Italy Public Holidays 2026: HR & Payroll Guide for Employers

If you’re hiring in Italy, public holidays need to be part of your plan. The dates are only the start. You also need to know whether the holiday is national or local, whether the employee is actually working that day, and what the applicable collective agreement says about premium pay or substitute rest.

Read on to become a holiday pro.

2026 Public holidays in Italy at a glance

Some holidays move each year, especially Easter and Easter Monday. Many Italian cities also observe a local patron saint day, so you should add it if the employee’s work location recognizes it. And in sectors like healthcare, hospitality, retail, and transport, holiday work is common enough that your scheduling and payroll rules need to be clear before the calendar catches up with you.

What counts as a public holiday in Italy

Italy has a core set of national public holidays in 2026 that apply across the country. These are the starting points for holiday entitlement and payroll setup.

Then there are local observances, especially the patron saint day for the city where the employee works. Those local holidays matter more than many teams expect. If your employee’s work location is Milan, Naples, or another city with a recognized patron saint day, that local date can affect scheduling and pay just like a more familiar national holiday.

You may also come across references to suppressed holidays. These are holidays that were removed from the general civil holiday calendar years ago, but some collective agreements still mention them for pay, leave accrual, or substitute leave purposes. That is one reason the CNEL archive of collective agreements is so important as a reference.

Holiday time off and pay

Public holidays in Italy are usually paid days off for employees. That is the default expectation, and payroll should be set up with that assumption unless the employee is scheduled to work and the applicable rules say otherwise.

For monthly salaried employees, a paid public holiday usually means their regular salary continues with no deduction for the day. For hourly or shift-based employees, the result can be more nuanced. They may still be entitled to holiday pay even when they do not work, but the way that pay is calculated can depend on the legal framework and the employee’s applicable collective agreement.

Italian law sets the holiday framework, but the CCNL is usually the real source of truth for premium rates, substitute rest, and the treatment of specific worker groups. If you skip that step, you’re asking for issues.

If employees work on a public holiday

Some teams have no real option but to work on holidays. That is common in continuous operations, hospitality, transport, healthcare, customer support, and businesses with predictable peak trading days.

When an employee works on a public holiday, you typically need to confirm two things. First, whether the employee still receives normal pay for the day plus a holiday-work premium. Second, whether the applicable CCNL allows a substitute rest day instead of, or alongside, part of that premium treatment. The answer is not universal, so your payroll team should not rely on a standard multiplier across all employees.

You should also check whether holiday work overlaps with overtime. If the employee works beyond normal daily or weekly hours, the holiday premium and overtime rules may stack or interact, depending on the agreement.

Premium pay and substitute-day rules

Make sure everyone is pulling from the same rules.

• Check the CCNL. Confirm the exact holiday-work premium, whether a substitute day is allowed, and whether the treatment changes by role, schedule, or sector.
• Write the rule down. Make the holiday-work approach explicit in the employment agreement, handbook, or internal payroll policy.
• Track hours precisely. This matters most for shift work, partial-day holiday work, overnight schedules, and teams crossing midnight.
• Set a rule for holidays on non-working days. Decide how you will handle a holiday that falls on a weekend or another non-working day in the employee’s normal schedule, using the CCNL and your payroll practice as the guide.

Employer compliance basics

Holiday compliance starts with the employee’s actual work location in Italy. National holidays generally follow the same pattern across the country, but local patron saint days do not. If your records show the wrong work location, your holiday calendar may be wrong before payroll even starts.

Next, make sure you have the right CCNL on file and that your HR and payroll teams are using the same one. In Italy, the collective agreement is not background reading. It is often the document that tells you how holiday work is paid, whether substitute leave is allowed, and how special cases are handled.

Payroll itemization should also be clean. You want base pay, holiday pay, and any holiday-work premium shown clearly. That makes internal review easier, helps employees understand their payslips, and gives you a better record if questions come up later.

Consistency matters too, especially if managers are scheduling people across time zones. Approval rules for holiday work should be applied the same way every time. A loose process is how one employee ends up with premium pay, another gets time off in lieu, and finance is left sorting things out after the fact.

Common payroll scenarios

Here are a few real-world examples you’ll see:

• Monthly salaried employee who does not work on the holiday. They usually receive their normal salary, with no deduction for the holiday.
• Hourly employee is scheduled off on the holiday. They may still be entitled to holiday pay, but the method depends on the legal rule and the applicable CCNL.
• Hourly employee who works the holiday. You typically review normal pay, holiday-work premium, and any overtime impact together, not as separate afterthoughts.
• Employee in a city with an additional patron saint holiday. Add that local holiday to the calendar for the employee’s work location and apply the same review process you would use for a national holiday.

FAQs

Are bank holidays in Italy the same as public holidays?

Usually, yes in everyday conversation. For payroll, though, you should focus on legally recognized public holidays and any applicable local patron saint day.

Is Easter Monday a paid holiday in Italy?

Yes. Easter Monday in 2026 falls on April 6, and it is a nationwide public holiday in Italy.

Do you have to give a substitute day off if someone works a holiday?

Not always. That depends on the applicable CCNL and, in some cases, company policy built around it.

Do local patron saint days apply to remote workers in Italy?

Usually, you start with the employee’s contractual work location. If remote arrangements are flexible or cross-city, document the rule clearly so payroll is consistent.

Do contractors get paid for public holidays in Italy?

Not by default. Contractors are generally paid based on their contract terms, not employee holiday entitlements.

Quick checklist for HR and finance

A clean setup leads to clean, repeatable results.

• Confirm the holiday list. Use the employee’s work location in Italy, not just the company headquarters.
• Confirm the applicable CCNL. This is where premium rates and substitute-day rules usually sit.
• Document holiday-work approval and scheduling. Make the process consistent across teams.
• Configure payroll codes for holiday premiums and time off in lieu. Separate codes make payroll review easier.
• Review the holiday calendar annually. Moveable dates and local observances can change what payroll needs to do.

How an Employer of Record (EOR) can help

An employer of record is a third party that legally employs your team member in Italy on your behalf. This allows you to hire without establishing a local entity, avoiding the hidden costs of entity establishment.

The EOR handles salary offers, employment contracts, payroll, tax withholding, statutory benefits, and all ongoing compliance. You manage the day-to-day work normally while the EOR takes care of just about everything else.

For employers testing the market, or those who need to scale quickly, an EOR is usually the right choice. You get to reduce risk, move faster, and know all local laws and regulations will be followed.

Pebl handles holidays in Italy

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got your sights set on Italy. Maybe you’ve even found the perfect talent. There’s a lot that needs to be taken care of before you can start hiring—researching taxes, finding experts in local labor law, finding a payroll processor, and more. It takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easier way?

With Pebl, there is.

Our EOR platform allows you to hire, pay, and manage employees in 185+ countries around the world without setting up your own local entity. That means your new talent starts in days, not months. We handle it all: onboarding, benefits, salary benchmarking, payroll, and compliance with all local regulations. Every public holiday, overtime or double time pay the law requires, we make sure it happens. All you have to do is stay focused on leading your team.

When you’re ready to do things the easy way, let us know.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided “as is,” and no representations are made that the content is error-free.

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