Buying A Hotel In Italy: Legal Aspects Of Investing In A Hotel Business In Italy

John Norton and Valentina Giarrusso consider the legal challenges that foreign hotel investors and corporations usually need to face when considering to buy a hotel in Italy or expand their business operations in Italy.

This article briefly compares the legislative framework and legal differences between the Italian and the English jurisdictions: for more information, contact the authors directly.

There is a plethora of laws, regulations and codes to consider before becoming or for that matter being a hotelier. There is a minefield of bureaucracy to understand, ranging from licensing rules to food hygiene and fire regulations. Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law if something goes wrong. The cost to remedy breaches of the law can range from criminal and civil actions (including fines) and even imprisonment for more serious breaches. Below, are just a few examples of legal matters to which any hotelier must adhere.

A. Employment Matters

UK: Anyone employing staff must comply with employment legislation. Major pieces of legislation which must be considered include:

The National Minimum Wage Act; The Working Time Regulations; The Employment Rights Act; and The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (if a hotel is to be taken over, a prospective buyer must observe the existing staff's terms and conditions of employment). It is an employer's responsibility to check that someone taken on is entitled to work in the UK. There are fines for employers who employ illegal workers because they have failed to make the necessary checks.

It is inevitable that accidents happen in public places including hotels. Unfortunately in these current times of litigation and blame culture it's important to mitigate the threat of being sued (whether founded or unfounded). One of the most important areas of hotel insurance is public liability insurance which most insurance providers will provide as part of an overall package deal. Similarly under the Employer's Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 employers must be adequately insured for their employees as well as display the insurance certificate inside the hotel.

ITALY: In the hospitality sector, national federations of labour unions pensions and employers' organisations are signatories to national collective bargaining agreements. The terms constitute effective de minimis standard employment provisions which apply regardless of whether the particular parties to the relevant employment contract are members of the local branch of...