This commentary discusses changes to INPS Circular’s parental leave benefits which will increase from 60% to 80% of wages starting in 2025. The enhancement was mandated by the Budget Law 2025, which increased the allowance for a month of parental leave from its current 60% to 80%.
The main updates include:
– First month, paid at 80% (previously established by Budget Law 2023).
– Second month, increased to 80% (formerly at 60%).
– Third month, raised to 80% (previously at 30%).
With this arrangement, every parental couple will have access to three months of wages paid at 80%. This could be used either individually or jointly, sequentially or concurrently. Subsequent months of parental leave continue to be compensated at 30%, while the final leave month might not be paid at all, apart from circumstances of extremely low income.
These new measures apply to working parents who finish their maternity or paternity leave after December 31, 2024, and who take parental leave from January 1, 2025, onwards. This also extends to cases of adoption or fostering. To be eligible for the three months of wages paid at 80%, a parent must be an employed worker.
Also, INPS reminds employees that periods of parental leave must be used within six years of the child’s birth (or within six years of the child joining the family by adoption or fostering, and certainly not beyond the child’s 18th birthday).
Lastly, applications for parental leave should be submitted exclusively online, via the official INPS portal, the Multichannel Contact Center, or through patronage institutes.
