After a nine-month break, the hypothesis of mandatory paternity leave is back on track in the Chamber, in the Labor Committee. For new fathers, four continuous days of absence from work within the first 3 months of the birth of the child.
The issue stalled last May. From the various bills a unified text was born to which the parliamentary groups then presented amendments. The subject was then passed to the examination of the select committee of the commission. Among the various problems, one of the nodes was – and still is – that of coverage. And the solution identified in the meantime was somehow canceled by the July maneuver, which drew among other things precisely on the fund that had been indicated to financially cover paternity leave.
In recent days, the minister of labour, Elsa Fornero, heard in the commission, has reopened a glimmer, saying she is in favor of mandatory paternity leave and willing to evaluate the possibility of regulatory interventions. And here, therefore, that the question has regained strength and reappears to the attention of the select committee of the commission which has reinserted the topic in the order of business.
A far from marginal problem remains that of the cost of the operation. It is not easy to quantify its extent or identify a single criterion for the workers who could be covered by this institution: not only employees, but also self-employed and freelance professionals, for whom different criteria and limits would apply. So it fluctuates between 150 million and 400-500 million, with the consequent problem of how and where to find this figure.
In establishing compulsory paternity leave, it is envisaged that "the working father is required to abstain from work for a period of four continuous days, within three months of the birth of the child, upon notification to the employer, to be made in the form written at least fifteen days before the starting date of the period of absence from work. The indemnity envisaged for this period is charged to the relevant social security system. For this period, the salary is equal to 100%".
The text finalized by the commission also intervenes on maternity leave, parental leave, adoptions and foster care with a view to supporting the family.
