Specialist medical visits, therapies and diagnostic tests are absences due to illness. This was confirmed by a circular from the Ministry of Health which takes remedial measures after a sentence by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court which cancels a circular from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
With circular number 2 of 2014, the Department of Public Administration had established that in order to carry out specialist visits, therapies or tests in the absence of illness, the employee would have to take advantage of personal permits, as he could no longer attribute the absence to illness. The Circular argued that since there is no longer an established state of illness for subsequent specialist visits, therapies and diagnostic tests, the employee should ask for a personal permit or other types of permit variously denominated by the national collective agreements in force.
But to contradict the position of the Department of Public Administration came the sentence of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court which re-established the previous discipline. In essence, therefore, absences from the service for visits, therapies, specialist services and diagnostic tests of employees must be attributed to illness according to the criteria and methods already applied previously.
