Housekeepers, caregivers, babysitters: your rights working in a private home in Italy
Employment contract, INPS contributions, holiday pay, severance pay, maternity leave: if you work in a private household in Italy, you have the same rights as any other worker. Here's what you're entitled to.
In a nutshell
If you work as a housekeeper (colf), caregiver (badante) or babysitter in a private home in Italy, you are entitled to a written employment contract, a minimum salary set by the CCNL Lavoro Domestico (Italy's national collective bargaining agreement for domestic workers), quarterly INPS (Italy's social-security agency — pensions, unemployment, family benefits) contributions paid by the family, 26 days of annual leave, a 13th-month bonus, severance pay (TFR), and full protections for sickness, maternity and unemployment. Working off the books means forfeiting all of this: no pension, no unemployment benefit, no maternity pay, no accident cover.
At a glance
| Cost | Free INPS registration; quarterly contributions split between employer (~75%) and worker (~25%) |
| Hiring notice | Employer must notify INPS by midnight the day before you start |
| Contribution payments | Quarterly: 10 April, 10 July, 10 October, 10 January |
| Where in Rome | Patronati (ACLI Colf, Filcams-CGIL, Fisascat-CISL, Federcolf); INPS Direzione Regionale Lazio, Via Ciro il Grande 21 |
| Documents needed | Written contract, Codice Fiscale (Italian tax ID), residence permit (non-EU workers) |
What counts as domestic work
Domestic work is any ongoing service performed within a private household for a family's needs. The category covers the colf (cleaning, cooking, household management), the badante or assistente familiare (care for elderly, sick or disabled people), babysitters, and other figures such as drivers or gardeners. You may be live-in (convivente — you sleep at the employer's home) or live-out (non convivente — you come and go each day).
Not covered: work for cleaning companies, employment in care homes or hospitals, and genuinely one-off occasional tasks.
Your contract and job grade
The CCNL Lavoro Domestico, signed on 8 September 2020, applies automatically to every private-household employment relationship, even if it isn't explicitly mentioned in your contract. A written contract is compulsory and must specify your job grade, duties, working hours, pay, workplace address and start date.
Job grades run from A to D (with "super" variants for each):
| Grade | Typical role |
|---|---|
| A / A super | First experience, companionship for self-sufficient elderly |
| B / B super | Experienced housekeeper, caregiver for self-sufficient elderly |
| C / C super | Cook, driver, caregiver for non-self-sufficient elderly (no formal qualification) |
| D / D super | Butler, head housekeeper, caregiver with an OSS/OSA/ASA qualification |
If you hold a professional qualification (OSS — socio-sanitary worker, OSA — nursing assistant, ASA — social-care assistant, or a regional care certificate), you are entitled to grade D super with the corresponding higher salary. Always keep copies of your certificates.
Working hours and pay
Live-in workers: maximum 54 hours per week, with 36 consecutive hours of weekly rest, at least 24 of which must fall on Sunday. Live-out workers: maximum 40 hours per week, with 36 consecutive hours of weekly rest. Overtime is paid at a premium: +25% during weekday daytime, +50% at night or on public holidays, +60% at night on public holidays.
Minimum salaries for 2026 (approximate — check current figures at domina.it or filcams.cgil.it):
- Live-in: from ~€744/month (grade A) to ~€1,418/month (grade D super)
- Live-out: from ~€5.33/hour (grade A) to ~€9.92/hour (grade D super)
If you are live-in, board and lodging are added to your salary as in-kind remuneration (~€8.26 per day) — they are not deducted from your wages. They must appear on your payslip and count toward the calculation of contributions and severance pay.
Your practical entitlements
13th-month bonus (Tredicesima). Mandatory by December; equal to a full month's salary if you worked the whole year, prorated otherwise.
Annual leave. You are entitled to 26 working days per year (roughly 2.17 days per month). Leave cannot be waived: if you don't take it, it must be paid out at the end of the employment relationship.
Severance pay (TFR — Trattamento di Fine Rapporto). Accrues at roughly 7.4% of annual gross pay. It is paid when the employment ends, for any reason: resignation, dismissal or contract expiry. You can request an advance of up to 70% after 8 years' service, for a first-home purchase or extraordinary medical costs. For domestic workers, TFR stays with the employer (it does not go into an INPS fund).
INPS contributions. Your employer pays these every quarter. You can check whether payments are being made by reviewing your INPS contributory statement (via the MyINPS online area or through a Patronato — a free union-run office that helps with social-security and immigration paperwork). Contributions build entitlement to a pension, unemployment benefit (NASpI), maternity pay, sickness benefit, disability cover and INAIL (Italy's workplace-injury insurance institute) accident protection.
Maternity leave. If you are pregnant, you are entitled to 5 months of compulsory leave with an INPS benefit of 80% of your salary paid directly into your bank account. Requirement: at least 6 months of contributions in the 24 months before the expected birth.
NASpI (Italy's unemployment benefit). If you lose your job involuntarily (dismissal, contract expiry, or resignation for just cause), you may claim NASpI provided you have at least 13 weeks of contributions in the past 4 years.
Resignation. Domestic workers do not use the standard online resignation procedure at lavoro.gov.it. A written letter suffices (registered post — raccomandata A/R — is strongly recommended). Minimum notice: 15 days if you have fewer than 5 years' service, 30 days if more (these figures apply to live-in workers doing more than 25 hours per week; 8 and 15 days respectively for live-out workers).
Where to get help in Rome
Patronati provide free assistance with hiring paperwork, contributions, sickness, maternity, NASpI claims and disputes — including for foreign workers.
| Office | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| ACLI Colf | Via Marcora 18-20, 00153 | 06 5840 222 |
| API-Colf | Via Po 22, 00198 | 06 8541 5141 |
| Filcams-CGIL Roma | Via Buonarroti 12, 00185 | 06 4673 5611 |
| Fisascat-CISL Roma | Via Po 21, 00198 | 06 8473 7444 |
| Federcolf | Largo dei Lombardi 4, 00186 | 06 6873893 |
For multilingual assistance: Caritas Roma (Via delle Zoccolette 19, tel. 06 6861554) and Centro Astalli (Via degli Astalli 14a, tel. 06 69700306).
As an additional benefit, registered domestic workers can join Cas.Sa.Colf (cassacolf.it) free of charge — the sector's supplementary healthcare fund, which reimburses co-payments, specialist visits and medical expenses.
Mistakes to avoid
- Working without a written contract. Without a contract you are working off the books with no protections at all: no pension, no unemployment benefit, no maternity pay, no accident cover. If your employer refuses to formalise the arrangement, report the situation to the Ispettorato Territoriale del Lavoro (Territorial Labour Inspectorate), Via De Lollis 6, Rome.
- Not checking your contributions. Your employer must pay every quarter. Access MyINPS or ask a Patronato to pull your contributory statement — if payments are missing, act immediately.
- Accepting board and lodging as a "discount" on your salary. They are not. They are added to your pay and must appear on your payslip. If your employer withholds them without declaring them, you lose the contributions and TFR you are owed.
Special cases
Your residence permit has expired or you don't have one. You still have rights: minimum wage, contributions (if the employer pays them), TFR. But to be fully compliant with Italian law you need a valid permit. For guidance on regularising your status, see the article on how to regularise a foreign housekeeper or caregiver.
You work for more than one family. Each contract is independent. Every family must hire you separately and pay contributions for their own hours. All contributions from all contracts add up toward your pension and NASpI eligibility.
The person you care for dies or moves into a care facility. The employment relationship ends. You are entitled to TFR, any outstanding pay, a prorated 13th-month bonus, untaken holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice. Because the termination is not of your own choosing, you also qualify for NASpI.
You want to move up a grade (say, from caregiver grade B super to C super because the person you care for is no longer self-sufficient). Make a written request to your employer to amend the contract. If they refuse to recognise your actual qualifications, contact a union or a labour lawyer.
Official sources
- INPS — Domestic workers (registration and contributions)
- INPS — Domestic workers general information
- Ministry of Labour — Domestic Work
- CNEL — CCNL archive
- Domina — Employers' association
- Filcams-CGIL
- Cas.Sa.Colf — supplementary healthcare fund
- Ebincolf — joint sectoral training body
- INAIL — Domestic workers
Legal references: Legge 339/1958, CCNL Lavoro Domestico 8/9/2020, Codice Civile artt. 2240-2246, D.Lgs. 151/2001 (Consolidated Maternity Act), D.L. 48/2023 conv. L. 85/2023 (INAIL compulsory cover from 1/11/2023), D.Lgs. 22/2015 (NASpI).