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Working hours in Italy

Offices in Italy typically run 09:00–18:00 local time, Monday to Friday. That is about 45 hours a week across 5 working days.

The week in Italy

  1. Mon 09:00–18:00
  2. Tue 09:00–18:00
  3. Wed 09:00–18:00
  4. Thu 09:00–18:00
  5. Fri 09:00–18:00
  6. Sat off
  7. Sun off

When can you reach Italy?

We use the time zone your browser reports. Change it if that is not where you work — the hours below are yours, not UTC.

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Working with Italy: what the hours do not tell you

Forty hours by law, forty-eight at most

Italian law sets the normal working week at 40 hours (Legislative Decree 66/2003, art. 3) and caps the average, overtime included, at 48 hours in any seven days (art. 4). Collective agreements can set a shorter week, and the national agreement for your counterpart's sector is what actually fixes their hours.

Source: Decreto Legislativo 8 aprile 2003, n. 66, artt. 3–4 (Normattiva)

The lunch hour sits inside the overlap

A 09:00–18:00 office day in Italy assumes an hour for lunch, by convention taken from around 13:00. The law itself only requires a break once the day runs past six hours, of at least ten minutes unless the collective agreement says otherwise (art. 8). For a caller in Northern Europe, that hour falls in the middle of the shared morning — a 13:30 call in Rome often goes unanswered.

Source: Decreto Legislativo 66/2003, art. 8 (Normattiva)

August, and the fortnight around Ferragosto

Every employee is entitled to at least four weeks of paid leave a year, and at least two of them must be taken in the year they are earned — consecutively, if the employee asks (Legislative Decree 66/2003, art. 10). Much of the country takes that block around Ferragosto, the 15 August public holiday, and many firms close outright for one or two weeks. Plan August deadlines as if half the month is missing.

Source: Decreto Legislativo 66/2003, art. 10; Legge 27 maggio 1949, n. 260 (Ferragosto)

Working with Italy

Hours you share with Italy, computed from each country's own working day rather than a blanket nine-to-five.

What this changes when you schedule

Italy keeps the Saturday and Sunday weekend, so the days line up with most of Europe and the Americas.

The day also runs later than the nine-to-five most tools assume: 09:00–18:00 rather than 09:00–17:00.

A national convention for offices. Individual employers, shift work and retail vary.

Sources and last check

Times, offsets and sun positions on this page are computed live from the IANA timezone database and the NOAA solar algorithm, so they do not depend on the review dates below.

Working hours and weekend days for 55 countries
Source: Published national labour conventions and government working-hours guidance. Last checked, reviewed every 12 months.
Not covered:A national convention, not any given employer. Countries not listed fall back to a nine-to-five, Monday to Friday default, and pages say so rather than implying we checked.

FAQ

What are normal working hours in Italy?

09:00–18:00 local time is the usual office day, about 9 hours.

What days is the working week in Italy?

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. The rest days are Saturday and Sunday.

Is Saturday a working day in Italy?

No. Saturday is a rest day in Italy.

Is Sunday a working day in Italy?

No. Sunday is a rest day in Italy.