working
in rome, italy
part 2
contracts and employee’s rights
When working in Italy, be careful about contracts - and make sure you get paid properly, because some Italian employers will flout the law, and if you work tax-free on the black market, you won't have any employee's rights. So tread carefully, and protect yourself at each step of your salary negotiation and job description.
Occasionally Romebuddy receives email from well-meaning people asking why we appear to have such strong ‘reservations’ about Italian culture. One reason, is that a few years ago, this writer worked for a 'respectable' company in Rome for two months, but never got paid. When we complained, they got nasty.
We were actually living and working here perfectly legally, so, with the help of other Italians, we took the matter to an employment tribunal – But the company didn’t even bother to show up for the hearing. Twice. That in itself would have been a civil offence, so it indicates that somebody somewhere got paid-off to bury our case.
As time wore on, we heard of several more expatriate employees who had been mistreated by the same company, a company which incidentally makes many public proclamations about the high ethics of its business practices, and treasures publicity photos of its directors meeting the Pope on more than one occasion. Thus, with their business methods apparently being blessed by the highest authority, (if not in the universe, then at least in Italy), Romebuddy can only assume to take their methods as representative in some measure of Italian business methods as a whole. With the unquestioned sanction of a company whose methods are demonstrably unethical and unChristian, since then, we've taken nothing for granted about doing business with Italians. So as the old Romans used to say, 'caveat emptor'. ('let the buyer (or the employee) beware...')
Thus, even if you do manage to get what at first appears to be a good safe job here, there could be later problems arising over such things as pay, tax, hours and your rights, or contractual and cultural misunderstandings over Italian working practices and business etiquette.
If you are living and working here legally, we recommend you insist on paying income tax. Your prospective employer may try to talk you out of doing so, but remember, he is only doing this to absolve himself from according you any employee’s rights, as well as saving himself money.
If for some reason you allow yourself to be talked into not paying income tax, then save a third of your income in a bank somewhere, ready to pay the Italian income tax people with independently.
italian work culture
Applying for jobs on spec online or in written form or trying to conduct business online with an Italian company is actually rather incompatible with Italian social and business culture. They are very open and friendly in business and would sooner meet you face to face, over a coffee, for a chat, not just about the job but about life, weather, family, fashion etc.
That means being here - If you're serious about finding a job in Rome, you'll have to fly over and test the water in person, as Italians don't put much faith or interest in bits of paper or online CVs.
Many Italian employers will favour EU (European Community) citizens because certain common laws, tax, health insurance and employment legislation exists between EU nations. The paperwork is easier for both the employer and you if you are already European. They can also hire and fire you easier, and pay you less than, say, a more demanding and tough professional highly qualified American might demand. At heart, Italians would sooner have someone from the Mediterranean gene-pool that they can boss around a bit more, rather than a hardball-playing foreigner. Take this into account at interviews. Be very, very enthusiastic about the job, trumpet your past successes by all means, but not in such a way as it makes you sound like a know-it-all foreigner who is gonna make all sorts of un-Italian demands once you get your foot in the door.
At an interview, you are sure to be asked why you want to work in Italy. Start thinking of some answers to that one now, before you come. If you can't think of a good answer, maybe you shouldn't even come...!
At the opposite end of the scale, with a massive sector of overqualified young people, Italy also now currently has a huge influx of non EU Third-World immigrants to whom it is happy to give the growing bulk of unskilled labour positions to, legally or otherwise. So if you were desperate for a foothold, you could find a job as a toilet cleaner relatively easily. Italians don’t worry too much about the same things we worry about when employing people. ie, the cleaner at my children’s state grade school is a convicted drug dealer...
Some lower-grade jobs that you might think would be easy to get are in fact off-limits to foreigners. For example, to work behind the counter in one of Italy’s street cafes ('bars', as they call them) is highly skilled work, for which you would have to be steeped in the traditions and culture of Italian snacks and beverages. It’s an art, comparable to mixing cocktails or hairdressing, not something you could just pick up in two weeks for a vacation job.
And jobs such as city street-sweeping are protected municipal posts, much coveted for their strong trade-union protection, and available to apply for only through national job ‘lotteries’.
Of course, Romebuddy assumes you are not intending to move to Italy to sweep streets. But if you wish to aim much higher than that, it should also be borne in mind that Italians, with their deep networks of nepotism and corruption will on the whole never allow a non-Italian into a top crème-de-la-crème job. However, that all nevertheless leaves a nice big wide niche of middle-professional jobs available to hard-working and flexible EU citizens, in preference to North Americans or Third-Worlders, although social and cultural ties with Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina are also strong in Italy.
Having said all this though, do treat Italian employers with respect. Don't come on llke some hotshot that knows better than they do. Much of our world culture and commerce today was cradled in Italy when other nations were still shooting arrows at each other. Italians do mostly try to be honest, they are a noble and ancient culture of scientists and artisans and still have an innovative and lively business culture employing some of the sharpest business minds and top engineeers, architects and designers in the world. You will learn much to your advantage here. Don't take anything for granted, but be polite, do as you would be done b,y and make the most of an experience potentially hugely enriching to both your career and personal life.
...click for more about working in rome, italy
