The latest provisions on balancing work and personal life have reached the Council of Ministers, which was bound to implement the European Directive no. 2019/1158, by last summer, which particularly focus on parental leaves and, more specifically, those granted to self-employed fathers and mothers. In view of a number of fundamental principles on which the European Union grounds its work (for instance, equality between men and women, the right to protection from dismissal connected with maternity reasons, the rights of children and persons with disabilities), the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the Directive, dated June, 20th 2019, "on the work-life balance for parents and caregivers repealing Council Directive 2010/18". Such document was reached following consultations with social partners "on the challenges of balancing work and family life", and it also serves as a framework for Member States called to implement the Directive at issue. The recitals in the preamble of the mentioned Directive indicate the reasons that led the European institutions to its adoption. More specifically, such recitals underline that fact that many working fathers tend to decline the leave they are granted since it would entail a lower income as well as possible complications about returning to the same position held before the birth of their child. Having clarified that, the Directive at issue specifically clarifies that its provisions are designed in such a way as to benefit the working fathers’ figure, thus preventing the possibility of one of the two parents making more use of the additional period of leave. Furthermore, the Directive no. 2019/1158 specifies that the equal benefitting of the granted leaves to working fathers and mothers depends as well on numerous factors such as, for instance, "the provision of accessible and affordable childcare and long-term care services, which are crucial for enabling" an easier return to the workplace. Moreover, although it is each Member State’s responsibility to establish and define the concepts of ‘marital status’ and ‘family’, as well as who and why should be considered 'parent' or 'mother' or 'father', the text of the mentioned Directive still encourages a fairer distribution of duties and tasks between the two figures, as well as additional times for fathers (or a second equivalent parent), during which prioritizing the bond with their child. Among its recitals, the Directive at issue recalls that all Member States are called upon to establish a minimum wage or an indemnity to be granted to parents in cases of absence due to the birth/adoption of a child, which shall at least be equal to the one provided, at national level, in the event of employees’ illnesses. Finally, there is a general reminder for each State to assess the implementation of flexible working conditions onto the special needs of specific categories of employees (single parents, adoptive parents, parents of children with disabilities or long-term illnesses or, in any case, parents in special circumstances, such as multiple and/or premature births). Given the above, the content of the European Directive no. 2019/1158 aims not only at a high-level pragmatism, but as well at a close proximity to the actual circumstances of the employees who will be treated accordingly. The final version of the Decree implementing the aforementioned Directive was approved by the Council of Ministers during the last month of June, when the individual Ministries approved some additional novelties, with specific reference to parental leaves regarding of working fathers and self-employed mothers. More in detail, the new rules dictated by the Legislative Decree no. 105/2022 (published last August on the Official Gazette) provide for more favourable treatment for employees with children: Section 27-bis, in fact, introduced compulsory paternity leaves lasting 10 working days, compensated at 100% of the salary normally received, to be use since the two months prior to the presumed date of birth and until the fifth month thereafter. In cases of multiple births, the leaves shall last for a total of 20 working days. As far as parental leaves are concerned, the renewed Section 34 of the Legislative Decree no. 151/2001, now grants an allowance equal to 30% of the normal salary and until the child's 12th birthday, for a total duration of nine months, three of which are reserved exclusively to the mother, the other three to the father (all reciprocally non-transferable), and three additional months to be alternatively enjoyed by both parents. As provided for by Section 32 of the Legislative Decree no. 151/2001, the maximum duration of parental leaves is still equal to six months for each parent (up to seven for the father, while the mother uses the remaining four) and a total of ten months (increasable to eleven, if the father has used at least three). The extension also concerns the lone parents, who may take parental leave for a maximum of eleven months, for nine of which he/she will be entitled to an allowance of 30% of the normal remuneration received. Finally, self-employed workers are treated according to the new Section 69 of Legislative Decree no. 151/2001, which now provides for a nine-month parental leave also addressed to working fathers; three of these nine months are granted to each parent (which are non-exchangeable), while the remaining three will be alternatively enjoyable by the mother or the father within the child’s first year.
2024 - Morri Rossetti
