Maternity Law has been modified by legislative decree n. 80/2015 which introduces new rules about work-life balance as provided by “Job Act”: according to it, employee with children are now entitled to take “parental leave” on a hourly basis as well as on a dayly or monthly basis.

In summary, employee can take parental leave for an amount of hours equal to half of the average working time refering to previous month to that in which parental leave  started.  Applications for parental leave must be sent through a special electronic procedure transmission as circular INPS n. 152/2015.

The INPS issued either the circular above and a subsequent message (no. 6704/2015), providing information about combining parental leave with other permits disciplined in our system.  The Institute pointed out that hourly parental leave can not be combined with other permits provided for Legislative Decree n. 151/2001, unless  collective labour agreement provides different rules specifically.
For instance, what follows can not be combined with parental leaves on a hourly basis:

• rest time for breastfeeding (art. 39 and 40 of Legislative Decree no. 151/2015),
• daily rest time for those who have children with severe disabilities (that may be required as an alternative to the extension of parental leave – former Articles. 33 and 42 of Legislative Decree no. 151/2015)
• further periods of hourly parental leave required for different children.

Unlike the above, parental leave on a hourly basis can be combined with permits or other measures that are not conteined in the Legislative Decree no. 151/2001, such as permission time recognized in order to assist relatives in condition of serious disability, underage too,  ref. art. 33, co. 3, Law 104/1992.