From babysitting bonus to smart work up to 16 years, up to 50% leave: all measures for parents with children at home region by region

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The government’s strategy to stop the race for Coronavirus infections in phase two of the health emergency has been developed on the basis of four Dpcm (October 13, 18, 24 and November 3), with gradually more restrictive measures.

Restrictive measures with an impact on families

A multi-stage squeeze that also affected families: after more than 5.6 million students returned to class on September 14 after more than six months of distance learning, with the resumption of infections, restrictions have gradually affected also to the schools, in a crescendo of limitations that led, with the last (to date) provision of November 3 and the consequent division of the national territory into three risk bands (yellow, orange and red), in the painful decision to proceed with compulsory online lessons in high schools. In the red zones, integrated digital teaching has also become mandatory for the second and third grade (therefore, in these territories, the lessons are present until the sixth grade). These measures have led the executive to put on the table solutions to support families who are forced to reconcile work commitments with the assistance of children left at home.

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The extra babysitter

One of the solutions the executive has resorted to is support for parents who, while working, are forced to find (and pay) someone to follow their children when they are at work. The nanny bonus “comes into play” for the first time with a measure in March, in the first phase of managing the epidemic. As a result of the suspension of educational services for children and educational activities in schools of all kinds, the Cura Italia decree offers, as an alternative to the use of parental leave, the possibility of opting for the payment of a bonus for the purchase of babysitting services. In May, another provision (the Relaunch Decree) modifies the discipline of the bonus for the purchase of babysitting services by introducing, as an alternative, the bonus for accredited enrollment in summer camps and complementary services for children for the period from the closure of school educational services until August 31 2020 next decree August states that the bond could also be used to “pay” grandparents who cared for their grandchildren.

After the last anti-contagion tightening, foreseen by the Dpcm of November 3, the executive gives the green light to Snacks bis decree (Dl 149, effective from November 9). Among the solutions provided, a nanny bonus in the global maximum limit of 1,000 euros in the red regions where the suspension of school activities in the second and third grade of lower secondary schools is expected. The bonus is recognized to members of the separate directorate or the mandatory special directorate of general insurance. It is attributed alternatively to both parents, only in the event that work performance cannot be carried out in an agile manner, and is subject to the condition that there is no other parent in the family unit who is a beneficiary of income support instruments in case of suspension or termination of work or of another unemployed or non-working parent. Support is also granted to parents of children with severe disabilities, enrolled in schools of all levels or housed in day care centers, for which the closure was ordered. The solutions of the Ristori bis decree also apply to adoptive parents. On the other hand, the bond is not recognized for benefits provided by family members.

Smart work more widespread

Another solution to meet the needs of families struggling with school closings is the extension of smart work. Already the decree August (Dl 104) allows parents to work remotely (or, alternatively, take advantage of a paid leave of 50% of salary) in case the child under 14 years of age is quarantined due to a contact with a positive occurred in the school. or during sports or recreational activities (the latter change caused by the conversion into law). In addition, the August decree in the passage to the Senate extends the right to smart work for parents with children with severe disabilities until June 31 of next year. With the decree Snacks one (Legislative Decree 137/2020), in force since October 29 and under review by the Budget and Finance Committees of the Senate, an employed parent can perform smart work during all or part of the period corresponding to the duration of the child’s quarantine . cohabiting partner, under the age of sixteen (and no more than the 14 provided for by the August decree).