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Art. 36 of the Italian Constitution states that Workers are entitled to
remuneration commensurate with the quantity and quality of their work. The law
does not quantify the minimum wage guaranteed to all workers, but it is common
practice when establishing a minimum wage to refer to the national collective
labour contracts (CCNL), which also cover workers who are not affiliated to
trade unions.
The sum of all components of the wage packet make up the gross salary, from
which contributions payable by the worker are subtracted. Social security contributions are compulsory as they are payable by law and
calculated as a percentage of the wage: part being payable by the company and
part payable by the worker. The wage is made up of everything the worker
receives in money or in kind, minus any sums withheld. Some items are, however,
excluded from the wage and are not subject to contributions, for example: family
allowances, sums spent on study grants, nursery schools and holiday camps for
employees’ dependents. The company must pay in and declare monthly
contributions to the social security department [INPS].
Once the contributions have been deducted from the gross wage, the result is
the taxable wage, from which taxes are deducted. What is left at the end is the
net wage. The wage is made up of several parts, some are fixed and others are variable.
Fixed payments include:
- basic pay or minimum wage tariff constituting the remuneration for the
person’s particular job. Each different grade is set at a given level with
its own minimum wage tariff.
- cost of living allowance, which is a mechanism to adjust the salary in
line with inflation automatically. A Protocol of Understanding between
Government and the Social Partners drawn up in 23/07/1993 made the cost of
living allowance part of the salary and it is renegotiated every 2 years.
- wage supplement (EDR)
- seniority increase, part of the worker’s pay linked to the length of
time he/she has remained at the firm in the same professional category.
- Superminimi, possible additional bonuses arising from negotiations on an
individual or company level, determined by the worker’s professional
capability
Variable payments include:
- special rates of pay for overtime, night work and work on public holidays.
- legal allowances, such as working through holidays
- Contractual allowances, such as production/results-based bonuses and
meals, on-call, unsociable hours, travel and cash allowances
- tips
- additional monthly payments (thirteenth and fourteenth month [tredicesima
and quattordicesima] bonus payments)
The wage must be paid in a wage packet. The pay slip must include the worker’s
details and professional grade, the period to which the wage refers, the family
allowances and all other elements making up the wage in addition to separate
lists of individual deductions. The place of payment is normally the employee’s
place of work and the employer must arrange to pay the salary by cheque or
directly into a bank or post office account.
Text last edited on: 02/2007
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.
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