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🇮🇹Minimum Wage in Italy: No Statutory Minimum, CCNL Rates

Italy has no statutory national minimum wage. Minimum pay is set in national sector collective agreements (contratti collettivi nazionali di lavoro, CCNL).1,2

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Statutory national minimum wage
None1
Pay floors set by
National sector collective agreements (CCNL)1,2
Employees covered by a collective agreement
100% (2023)3
Average gross annual salary, 2024 (Eurostat)
€33,523

How pay floors work instead

Article 36 of the Constitution gives workers the right to pay proportionate to the quantity and quality of their work and in any case sufficient to ensure a free and dignified existence for themselves and their family.2

National sector agreements remain the central level of bargaining on minimum rates. There are just over 1,000 of them; the CNEL reported in 2025 that 62% of them, covering about 45% of employees, had not been renewed after their period of validity expired.2

Italy reported to the European Commission a collective bargaining coverage rate of 100% for 2023.3

The minimum wage debate, as of 12 October 2026

The Chamber of Deputies’ file shows that bill A.C. 1275, “Provisions for the establishment of the minimum wage”, was presented on 4 July 2023 by deputies led by Giuseppe Conte and scheduled in the opposition quota of the Chamber’s calendar. Its original text provided that the minimum hourly pay set by a national agreement could in no case be below 9 euros gross. In committee its text was replaced by delegations to the government, and it became Law no. 144 of 26 September 2025; its original signatories withdrew their signatures from the bill.4,5,6

Law no. 144 of 26 September 2025 empowered the government to adopt legislative decrees on pay and collective bargaining: to define, for each category of workers, the most widely applied national collective agreements, so that their minimum total economic treatment is the minimum condition under Article 36 of the Constitution, and to extend those minimum conditions to workers not covered by collective bargaining. The six-month period for exercising the delegation expired on 18 April 2026; according to the Chamber of Deputies, the government did not exercise it.6,7

Decree-Law no. 62 of 30 April 2026, in force from 1 May 2026 and converted with modifications by Law no. 112 of 25 June 2026, states that collective bargaining is the instrument for determining the “just wage” (salario giusto) and refers to the total economic treatment in the national agreements signed by the comparatively most representative employer and employee organisations (Article 7). It sets no minimum pay amount, hourly or monthly.8

A popular-initiative bill with the same title, “Provisions for the establishment of the minimum wage” (A.C. 2179), was presented on 19 December 2024 and has been under examination in the Chamber’s Labour Committee since 9 April 2026.9

The EU minimum wage directive

Italy is an EU member state, so Directive (EU) 2022/2041 applies. It does not oblige a state whose wages are set exclusively by collective agreements to introduce a statutory minimum wage (Article 1(4)). A state whose collective bargaining coverage is below 80% must adopt an action plan (Article 4(2)); the Commission’s July 2026 report does not list Italy among the 18 member states below that threshold.3,10

See the full minimum wage ranking across Europe →

Frequently asked questions

Does Italy have a minimum wage?
Italy has no statutory national minimum wage. Minimum pay is set in national sector collective agreements (CCNL), which cover 100% of employees (2023, as reported to the European Commission).
What is the state of the minimum wage debate in Italy?
A 2023 bill from deputies led by Giuseppe Conte (A.C. 1275) set a floor of 9 euros gross per hour on the pay in national agreements; its text was replaced in committee and it became Law no. 144 of 2025, which empowered the government to extend the minimum pay of the most widely applied agreements. The delegation expired on 18 April 2026 without being exercised, according to the Chamber of Deputies. Decree-Law no. 62 of 2026 states that collective bargaining determines the just wage. A popular-initiative bill on a minimum wage (A.C. 2179) has been in committee since 9 April 2026. As of 12 October 2026 no law fixes a national minimum pay amount, hourly or monthly.
What is the “just wage” (salario giusto) in Italy?
Under Article 7 of Decree-Law no. 62 of 2026 it is determined through collective bargaining and refers to the total economic treatment in the national agreements of the comparatively most representative employer and employee organisations.
Does the EU minimum wage directive apply to Italy?
Yes, Italy is an EU member state. The directive does not oblige it to introduce a statutory minimum wage where pay is set exclusively by collective agreements (Article 1(4)).

Sources

  1. 1.Minimum wages (earn_minw): reference metadata · Eurostat ·
  2. 2.Minimum wage in Italy · Eurofound ·
  3. 3.Report on minimum wage protection and the action plans to promote collective bargaining, COM(2026) 388 · European Commission ·
  4. 4.Atto Camera 1275: Disposizioni per l'istituzione del salario minimo · Camera dei deputati ·
  5. 5.Proposta di legge C. 1275, testo presentato il 4 luglio 2023 · Camera dei deputati ·
  6. 6.Salario minimo (Politiche per il lavoro e previdenziali) · Camera dei deputati, Servizio Studi ·
  7. 7.Legge 26 settembre 2025, n. 144: Deleghe al Governo in materia di retribuzione dei lavoratori e di contrattazione collettiva · Normattiva (Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri) ·
  8. 8.Decreto-legge 30 aprile 2026, n. 62: Disposizioni urgenti in materia di salario giusto (convertito dalla legge 25 giugno 2026, n. 112) · Normattiva (Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri) ·
  9. 9.Atto Camera 2179: Disposizioni per l'istituzione del salario minimo (iniziativa popolare) · Camera dei deputati ·
  10. 10.Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union · European Parliament and Council of the EU (EUR-Lex) ·

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