Work in Italy for Ukrainians

This page is for people who are looking for work in Italy or already work there and want to check that everything has been done correctly. You will not find job listings or salaries by occupation here: we explain the rules and do not advertise employers.

# Do I have the right to work in Italy?

Yes, if your status allows it: with temporary protection you do not need a separate work permit. Check the basis of your stay:

The law extended the provisions of the 2022 DPCM on access to work only until 31 December 2025. In our view, in 2026 the right to work rests on a valid permit and on the 2003 law on temporary protection: it instructs the government to set the procedure for issuing a permit “covering study and work”. Questura offices (the provincial police headquarters) continue to issue such permits, and according to the Questura in Milan’s 2025 information sheet, the receipt for an application gives access to work.

According to the Ministry of Labor, the worker is not penalized just for working without a contract or without a residence permit.

# Where can you look for work officially?

The main state channels are job centers (Centri per l’impiego, CPI), the Ministry of Labor’s portal for active labor policies and the SIISL platform.

• Job center (CPI). This is a free public service that matches employers with job seekers. According to the 2022 clarification, anyone aged 16 or over who has residence registration (residenza) in Italy can register.
• Declaration of availability for work (DID). Official unemployed status starts with it. You fill it in on the portal for active labor policies, on regional portals where they exist, or at a job center. According to the 2022 clarification, for the DID you need a codice fiscale, an identity document and a residence permit with the right to work or the receipt for an application for one.
• Portal for active labor policies (Portale per le politiche attive del lavoro). It has been running since 17 March 2025 in place of the MyANPAL platform, which was shut down on 15 March 2025. You log in through the “Servizi Lavoro” page of the Ministry of Labor website with the SPID digital identity or another method.
• SIISL platform. The Ministry of Labor’s state platform for job matching, built by INPS. The law allows anyone looking for work to use it voluntarily; according to the Ministry of Labor’s instructions, you log in with SPID or the electronic ID card (CIE). Since 28 June 2026, every vacancy on SIISL must state the collective agreement applied, with its code, and the pay for the position.
• Private employment agencies. The law forbids them to charge workers.
• EURES. A network of employment services for moving for work between EU countries; temporary protection is granted separately in each country, so for its holders this is a supplementary channel.

A short job as an employee lasting up to 6 months does not cancel your unemployed status; it only suspends it.

# What must an employment contract contain?

The law names the permanent contract as the main form. A fixed-term contract can be concluded for up to 12 months without giving reasons, and for up to 24 months only for reasons set by law: in cases provided for by collective agreements; until 31 December 2026 also for technical, organizational or production reasons set by the parties if the collective agreement does not set them; to replace another worker. If a contract lasts more than 12 months without such a reason, it becomes permanent from the day the limit is exceeded.

Other rules for fixed-term contracts:

• the term must be stated in writing, and the worker receives a copy within 5 working days of starting work (except for jobs of up to 12 days);
• in the first 12 months the contract can be extended and renewed freely, with no more than 4 extensions in total over 24 months;
• several fixed-term contracts with the same employer at the same level cannot together last more than 24 months;
• if you are hired again on a fixed-term contract within 10 days after a contract of up to 6 months, or within 20 days after a longer one, the new contract becomes permanent (except for seasonal work).

A part-time contract is concluded in writing, with a work schedule. Before you start work, the employer must give you a written contract or a copy of the notification of hiring; some of the information can be provided within 7 days. The mandatory information includes the place of work, the position, the type and term of the contract, the probationary period, vacation, pay, working hours and the collective agreement; since 28 June 2026, private employers also state its code.

The probationary period is agreed in writing and may not exceed 6 months. For fixed-term contracts it is one day of work for every 15 calendar days: from 2 to 15 days for a contract of up to 6 months and no more than 30 days for a contract of 6 to 12 months. During probation, either party can end the contract without notice or compensation.

# Who registers the worker with INPS?

The employer. They must report the hiring no later than the day before work begins. According to a 2022 clarification from the Ministry of Labor, this notification (UNILAV) simultaneously informs the National Social Security Institute (INPS), the insurance body INAIL and the prefecture; for domestic workers, the employer notifies INPS directly. If there is no permit yet, the notification states “in attesa di permesso”. So registration with INPS is done through the employer’s notification; we have not found a separate step for the worker.

# How do you resign?

Online, on a Ministry of Labor form; you can withdraw your resignation within 7 days. The online form is not needed for domestic work (colf, badanti) or when the resignation is formalized in protected procedures: before official conciliation bodies or before contract certification commissions. If you do not come to work without good reason for longer than the collective agreement allows, or for more than 15 days, the employer can notify the Labor Inspectorate, and the contract will be considered terminated at your own will. In that case there will be no unemployment benefit; more on the page about NASpI.

# Is there a minimum wage in Italy?

Italy has no general minimum wage set by law. The Constitution requires pay that is proportionate to the quantity and quality of work and sufficient for a decent life for the worker and their family.

Since 1 May 2026, the “fair wage” law (Decree-Law 62/2026) names the collective agreement as the tool for setting a “fair wage” (salario giusto). Total pay under other collective agreements may not be lower than under the national agreement concluded by the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations; the minimum is set the same way in sectors that have no agreement. If a collective agreement has not been renewed within 9 months after it expired, wages are raised in advance by 50% of inflation (measured by the IPCA-NEI index). For agreements that had already expired before this law, the rule applies from 1 January 2027.

An example of minimum rates under a collective agreement: domestic work from 1 January 2026.

For level A, the hourly rate for a worker who does not live with the family is €6.51. Which work belongs to each level is set by the collective agreement itself.

# How long can you work, and how much vacation do you get?

The normal working week is 40 hours. Including overtime, it may not exceed an average of 48 hours, calculated over a period of up to 4 months (a collective agreement can extend this to 6 or 12).

• Overtime, if a collective agreement does not regulate it, is possible only with the worker’s consent and for no more than 250 hours a year.
• Each day you have 11 consecutive hours of rest, and each week 24 consecutive hours, as a rule on Sunday.
• Paid vacation is at least 4 weeks a year; it can be replaced with money only when the employment ends.

# How can you spot a fake job offer?

The Italian Postal Police (Polizia Postale, the police unit that fights cybercrime) lists these signs of fraud:

• the ad lacks clear and complete information;
• it promises easy earnings and high pay;
• you are asked for money up front: for materials, for submitting an application, for “mandatory” training;
• there is no written contract.

Do not give out personal or bank details until you have checked the offer. Employment agencies cannot charge you money.

Illegal labor intermediation and exploitation (caporalato) are punished as crimes. The law lists signs of exploitation: pay that clearly does not match collective agreements, repeated violations of working hours and rest periods, breaches of workplace safety, and degrading working conditions, supervision or housing. The free national helpline against human trafficking and exploitation, 800 290 290, works around the clock; according to the Ministry of Labor, it has operators who speak Ukrainian.

# Where can you report violations?

To the National Labor Inspectorate (Ispettorato nazionale del lavoro), through a request for an inspection (richiesta di intervento, form INL 31). The form is also available in Ukrainian. You submit it to the territorial labor inspectorate of the province where you work: in person, by post or by email, with a copy of your identity document. Attach all the evidence you have: your contract, payslips, witness statements, records of your working hours and days. You cannot challenge a dismissal with this form.

# How do you get a Ukrainian diploma recognized?

For professions that are not regulated by law in Italy, you do not need to have your diploma recognized. For regulated professions, the diploma is recognized by the competent Italian authority. CIMEA, the Italian information center on qualifications, does not recognize professional qualifications; it issues statements of comparability of qualifications, which are not binding on institutions. Only refugees and people with subsidiary protection receive such statements free of charge. The CIMEA website has a database with more than 300 examples of Ukrainian higher education diplomas.

Ukrainian doctors, other health workers and care assistants (operatore socio-sanitario, OSS) who lived in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 can temporarily work in their profession without formal recognition until 31 December 2027. They are hired by public or private health and social care facilities on a fixed-term contract or as self-employed workers, and they submit their documents with a sworn translation certified in court.

# What happens if you lose your job?

If you worked as an employee and lost your job through no choice of your own, you can get the NASpI unemployment benefit. The conditions and amounts are described on the page Unemployment benefit in Italy.

# What has not yet been officially confirmed?

Several questions have not yet been officially clarified:

• whether the provisions of the 2022 DPCM on access to work still apply in 2026 (we explained the legal basis above as our own reading);
• how much a CIMEA statement costs for holders of temporary protection;
• how the collective agreement for domestic workers assigns types of work to levels.

We will update this page as soon as clarifications appear.