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GETTING A REGULAR JOB

Why is it worth being employed regularly? What do you need to do in order to get a regular job? Which documents do you need? What are your rights and benefits? What should be the content of your contract? Here we try to provide some basic information.

Did you know that whether you work in Italy as a contracted employee or a wage laborer, you are entitled to certain rights and social benefits? Well, you are!

Below are some of the rights and benefits that you might have access to if working regularly:

  • Family allowance: it is called Assegno al Nucleo Familiare (ANF) and it is a cheque for family support given out by the national institute for social security, i.e. Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS). The ANF is calculated based on a family's total income and on the number of people in your family.

  • Sick Pay: if you get sick and need to take some time off, you are entitled to recover at home being paid 80% of your monthly income. You can do this by handing in a medical certificate to INPS and your employer.

  • Maternity Leave: if you become pregnant, you are allowed to take some paid time off. This benefit is also granted to new fathers!

  • Minimum Salaries (paga base): this is an agreement between unions and employers to pay a certain minimum wage. Legally, you should not be paid less! Sometimes you can even earn more through "above base payment" (superminimo), a seniority increase (scatti di anzianità), overtime (straordinari) and/or bonuses (premi e gratificazioni).
  • 13th Monthly Salary and Bonuses: many workers in Italy get what is called the tredicesima mensilità (13th Month Salary). It is usually paid in December before Christmas, so some workers call it a Christmas Bonus.

If you have a regular contract, it gives you benefits even when you give up working! Unemployment benefits may support you when you lose your regular job, for some months while you look for a new job. The benefits depend on the type of contract you had, how long you worked, and how much you contributed to the system.

  • Indennità di disoccupazione ordinaria (standard unemployment benefit): if you are laid off or your contract expires, you can ask INPS for this benefit, which will be calculated based on your contributions to the system.

  • Disoccupazione con requisiti ridotti (special unemployment benefit): you can ask for this unemployment benefit for one year after your contract ends. If you do not qualify for the standard unemployment benefit, you can ask for this one instead.

If you need more details on these rights and benefits, it could be helpful to check out the INPS website also to get some more information on Italian labour law, and to learn how to take your first steps in the Italian labour market.

Now that you know that it make sense to work regularly, let's see what you need to do to get a regular job!

To be able to work in Italy, you must have a Permit of Stay (permesso di soggiorno) which can be issued at the immigration office of the Police Headquarters (Questura) or from the National Postal Service (Poste Italiane SPA). You can find more information regarding the documents you will need to apply for this permit on this site!

If you are an asylum seeker and your application is still pending, you may obtain a document released by the Questura which certifies you have applied for international protection. You are eligible to apply for a job after 60 days from the date you applied for international protection! If you are already a beneficiary of international protection or humanitarian protection (meaning that your asylum application had a positive outcome) you hold a Permit of Stay that allows you to work in Italy.

Once you have a Permit to Stay or the pending application certificate if you are an asylum seeker, you can go to the nearest Job Centre (Centro per l'impiego) in order to sign into the unemployment register or ask for more information about working in Italy. They will have some information about your rights as a worker too! Some Job Centres also have an office specifically for migrant issues, and they will support you while you work out the matters concerning your work situation.

You can easily find your nearest Job Centre here. This is a page run by the Italian Government which allows you to have practical and detailed information on how to get in touch with your local institutions so that you can apply for a job.

Has your job contract come to an end? The Job Centre can also help you sign into the unemployment register for as long as your residence permit lasts.

If you do not speak Italian, don't worry! The Job Centres have different cultural mediators to help you understand the information you receive.

Finally, if you would like more information on migrants' access to work and working conditions, please visit the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Politics website here. This site is for all foreigners, including asylum seekers.

Once you find a job, you will need to ask for a work contract, so let's take a closer look at what a contract is and also the different types of contract you may have access to!

When we talk about a work contract, we mean an official agreement with legal value, binding upon you and the employer, including all the important information about the specifics of your job, and the rights and benefits you should have.

There are two main types of contracts:

  • for employees
  • for apprentices or for work-training

The contract for employees, may either be for temporary fixed-terms (contratto a termine o contratto a tempo determinato) or for permanent work (contratto a tempo indeterminato). A fixed-term contract just means that it lasts for a specified period, and ends automatically without requiring either party to give notice. This contract may be renewed.

The contract for apprentices (contratto di apprendistato/tirocinio), is for a training period during which the apprentices have less benefits and less pay compared to other regular workers. This apprenticeship period cannot be less than 18 months or more than four years. When the contract expires, the employer must offer you a permanent contract if they would like to keep you on.

There are various types of apprenticeship contracts and they are different according to the age groups they refer to: apprendistato per la qualifica e per il diploma professionale, il diploma di istruzione secondaria superiore e il certificato di specializzazione tecnica superiore for people between 15 to 25 years old; apprendistato professionalizzante and apprendistato di alta formazione e ricerca for people between 18 to 29 years old.

Work-training contracts (contratto di formazione e lavoro) are a little different from the apprenticeship contracts. They were introduced to make it easier for young people to obtain jobs, and only those between 16 and 32 years of age are eligible.

There are two kinds of non-renewable work-training contracts:

  • a one-year contract and
  • a two-year contract (that would lead to an intermediate or high professional level)

For more information, you can visit this page.

Before signing a contract, you need to check if it contains everything you need!

All employment contracts should have some basic information such as your salary, holiday dates, pay details, sick pay entitlement and any bonuses. It should mention a national collective bargaining agreement if it is appropriate.

The employment contract should also contain:

  • job title
  • department name and manager
  • main duties
  • relationships with other departments
  • responsibility to the employer
  • place(s) of work
  • salary details, including extra month's salary and any agreed increases (they are usually stated gross)
  • method of payment of your salary and dates of salary payments
  • amount of hours per day and per week
  • probationary and notice periods.

It is very important that you really understand what your contract says! If your Italian is not fluent, getting it translated into English may be possible and worthwhile. If you cannot get a written English translation of the contract, at least have it translated orally to help avoid problems later.

Here are some last things to remember about work contracts:

According to Italian law, the ordinary amount of hours per week accounts for 40h, while the maximum is 48h weekly, with overtime included.

In addition to a contract, you should try to obtain a copy of your employer's general terms and conditions (condizioni di impiego) regarding regulations and benefits, since these apply to all employees unless otherwise stated in individual contracts of employment.

Remember! Your contract has to be signed both by you and your employer in two original copies: one is for you, do not lose it!

In this webpage we try to provide relevant, accurate and up-dated information, but we do not take any legal responsibility for the information provided. The information provided here does not replace by any means a proper legal advice. If you need this, we recommend you contact a lawyer.

Ultimo aggiornamento: 21/09/2018 23:31

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