The 2026 APBN Law changes the terms of use parental leave: reference period during which parents have the possibility to request extended work leave. Current rules provide that it can be requested during the first 12 years of a child’s life. Starting January 1, 2026, use will be extended to children aged 14 years. In addition, several innovations will also have an impact on the leave given if a minor is sick.
New provisions on parental leave
In contrast to mandatory maternity leave or paternity leave, parental leave allows parents to obtain a period of time Optional abstention from work. The aim of this action, to summarize it as closely as possible, is to enable parents to care for their children during their first years of life, to meet their emotional and relational needs.
When they work as employees, parents have the possibility to earn afinancial compensationafter submitting a special request to INPS.
The Budget Law of 2026 – keep in mind that at the moment the text has not been definitively approved – introduces a series of very important innovations: The “Consolidated text for mothers and fathers” was changed. The goal is to extend the time period during which parents have the opportunity to take time off work and receive financial compensation.
Parental leave, at least according to current legislation, allows parents to be absent for the first 12 years of their child’s life, but from next year this leave can be taken until they reach the age of 14 (or for 14 years from that date).adoptionbut never beyond the age of 18 years old children).
This innovation extends to all forms of leave provided by law, including any disability cases.
How long is the optional abstention period?
For employees, parental leave lasts in its entirety 10 months, which becomes 11 if the father is continuously absent for three months. The mother has the possibility of receiving benefits for a maximum of six months and the father for a maximum of seven months (if he is absent for at least three continuous months, otherwise six months).
If there is only one parent, he or she is entitled to eleven months. During the first three months the allowance is 80% of salary, then drops to 30%.
Sick leave has also changed
Starting next year there will also be several changes regarding leave disease from small children.
Article 47 of the “Combined Law on Motherhood and Paternity” regulates that both parents – alternatively between them – have the possibility of not coming to work while their child is sick, for a maximum period of 3 years. Both parents – who are always alternatives to each other – have the possibility of being absent from work forever 5 working days per yearin the case of sick children aged between 3 and 8 years.
The budget bill intervenes precisely in the limits that have been introduced by the law we have just seen: provided there are no further last-minute changes, parents will have the possibility of not working and making maximum use of sick leave 10 days throughout the year, for every child between 3 and 14 years old. In short, they will have double the number of days available throughout the year.
