The law on employee participation in company management, capital, and profits – definitively approved by the Senate on 14 May 2025 – is pending publication in the Official Gazette.

In implementation of Article 46 of the Italian Constitution, the law governs four forms of employee participation:

  • managerial;

  • economic and financial;

  • organisational;

  • consultative.

Under economic and financial participation, the following measures are envisaged:

  • For the year 2025, the maximum amount of profit eligible for the substitute tax pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 182 of Law 208/2015 is increased to €5,000, provided that the share of company profits distributed to employees is not less than 10%, and the distribution is carried out under company-level or territorial collective agreements pursuant to Article 51 of Legislative Decree 81/2015;

  • Employers may introduce financial participation schemes for employees. These may include, in addition to the instruments set out in Articles 2349, 2357, 2358 and 2441(8) of the Civil Code, the allocation of shares in place of performance-related bonuses. For 2025, dividends paid to employees on such shares, up to €1,500 per year, shall be 50% exempt from income tax.