The Employment Ledger LUL (Libro Unico del Lavoro, or LUL for short) is a register required by law for employers to document employment relationships in Italy. It was introduced in 2008 by Decree-Law No. 112/2008 and replaces the previous payroll and staff registers (Libro paga and Libro matricola).
The Employment Ledger LUL contains details of employees, their wages and salaries, as well as their working hours and absences.
The following persons must be recorded:
Private households with domestic staff and businesses in which only the owner and assisting family members are employed are exempt from the obligation to maintain a unified payroll register, provided no other employment relationships exist.
The Employment Ledger LUL essentially consists of two sections:1. Wage and salary data
2. Attendance and absences
The Employment Ledger LUL therefore serves both to document payroll accounting and to provide evidence of employment and working time data to the supervisory authorities. Records must be made monthly, by the end of the following month at the latest.
Example: The payroll and attendance data for September 2026 must be recorded in the Employment Ledger LUL by 31 October 2026 at the latest.
The Employment Ledger LUL must be maintained electronically. In doing so, the legal requirements regarding sequential numbering and the immutability of the records must be complied with. Like all payroll and tax documents, the Employment Ledger LUL must also be kept at the company’s registered office. Alternatively, our office can be designated as the place of storage. This requires authorization from the accident office INAIL or notification to the Labour Inspectorate. We prepare the relevant power of attorney for you as part of the company formation process.
In the event of an inspection, the Employment Ledger LUL must be available for presentation to the relevant authorities. If it is held by an authorized external adviser, the latter must, present it within 15 days of being requested to do so.
The Employment Ledger LUL must be retained for at least five years from the date of the last records. Administrative penalties apply if the Employment Ledger LUL is missing, contains errors or has not been kept in accordance with the regulations. The amount of the penalties depends, in particular, on the nature and severity of the breach, the number of employees affected and the duration of the irregularities.