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Sick pay for unemployed or suspended insured workers

Publication: 23/03/2022

Sick pay (indennità di malattia) is granted to workers when they fall ill and are temporarily incapacitated for work, which should be understood to mean their specific job, and is also paid out in instances of unemployment or suspension, albeit under different conditions and at a varying amount.

Sick pay may be granted for workers on permanent contracts who are unemployed or who have been suspended, provided that the illness arises within 60 days or two months from termination of employment or suspension.

A

n employee qualifies for sick pay on the fourth day they have been ill (the first three days are considered days of 'absence'). They will be entitled to sick pay until the end of the prognosis period (as soon as they are no longer ill). Evidence for illness may be provided in the form of one or more certificates. Sick pay is paid for every day covered by a suitable certificate and for no more than 180 days in the calendar yea

r.

S

ick pay may also be granted, provided that a suitable certificate can be provided, to cover periods of illness in which the employee is ordinarily hospitalised or admitted as a day pati

ent.

Fo

r unemployed or suspended workers, sick pay is reduced to two thirds of the percentage normally provided for the category that these workers fall under. If the worker is hospitalised, and where there are no dependent family members, sick pay is reduced to a further 2/5 for the entire duration of the hospital stay, excluding the day they are discharged, when the pay is granted in

full.

To qualify for sick pay, unemployed or suspended workers must request an illness certificate from their GP, who will then submit this illness certificate electronically online to the INPS. Workers must make sure to check that their personal and contact details that the doctor has entered are correc

t.

In the event that electronic submission of the illness certificate is not possible, unemployed or suspended workers must ask their GP to issue the illness certificate in paper form. The worker in question must hand in or send the illness certificate to the INPS no later than two days after the issue date of the note to avoid facing legal sanctions, which constitute the loss of entitlement to sick pay for every day of unjustified delay in sending the note after these two days have elapsed.

Hospitals are also required to submit certificates of hospital admission and illness certificates electronically. However, in the case of paper certificates of hospital admission and discharge certificates, these may be submitted to the INPS regional office after two days from the issue date, but in any case within one year of entitlement to the benefit. Certificates of hospital admission and certificates for day patients admitted to the emergency room with no details of diagnosis are not considered certificates for establishing entitlement to the social security be

nefit.

To qualify for sick pay, the worker must be present at their home address during the hours stipulated by law for home visits by an inspector to verify that the worker is effectively temporarily incapacitated for work. For every day specified on the illness certificate (including Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays), the worker must be present at their home address for an inspector's visit from 10 am to 12 pm and from 5 pm to 7 p

m.

If the worker is absent during the inspector's home visit, and this is not justified, sanctions will apply, with the worker receiving reduced pay for sick days:

  • ;
  • by
  • way of 50% of the sick pay for the remaining sick leave, for the second unjustified absence during the inspector's home visit;
  • .

O

n finding the worker absent during the home visit, the health inspector will leave an invitation in a sealed envelope for the worker to come for an in-clinic health check. If the worker is absent for the in-clinic appointment, this may give rise to sanctions for the second home visit.

During the prognosis period specified on the illness certificate, where strictly necessary, the sick worker may change their contact address, notifying the INPS promptly and in good time by one of the following methods (Message No 1290 of 22 January 2013):

  • ;
  • by
  • fax using the number of the regional office in ques
  • tion;
  • by calling the contact centre (on the freephone number 803 164 [free for landline calls from Italy]).