Paid employee leave (and leave), the complete list

The employed worker usually has the right to leave to justify his absence from work.
On the other hand, situations may arise in which you need a few hours, or a whole day, of leave so that you can attend to personal matters.
Leave is divided into two categories: paid and unpaid.
In the first case, as you can imagine, the salary is still due for the day of absence, calculated as when the work activity is regularly carried out.
And there is also the advantage that usually for the day of paid leave there is also contributory coverage, of a notional nature, valid for the purposes of acquiring the right to a pension, as well as being also considered for the calculation of length of service.
In this regard, it is important to clarify all those situations in which the employee can request paid leave.
As we will see below, in fact, there is not just one category of paid leave but several, each based on the needs of the worker.
On the other hand, there are various personal rights, expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, which are protected through the recognition of paid leave.
An example of this is the worker's right to study, for the protection of which a specific category of permits has been established.
Hence the importance of knowing exactly what paid leave is, so as to how to behave when a personal commitment prevents you from going to work.
Here is a guide which summarizes the most important paid leaves to use in case of need, so as to clarify how many days – or hours – are available, as well as the circumstances in which you are entitled to it.
Paid leave The relevant legislation What are Rol (Reduction of working hours) Former holidays Leave for bereavement or serious illness Leave for competitions and exams Study permits Permits for blood and bone marrow donation Leaves for personal reasons Leaves for elective public positions Leaves for employees at polling stations Marriage permits Permits for working parents Permits for those who assist family members with disabilities The relevant legislation To know the rules and methods of using permits, it is necessary to refer to two different sources of labor law: laws and collective agreements national labor unions (Ccnl).
The paid leaves regulated by law are valid for all categories of workers, public and private, and no collective labor agreement can cancel them.
However, individual sectors can regulate the matter in different ways by providing for more favorable (and never unfavorable) treatment towards employees.
Generally, all Ccnl provide for 32 hours of leave recognized for former holidays, while paid leave varies and differs not only by type of contract, but also by size of the company.
To give a practical example, in the Ccnl Commerce there are 56 hours of paid leave per year for companies with fewer than 15 employees, while for companies with more than 15 employees the leave rises to 88 hours per year.
To know precisely the paid leave you are entitled to, you must therefore refer to your Ccnl, in order to accurately understand your situation.
What are they Paid leaves are periods of time during which the worker is allowed, in particular circumstances, to be absent from work without losing pay.
These are permits that the employee or professional requests based on his needs which cannot always be easily granted to those of the employer.
The paid leaves to which an employee is entitled are the following: Rol (Reduction of working hours) Former holidays Bereavement or serious illness Competitions and exams Study Donation of blood and bone marrow Personal reasons Elective public positions Employees in polling stations Marriage Workers parents Assistance family members with disabilities Below we will analyze each of these permits, so that for each proposal the reason why it can be requested, the timing and characteristics are clear.
Rol (Reduction of working hours) The Ccnl grant each worker special paid leave known as Rol, an acronym for Reduction of Working Hours.
These are permits that accrue every month to the extent established by the relevant collective agreement.
The "Scotti protocol" of 1983, in fact, recognized the possibility for collective bargaining to regulate a reduction in working hours on an annual basis, thus determining the amount of Rol permits that the worker is entitled to.
Generally, the number of hours varies depending on the employee's classification and the tasks they carry out and may also depend on the number of employees in the company in which they are employed.
The rule, however, is that these are due only in the case of full-time working hours.
To understand how many Rol you have available, simply consult your pay slip: here the permits accrued up to the reference month, those enjoyed and the residuals (i.e.
those still available) are indicated.
read also How to read your pay slip: complete guide The accrual of these permits occurs as for holidays and therefore with a monthly amount which can be used starting from the month following the accrual.
To request the Rol you must therefore have accrued the number of hours you intend to use, subject to authorization from the company (as also happens for holidays).
Rol paid time off has an expiry date, within which it must be taken or paid for by the company.
The limit within which to use them is indicated by the relevant contract: in some cases it is December 31st of the year in which they accrue, in others June 30th of the following year.
Former holidays We also have paid leave for former holidays or canceled holidays.
This is a day of leave that is granted when one of the former holidays no longer recognized by our system falls on a working day.
In detail, the former holidays are the following: San Giuseppe (19 March); Ascension (39th day after Easter); Corpus Christi (60th day after Easter); National Unity Day (4 November); SS Peter and Paul of 29 June (with the exception of workers employed in Rome, where this is still recognized as a holiday).
Therefore, if one of these days coincides with a working day, the employee will be entitled to paid leave to use if necessary.
If the canceled holiday falls on a Sunday, the worker will not be entitled to anything.
Even former holidays, if not taken by the deadline, must be paid to the employee.
Leave for bereavement or serious illness Then there are the so-called bereavement leaves.
Public and private workers are entitled to 3 days of leave in the event of death or documented serious illness of a relative up to the second degree, as well as of the spouse (even if separated) or of the civil partner.
The worker must give prior notice regarding the days on which he will use the permit and the nature of the event for which it is requested.
Leave days must be used within 7 days of death or onset of illness.
Holidays and non-working days are not counted in the calculation of days.
The 3 days granted to the worker for mourning are annual.
Leave for competitions and exams Almost all national collective labor agreements in the public sector provide for 8 days per year of leave to take competitions and exams.
The permit is valid only for the same day of the exam and the worker is required to present a certification from the examining commission, duly stamped and signed, attached to the permit request.
Study permits There is another absence from work that is protected by law, namely when the employee needs a day's leave to take a school or university exam.
This is paid leave up to a maximum of 150 hours, which can be used within a certain time limit (usually 3 years).
This number of hours can increase to 250 if the worker needs them to complete compulsory schooling.
These permits are available not only to employees without a degree, but also to those who want to obtain a second qualification.
The permit is awarded to the employee regardless of the result obtained in the exam and also the time at which the test will be taken.
However, in the event of a request, any documentation must be presented to the employer who requests it.
Permits for blood and bone marrow donation The worker who wants to request permission to donate blood must have had a blood sample of at least 250 grams.
Each Ccnl establishes the methods and timing of the notice which the worker is required to give an account of.
The day of rest is 24 hours starting from the moment of the donation or from when the worker is absent from the workplace.
Furthermore, it is mandatory to present the donation certification signed by the doctor who carried out the sampling.
The worker is entitled to full pay and the employer can request reimbursement from INPS.
As regards bone marrow donations, however, the permits are valid for the time needed for the sampling aimed at identifying the genetic data, for the sampling necessary to deepen compatibility with patients awaiting transplant and to ascertain suitability.
to the donation.
The permit also extends to the days of hospital stay, established by the doctor, necessary for the worker to recover.
Leave for personal reasons In some Ccnl (such as that for school workers) 3 days per year of leave for personal reasons are available.
The cases for which it is possible to request permission are not specified, and the employer is not required to evaluate the reasons given or their existence.
The employer will only have to evaluate what organizational availability there is to grant permission to the worker.
Permits for elective public offices Thanks to the permits for elective public offices it is possible for public workers, employees and private individuals to be absent from work to participate in the sessions of the councils for which they have been elected: municipal council, provincial council, council of other local authorities and also of district councils but only for municipalities with more than 500,000 inhabitants.
The permit extends exclusively for the duration of the session and the time taken by the worker to reach the place where it takes place.
If the meetings take place in the evening, the worker cannot return to the workplace before 8:00 am on the day after the meeting, while if the meeting lasts after midnight the worker is exempt from duty for the entire following day.
working.
The worker must ask the bodies in which he was elected to produce the necessary documentation in order to certify the times of holding and ending of the councils.
Permits for employees at polling stations Even those who are called upon to carry out activities necessary for the correct conduct of an electoral competition (political, administrative elections or referendums) have the right to be absent from work on voting days.
These permits are granted to scrutineers, secretaries and polling chairmen, but also to list representatives: absence is granted on the day before the vote (usually Saturday), on the day before the vote (Sunday) and for the counting ( Monday).
If the latter has not yet been completed by midnight on Monday, then you will also benefit from a day off on Tuesday.
Leaves for polling station workers are fully paid and give the right to any compensatory time off.
read also 2023 electoral leaves: what you are entitled to, duration and right to rest and pay Leave for marriage When a worker gets married he is entitled to 15 continuous days of marriage leave.
It is important to specify, however, that these are not working days, but calendar days and therefore include Saturdays, Sundays and any holidays or days of rest.
The days of leave must be used preferably within 30 days of the wedding, making the request to the employer with plenty of notice.
This will then pay the entire marital leave on behalf of INPS.
Leave for parent workers When an employee becomes a parent he or she is entitled to several days of leave.
For example, mothers are obliged to abstain from work activities for 5 months by taking advantage of maternity leave; absence is paid at 80%.
For fathers, however, paternity leave is provided, 10 days of leave paid 100% by INPS.
Both parents can then request parental leave to meet the emotional and relational needs of the child in the first 12 years of his life.
Generally days of absence are paid at 30%, but the 2023 Budget Law introduced a month in which absence is paid at 80%.
read also Parental leave 2024, days, remuneration and news Since 2013, parental leave can be used by the hour: the individual collective bargaining agreements establish the methods of use, but the general rule is that the hours of leave are not less than half of the working hours.
This tool should not be confused with breastfeeding leave, i.e.
the hours of rest (1 or 2 depending on the hours of employment) that mothers can take advantage of in the 1st year of their child's age and which are paid 100%.
Finally we have the child's sick leave, i.e.
the days of leave that workers can request to care for their sick child.
However, for the majority of workers there is no payment for periods of absence; the only exception is represented by public employees for whom, until the child turns 3, the first 30 days of leave are paid at 100%.
Leave for those who assist disabled family members Law 104 recognizes that workers who have to assist disabled family members have the possibility of being absent from work for 3 days or – alternatively – 18 hours per month.
The days of leave are paid in full and covered by the notional contribution.
Even the employee with a disability is given the opportunity to request 3 days of paid leave every month, or alternatively 2 hours of leave (1 hour when working hours are less than 6 hours) every day.
read also Permits Law 104, the guide: requirements, duration and application