cost as a refundable deposit at start, then each month paid in advance on the estimate and adjusted on the next invoice to the actual payroll.
Two collective agreements, compared
On the same €50,000 RAL, an engineering contract under the Metalmeccanico agreement costs the employer roughly €1,500–2,000 a year more than an office contract under Commerce and services: social security rates are about 2–3 points higher and injury insurance is higher for technical roles. The Commerce agreement pays in 14 installments, so each monthly payslip is smaller, but the annual cost is the same RAL.
Which agreement applies is not a free choice: it follows the job and the sector of the work. We pick it in the contract draft and explain why.
Why the city changes net pay, not your cost
On top of national income tax (IRPEF), every employee pays a regional surcharge (from 1.23% up to about 3.33% of taxable income, depending on the region and income band) and a municipal one (usually 0–0.8%; 0.9% in Rome, 1% in Naples, up to 1.2% in Turin; many cities exempt lower incomes). Both are withheld from the employee's gross pay.
They do not change what you pay. They change what the employee takes home: on a €50,000 RAL, the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive combination of region and city is in the order of €1,000–1,500 a year of net pay. Worth knowing when you compare offers for candidates in different cities.
[Example by city (Milan, Rome, Turin, Bologna, Naples) to be computed from the MEF 2026 tables.]