The legislature, through Decree-Law No. 30 of March 13, 2021, provided compensated leave for the care of cohabiting children under the age of 14 in cases of:
SARS Covid-19 affected children;
In contact quarantine;
With in-person teaching activities suspended.
On the other hand, this leave may be used without age limit for the care of children with disabilities in a situation of seriousness ascertained in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1, of Law No. 104 of February 5, 1992, enrolled in schools of all levels for which the suspension of in-person teaching activities has been ordered or housed in day care centers for which closure has been ordered.
Such leave may be taken by employed parents in the private sector in the only cases in which the work performance cannot be carried out in agile mode and as an alternative to the other parent living with the child. In the case of a severely disabled child, the cohabitation requirement is not required.
An allowance equal to 50 percent of salary is recognized for periods of abstention taken, and the periods are covered by imputed contributions.
For parents of children between the ages of 14 and 16 years, there is the right to abstain from work without payment of pay or allowance, nor recognition of figurative contribution, with prohibition of dismissal and the right to job retention. In this case, however, the relevant applications for abstention from work must be submitted only to employers and not to INPS.
The leave applies to employed parents. Therefore, both self-employed parents and parents enrolled in the Separate Management Fund are excluded from the measure.
The leave may be taken by only one of the parents or by both, but not on the same days, for periods of SARS Covid-19 infection, for the period of contact quarantine, wherever it occurred, or for the period of suspension of educational activity in the presence of the cohabiting child under 14 years of age. The cohabitation requirement and the 14-year age limit do not apply for the care of children with disabilities in a situation of gravity ascertained in accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 1, of Law No. 104/1992, enrolled in schools of all levels for which the suspension of educational activity in attendance has been ordered or housed in day care centers of an assistance nature for which closure has been ordered.
Requirements for taking leave for children without severe disability
In order to be eligible for the leave in question, the following must exist all of the following
requirements:
the parent must have an existing employment relationship. In the absence of employment from which to abstain, the right to leave does not exist. It follows that in the event of an intervening termination or suspension of the employment relationship during the taking of a period of the leave in question, the right to the leave itself is forfeited and the days following the termination or suspension cannot be compensated. For these reasons, the parent must promptly inform the Institute of the change in the employment relationship;
the parent should not be able to perform agile work, as the leave in question is only available in cases where it is not possible to perform agile work;
the child for whom the leave is taken must be under the age of 14; therefore, upon the child's 14th birthday, the leave may no longer be taken;
the parent and the child for whom the leave is taken must be cohabiting throughout the period of the leave. Cohabitation is considered to exist when the child has registered residence in the same household as the requesting parent. Therefore, if the parent and the child are registered residents in two different homes, the leave cannot be taken, as the de facto situations are not relevant. In the case of custody or placement of the child, cohabitation is inferred from the order of custody or placement to the worker requesting the leave;
one of the following conditions must exist in relation to the child for whom the leave is taken:
Covid-19 SARS infection, resulting from certification/attestation of the general practitioner or pediatrician of free choice, or from a measure/communication of the territorially competent ASL. All the aforementioned documentation must indicate the name of the child and the duration of the prescriptions contained therein;
Child contact quarantine (wherever it occurred) ordered by order/communication of the prevention department of the territorially competent ASL;
The suspension of in-person teaching activities ordered by an order adopted at the national, local or individual school facilities, containing the duration of the suspension.
Requirements for taking leave for children with severe disabilities