Navigating Italy’s Pay Transparency Law: Takeaways from Decree 96/2026

A central pillar of the Italian legislation – and a strategic defence mechanism for companies – is the statutory “presumption of conformity” assumption. Employers applying National Collective Labour Agreements (CCNLs) signed by the most representative trade unions are legally presumed to comply with equal pay principles regarding their classification systems. While this saves companies from the heavy burden of creating complex, internal systems from scratch to weigh the value of different jobs, legal counsels must still urgently audit everyday HR practices. For instance, the decree strictly prohibits recruiters from asking candidates about their past salaries, and it renders all pay secrecy clauses null and void, meaning older employment contracts must be immediately reviewed and updated.

The definition of remuneration has been broadened to encompass not only the basic salary but all complementary or variable components, including performance bonuses and fringe benefits. Employees are granted the explicit right to request written information on the average pay levels of colleagues performing work of equal value, broken down by gender. To mitigate the administrative burden, Italy allows employers to meet this obligation by publishing aggregated data on a secure corporate intranet, limiting individual requests to one per year.

From a litigation perspective, the most disruptive innovation is the reversal of the burden of proof. If an employer fails to meet its transparency obligations, a worker alleging wage discrimination no longer bears the burden of proving it; instead, the employer must demonstrate that no discrimination occurred. This risk is amplified by the formal recognition of “intersectional discrimination”, where gender bias intersects with other protected grounds like age or disability. The legislation guarantees full compensation for victims, expressly prohibiting statutory caps on damages.

Finally, the automated extraction of mandatory pay gap reports by government agencies, such as the National Institute for Social Security (INPS) and the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), grants authorities unprecedented access to corporate structures. Unexplained gender pay gaps exceeding 5% that persist for six months will force companies into mandatory joint assessments with trade unions. 

The underlying principle is unequivocal: navigating Italy's pay transparency landscape demands proactive legal audits and robust evidentiary defences long before the first claim is filed.

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Sara Mandelli is an Italian attorney specialising in labour law. Sara advises companies on employment contracts, dismissals, and trade union relations; and in corporate compliance, with a particular focus on corporate liability.