Italian Legislative Decree No 151 of 26 March 2001 ('Consolidated text of legislative provisions on the protection of and support for maternity and paternity, enacted pursuant to Article 15 of Italian Law No 53 of 8 March 2000') prescribes measures to protect the safety and health of female employees during pregnancy and up to seven months of the unborn child's age.
In order to implement this protection, the employee shall notify her manager/director of her pregnancy when she becomes aware of it, in accordance with the provisions in force. Once having become aware of said status (the employee is exposed to risk factors hazardous to safety or health and for which the law requires verification of suitability, Italian Legislative Decree No 151/01, prohibited duties), the manager/director asks the Occupational Health Physician for an examination of specific suitability for the job by sending an email to one of the following addresses: sicurezza-spp@polimi.it, sonia.lavitola@polimi.it, silvia.rossi@polimi.it.
In the application there must be no reference to the person's state of pregnancy, but specific suitability for the job is required.
Pending the Occupational Health Physician's certificate of suitability and as a way to protect the employee, the manager/director shall not entrust her with any task that exposes her to danger or risks to her own health or that of the unborn child. This protection must also be applied when the employee returns from maternity leave, up to the child's seventh month of life, and in any case for the entire breastfeeding period (up to 1 year of the child's life).
Flexible Maternity Leave
Flexible maternity leave allows the employee to manage her five months of compulsory abstention from work and choose whether to
- work until one month before delivery and 4 months after – mode: 1+4 months – (Italian Law No 53, 8 March 2000)
- work until the 9th month of pregnancy and take maternity leave entirely after childbirth – mode: 0+5 months – (Italian Budget Law 2019 No 145/2018)
In both cases, the employee must submit appropriate certification that this option does not harm her health or that of the unborn child. The certification shall be drawn up by a specialist physician working within the National Health Service or contracted with it and dated:
- not before 29th week of pregnancy for the ‘1+4 months’ mode
- not before 32nd week of pregnancy for the ‘0+5 months’ mode
To benefit from the ‘0+5 months’ mode, the pregnant employee shall have previously applied for the ‘1+4 months’ mode.
In addition to the specialist physician's certification, authorisation by the Occupational Health Physician is also required for the purposes of prevention and health protection in the workplace. The employee shall obtain this documentation during:
- the7th month of pregnancy for the ‘1+4 month’ mode
- the8th month of pregnancy for the ‘0+5 month’ mode (subject to the dating requirement of the specialist physician's certificate)
To do this, please send the Prevention and Protection Service (sicurezza-spp@polimi.it), or to the Office of the Occupational Health Physician (sonia.lavitola@polimi.it, silvia.rossi@polimi.it) the self-certification form to apply for the certificate of suitability for continuation of working activity/flexible maternity
Both certifications should be forwarded to the HR and Organisation Department.