The Italian National Labour Inspectorate (INL) has issued Note No. 609 of 22 January 2026, providing the first operational guidance on the amendments to the credit license introduced under Article 27 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2008, concerning occupational health and safety.
Credit Licence: Deduction of points in cases of undeclared work
In the first part of the Note, the INL clarifies the amendments made to Legislative Decree No. 81/2008 (the Consolidated Occupational Safety Act) by Law No. 198/2025, converting the Labour Safety Decree 2025 (Decree-Law No. 159/2025) with respect to the credit licence.
The main changes concern:
- The deduction of points from the license in the event of violations relating to undeclared or “black” work.
Pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 4, letter (a), point 1, of Decree-Law No. 159/2025, for the violations referred to in items 21 and 24 of Annex I-bis to Legislative Decree No. 81/2008, the deduction of points takes effect upon notification of the inspection report issued by the competent supervisory authorities. - The consolidation of violations relating to undeclared work, previously listed under items 21 to 23 of Annex I-bis to Legislative Decree No. 81/2008, into a single offence identified under item 21.
This provision entails a deduction of 5 points for each irregular worker in respect of whom the maximum administrative penalty for undeclared work is applied, regardless of the number of days of irregular employment.
Item 24 of Annex I-bis remains unchanged, providing for an additional deduction of one point per worker where the offence is aggravated by the employment of:
- irregular foreign workers;
- minors below the legal working age;
- workers receiving state welfare or income-support benefits.
INL clarifications
With reference to point 1 above, the INL specifies that the deduction of points takes place upon notification of the single inspection report, without the need to wait for the issuance of a penalty order. If the authorities adopt subsequent measures of dismissal or annulment, they will reinstate the points previously deducted.
The INL clarifies that Article 27(6), last sentence, of Legislative Decree No. 81/2008 does not apply to calculating points deducted from the credit licence.” That rule limits total point deductions for multiple violations in the same inspection to twice the deduction for the most serious one.
This limitation does not apply because item 21 of Annex I-bis expressly provides for a deduction of 5 points for each irregular worker. The law aims to deter undeclared work by imposing stricter sanctions to better protect workers.
Finally, it should be noted that, pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 5, of Decree-Law No. 159/2025, the deductions from the credit license resulting from these amendments apply only to offences committed as from 1 January 2026.
For offences committed prior to that date, the deductions provided for under the previous wording of item 21, as well as items 22 and 23 of Annex I-bis to Legislative Decree No. 81/2008, shall continue to apply.