LEGISLATIVE UPDATE | Budget Law 2026
At the end of December 2025, the Italian Parliament approved the Budget Law for 2026 ((Law No. 199 of Dec. 30, 2025). The employment package included targeted contribution relief, measures supporting working parents and interventions affecting the cost and administration of employment from the beginning of the new year.
Italian hiring incentives are normally subject to detailed personal, contractual and compliance conditions. They may depend on the employee’s previous status, the form of the new contract, the employer’s contribution record and compliance with the applicable collective agreement. The headline percentage of an exemption is therefore only the starting point.
For a foreign group, the practical risk is that a business case is approved using the maximum theoretical saving before the Italian conditions have been checked. If the relief is unavailable or later recovered, the underlying employment contract and salary remain in place while the expected saving disappears.
Employers should obtain a written eligibility check for each material incentive, preserve the supporting evidence and calculate both the incentivised and ordinary cost. Temporary public relief should support a sound hire, not determine whether the role is sustainable.
UPDATE: Please check also my latest article on the full exemption from the employer’s social-security contributions for private employers hiring eligible mothers with at least three children under the age of 18 https://joblaw.it/hiring-incentives-in-italy-for-the-year-2026-the-contract-must-fit-the-relief/.