Paternity leave (congedo di paternità in Italian) has been introduced (experimentally and only temporarily) in Italy with the so called “Fornero bill” (Legge Fornero) that granted 1 (one) day compulsory paid leave to be taken within five months of the child’s birth.
Since then, the Italian legislator has extended this benefit and increased the number of paid days. The last Budget Law (Legge di Bilancio 2022) has brought the paid leave to 10 (ten) days to meet the requirements stated in Art. 4 (Paternity leave) of the EU Directive 2019/1158 (of 20 June 2019):
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that fathers or, where and insofar as recognised by national law, equivalent second parents, have the right to paternity leave of 10 working days that is to be taken on the occasion of the birth of the worker's child. Member States may determine whether to allow paternity leave to be taken partly before or only after the birth of the child and whether to allow such leave to be taken in flexible ways.
2. The right to paternity leave shall not be made subject to a period of work qualification or to a length of service qualification.
3. The right to paternity leave shall be granted irrespective of the worker's marital or family status, as defined by national
Paternity leave in Italy can also be taken at the same time of maternity leave. In fact, this benefit is configured as autonomous and additional to that of the mother.
The absence from work is paid entirely by the National Pension System (INPS) and it covers 100% of the worker’s salary (up to ten days of course) and it is taxed as standard remuneration.
Below you can find an example of the mandatory communication that has to be provided to the employer when requesting parental leave.
Spett.le ...
Oggetto: richiesta fruizione congedo di paternità obbligatorio ex art. 4 comma 24 lett. a) legge 92/2012.
Il sottoscritto ……………… nato a ……… il ……… codice fiscale ……… assunto in data ……… presso codesta azienda con contratto di ………
CHIEDE
con la presente la fruizione del/dei giorno/i di congedo di paternità obbligatorio previsto dalla vigente normativa nel/i giorno/i ……… a seguito della nascita di suo figlio ……………… in data ………
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