In Italy, all employers employing workers who carry out activities that the law considers risky are required to insure their workers against accidents at work and occupational diseases.
In addition to employed workers, Inail (the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) insurance protects artisans and self-employed agricultural workers and quasi-employees. The insurance also covers supervisors, members of companies and cooperatives, doctors exposed to ionising radiation in a healthcare setting, apprentices, employees working on computers and cash registers, managers, professional employed sportspeople and, since 2024, journalists. As regards the shipping and fishing sectors, the crew members of ships and floating platforms are insured.
Inail also insures government employees through a special form of insurance on behalf of the state, and protects domestic workers through insurance dedicated to accidents that occur in the home while carrying out care activities for the home and family members.
If a worker is injured at work or contracts an occupational disease, Inail provides economic, health and supplementary benefits, even if the employer has not duly paid the insurance premium (principle of automatic entitlement to benefits).
This principle does not apply to self-employed workers (artisan business owners, farmers, etc.). In this case, the right to financial benefits is suspended until the worker has settled outstanding premium payments.
The suspension only affects benefits of a financial nature, while social and health benefits (healthcare, treatments, provision of prostheses and aids) are still guaranteed. The financial benefits provided for the worker’s survivors in the event of death due to an occupational accident or disease are also guaranteed (survivors’ pension, funeral allowance, and a one-off allowance paid by a special fund set up at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies).
For domestic accident insurance, which is governed by Law No 493/1999 (household insurance), the right to benefits only applies to accidents occurring from the day following the date on which the payments were settled.
Under the insurance managed by Inail, the employer is exempt from civil liability for damages suffered by its employees, except in cases where it is found to be criminally liable for breaches of prevention and hygiene rules at work.
SETTING UP A BUSINESS IN ITALY: HOW TO TAKE OUT INSURANCE WITH INAIL
Employers wishing to set up a company with a registered office in Italy must insure themselves with Inail. The compulsory insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases applies to all employment relationships, irrespective of the nationality of the parties, provided that the requirements laid down by law are met: i.e. that risky activities are carried out (Article 1 of Presidential Decree No 1124 of 1965) by the persons identified by Article 4 of the Decree.
Employers who have a permanent establishment in Italy or a fixed place of business through which the company carries out all or part of its activity in Italy are also required to take out insurance, even if the company only requires the continuous and constant presence in Italy of a person who usually acts, negotiates, defines and concludes contracts on behalf of a company not resident in Italy.
In Italy, all arrangements for insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases for workers must be made by the employer. Self-employed workers (e.g. artisans or farmers) are responsible for arranging their own insurance.
When a risky work activity begins, the employer and the self-employed worker subject to compulsory insurance against occupational accidents and illnesses must submit a work report (known as an operating or registration report) online to Inail. The report contains the details needed to identify the work carried out and to calculate the insurance premium (in particular, the activity carried out, the work performed and the worker’s presumed annual wage). Failure to report or late reporting with Inail leads to the application of penalties. Inail must be notified of any change following the submission of the registration report, using the online services in all cases.
Inail classifies businesses in relation to the activity sector and the work carried out, based on the information provided by the employer. The amount of the insurance premium due is calculated on the basis of the classification and total remuneration paid by the employer to the workers (this is known as the ‘ordinary premium’).
For certain activities where the nature of the work or the manner in which it is carried out make it difficult to determine an ordinary premium, the law provides for ‘special unit premiums’.
MANAGING AN COMPANY IN ITALY: INSURANCE CHECKS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
A. INAIL INSURANCE DEADLINES AND PAYMENTS
The Inail insurance premium is paid by employers, artisans without employees, and self-employed agricultural workers.
Every year, the employer must file an online report of remuneration paid to its workers, calculate the premium, and pay it (Articles 28 and 44 of Presidential Decree No 1124 of 1965). The employer may request to pay the premium in instalments.
The employer uses a self-assessment procedure (known as ‘autoliquidazione’) to calculate and pay the insurance premium and, unless Inail carries out further checks to ensure that the premium has been correctly calculated, this must be done by the following legal deadlines:
- by 16 February of each year, the employer must calculate the premium on the basis of the actual remuneration paid in the previous year, using the calculation parameters communicated by Inail by 31 December of the previous year, and must pay the premium using the ‘Unified Payment Form – F24’;
- by 28 February of each year, the employer must submit a payroll statement for the previous year online, stating whether it wishes to avail itself of the option to pay the premium in instalments.
If the employer meets certain legal requirements making it eligible for concessions or benefits, the employer must notifies Inail at the time of the self-assessment, and the insurance premium is paid net of these contribution reductions.
Inail always checks that the premium amount has been calculated and paid correctly. Penalties will be applied in the event of non-payment or late payment of the premium, or if less premium has been paid than is due.
B. CHECKING THAT CONTRIBUTIONS ARE UP TO DATE
The ‘Durc online’ service issues a certificate (known as a Durc) proving that you are up to date with your contribution payments.
The Durc simultaneously certifies that a company’s payments are up to date and that the regulatory requirements regarding the Inps (National Social Security Institute) and Inail have been met. For companies classified under construction activities and those required to apply a construction contract, it also certifies the construction workers’ funds, verified on the basis of the applicable legislation.
The service allows interested parties to submit a single query in real time to check whether a company is up to date with its contributions to the aforementioned bodies.
A Durc must be requested via the dedicated ‘Durc online’ service. You only need to provide the tax identification code of the entity to be verified and a certified email address (Pec) for receiving information on the status of the request.
If the entity searched for is found to be up to date with its contributions based on the legal requirements, the system certifies that the outcome of the check has been positive by generating a PDF certificate (with the title of ‘Durc online’), which is valid for 120 days from the date of the query. If a valid Durc has already been issued for the entity searched for and has not expired, the service will refer to the existing document.
If it is impossible to certify that contributions are up to date in real time, the Inps, Inail and the relevant construction workers’ fund will send a certified email to the person concerned (company, self-employed worker, etc.) or their intermediary, asking them to settle their account, providing details of the irregularities identified by each of the investigating bodies. If outstanding contributions are not settled within 15 days of receiving the request, a notice of irregularity is issued to the person making the query.
C. HOW TO INSURE NEW PARTNERS, EXTERNAL STAFF AND ASSISTANTS
Employers (including artisans) must submit a report (known as the DNA) to Inail containing the names of insurance beneficiaries if they intend to establish an employment relationship with external staff or assistants of family businesses, assistants of commercial companies or working partners in commercial activities and corporate companies, where they are not subject to prior notification of the establishment of an employment relationship.
The report must be submitted at least one day before the start of the employment relationship via the online beneficiary telematics service (‘Denunce-DNA Soci’) available on the Inail website www.inail.itunder ‘Accedi ai servizi on line’ (‘Access online services’).
D. COMPANIES WITH AN INSURANCE POLICY MANAGED BY ANOTHER INSTITUTION
A company that has not taken out an Inail insurance policy but needs to access the Institute’s online services in order to register workers’ safety representatives (RLSs), submit a production unit (UP) report, respond to calls for business-support incentive scheme (ISI) applications, etc., must register with limited functionality (‘light’ registration).
This type of user can use the Anagrafica Light (registration with limited functionalities) application by accessing the Inail website (www.inail.it) under ‘Accedi ai servizi on line’ (‘Access online services’).
The Anagrafica Light service is also reserved for anyone acting as an intermediary in dealings with Inail, and enables them to manage any companies they represent that are not subject to Inail contributions.
The application can also be used to access a list of client companies in order to display the registration details sent – highlighting companies that have ceased trading – and to change and insert certain parameters.
