Statutory paid leave in Italy: a list with sources and rules
Blood donation, polling stations, public office, prenatal exams, nursing breaks, exams: Italy's statutory paid leave with source, rule and how to record it.
Published 4 min read
Vacation and ROL are the balances payroll checks every month, but they are not the only days of paid absence. Some leave comes directly from the law, applies to everyone whatever the collective agreement (CCNL) says, and has to be recorded separately. Here is the list of leave we checked against the legal texts, with the rule in brief.
Paid leave granted by law
| Leave | Source | Rule in brief |
|---|---|---|
| Blood and blood-component donation | Law 219/2005, art. 8, pars. 1-3 | Time off for the whole day of the donation, on normal pay with social security contributions credited. If the donor turns out to be unfit, pay is guaranteed for the time needed for the checks. The transfusion centre issues the certificate. |
| Polling stations (chair, secretary, scrutineer, party representative) | Presidential Decree 361/1957, art. 119 (text replaced by Law 53/1990, art. 11); Law 69/1992 | Employees may be absent for the whole period of the election operations; the days of absence count as working days. For public holidays or non-working days within the period, they are owed extra pay components or compensatory rest. |
| Local public office (councillors, executive boards, committees) | Legislative Decree 267/2000, arts. 79-80 | Absence for the length of meetings, travel included. Some offices get up to 24 more working hours a month (48 for mayors and certain other offices). The employer pays the absence; for a private employer the cost falls on the local authority, which reimburses on a documented request. |
| Prenatal exams | Legislative Decree 151/2001, art. 14 | Paid leave for prenatal exams, clinical tests and specialist visits that must take place during working hours. The employee submits a request, then the documents showing date and time. |
| Nursing breaks (riposi per allattamento) | Legislative Decree 151/2001, arts. 39-40 | In the child’s first year, two one-hour breaks, or one if the daily working time is under six hours; they count as working hours. Half an hour each if the employer provides a nursery or similar facility. Fathers qualify only in the cases listed in art. 40. |
| Exams for working students | Law 300/1970, art. 10, pars. 2-3 | Paid daily leave to sit exams, university students included. The employer may ask for certificates. |
| Bereavement or serious illness | Law 53/2000, art. 4, par. 1 | Three working days a year. See Bereavement and family leave in Italy. |
| Caring for a person with a severe disability | Law 104/1992, art. 33, par. 3 | Three days of leave a month. See Law 104 leave in Italy. |
The table is not exhaustive: it leaves out leave we could not verify on official sources, such as leave for witnesses or lay judges. The rules are summarised, so the text of each article prevails.
What is not statutory
- Marriage leave (congedo matrimoniale): length and pay have to be checked in the CCNL. INPS pays an allowance only to some categories of manual workers, such as those in industrial and craft firms: confirm it with your payroll consultant.
- Study leave (the “150 hours”): it comes from collective agreements, where they provide it, not from the law: amounts and conditions are those of your CCNL.
- ROL and ex-holiday leave: contractual. See ROL and ex-holiday leave in Italy.
A CCNL may also grant extra days or different conditions on top of statutory leave: always read your agreement.
How to record them in the absence calendar
The principle is simple: one code per type of leave, without touching vacation or ROL.
- Create an absence type for each item you actually meet: blood donation, polling station, public office, exams and so on.
- Pick the right unit. Donation, polling station and exam are days; prenatal visits, nursing breaks and public-office leave are often hours. For balances and vacation in hours see Vacation and leave in Italy.
- For polling stations, separate the holidays. If the period includes public holidays or non-working days, decide with your consultant whether to pay the extra components or give compensatory rest.
- File the document with the request: the transfusion centre’s certificate, the authority’s attestation for public office (art. 79, par. 6), the exam or visit paperwork.
Mistakes to avoid
- Recording them as vacation, ROL or “generic leave”. You would use up a balance that should not be touched, and the consultant would not know how to treat the item on the payslip.
- Forgetting the polling-station holidays. Non-working days in the election period have their own treatment.
- Not collecting the documents. Certificates and attestations matter in case of checks.
- Stopping at the law. The CCNL may provide better conditions or further leave.
How Chrono Desk does it
With Chrono Desk you can create your own absence types, tracked in days or hours, one for each statutory leave. For each one every employee sees entitlement, used and remaining, and absences appear in the team calendar. In the report they stay separate from vacation and ROL, ready for the payroll consultant; in the timesheet they show next to hours worked.
Want to see how it fits your collective agreement? Talk to us.
This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from your payroll consultant or the rules of your collective agreement.
