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Publication: 19 May 2026
What is it?
The allowance for daily rest periods ("breastfeeding rest periods") is payable to mothers and fathers who are employees.
It covers the hours of daily leave for the care of the child during the first year of life or, in the case of adoption or foster care, within the first year of the child's entry into the family.
Who is it aimed at?
It is aimed at male and female workers, including seafarers and civil aviation workers insured ex IPSEMA.
Domestic and home workers are not entitled to daily rest.
How does it work?
START DATE AND DURATION
Beneficiaries are entitled to:
- two hours a day of rest, if the working hours are at least six per day;
- one hour, if the working hours are less than six.
Rest periods double in the case of:
- twin or multiple births;
- adoption or foster care of two or more children, even if they entered the family on different dates.
If the child attends a nursery or other facility near the parent’s workplace which is made available by the employer, rest periods are reduced by a half:
- one hour, in the case of daily working hours equal to or greater than six;
- half an hour, in the case of a daily working time of less than six hours.
WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?
The allowance is equal to the salary.
Claim
REQUIREMENTS
The following requirements must be met:
- having a valid employment relationship in progress;
- the child must be alive.
The working father:
- may always request daily rest in the event that the mother is deceased or seriously ill;
- may request daily rest as an alternative to the working mother employee who waives the right to or is not entitled to rest;
- may not request it if the employed working mother is on compulsory or optional absence, or if she is absent from work due to leave of absence, unpaid leave or vertical part-time work breaks;
- may not request rest if the mother is not a worker;
- in case of multiple births, he can also use the additional hours during periods of maternity leave, during the period in which the mother would theoretically have been entitled to maternity pay after childbirth, and during the mother’s parental leave.
WHEN CAN I CLAIM?
The claim must be submitted before the start of the daily rest period and in any case no later than the limitation year.
For seafarers and civil aviation workers insured ex IPSEMA working for employers who choose to pay compensation with the CA2G adjustment, territorial jurisdiction for handling claims is determined by the insured person’s place of residence.
If the employer does not use the CA2G adjustment, territorial jurisdiction is determined by INPS circular no. 173 of 23 October 2015 (in Italian).
For events arising from 1 January 2026, once the option of employer advance payment (2G) has been exceeded, the provisions on advance payment by the employer and consequent adjustment (message no. 3368 of 10 November 2025 (in Italian)) also apply to this category of workers.
Territorial jurisdiction for handling claims is determined by the insured person’s place of residence.
HOW CAN I APPLY?
Female workers must submit the claim exclusively to their employer.
Workers who are entitled to direct payment by INPS (agricultural workers, entertainment workers on temporary or occasional contracts, workers on wage compensation schemes, including exceptional schemes) must also submit the claim to their competent INPS office.
Employees may submit their claim only online, to both their employer and INPS, through one of the following channels:
- dedicated online service, by clicking on "Use service";
- Phoning the Multichannel Contact Centre on +39 803 164 (free from Italian landlines) or +39 6 164 164 from mobile phones;
- patronage institutes, through the electronic services they offer.
Processing times of the measure
The deadline to define the decision was set at 55 days by the Regulation for the definition of the terms to conclude the administrative proceedings adopted by INPS pursuant to Article 2 of Law no. 241/1990.