Working mums – the Jobs Act: will it favour reconciliation? (Io e il mio bambino magazine, no. 5 – may 2015)

The government has promised a great revolution, able to revitalise the floundering job market in Italy. But many doubts remain.
Will the Jobs Act really improve the conditions of working mothers? Or will it make them, as the critics say, more open to blackmail and precarious? Despite the many announced introductions, many of these still lack implementing decrees, which could in part change what is included in the law, without however affecting the general structure.

THE FUNDAMENTAL POINTS

LEAVE
Optional parental leave is extended until the child is 12 (currently until 8). Leave can also be used based on the parent’s choice, calculated hourly or daily. “Leave on an hourly basis was already included in the Fornero law”, explained Elena Cannone from Studio De Luca of Milan, specialised in employment law, which recently organised a convention to examine the Jobs Act. “But in reality not applied much because it was referred to collective bargaining. A step forward for conciliation: for example, a parent can take their child to the paediatrician or dentist without missing an entire day of work, only the time necessary. However, a negative point is the two day notice obligation, rather long, for hourly leave”. For unexpected circumstances, such as a sudden illness, it is necessary to continue to make other arrangements. Plus, use of hourly leave cannot be combined with other types of leave or time off. Instead, the reduction of the notice from 15 to 5 days for daily leave, is positive.
PART TIME
Once mandatory maternity leave is over, the mother – as an alternative to optional parental leave – can return to the company part-time. “The option, possible also for the father, can only be used once, until the child is 12, for a maximum of six months for each parent”, said Cannone. If both parents use it, the six months can be combined up to a maximum of eleven.

MATERNITY PAY
Maternity pay is also extended to freelance workers who, voluntarily, decide to stop working for a period of five months. “This opportunity is given to all those registered under the separate pension scheme”, said Cannone, “even those whose previous employers did not pay the contributions due”.

PREMATURE BIRTH
In this case, the days of mandatory leave not used before the birth are recovered at the end of the entire period. Even if the child is hospitalised, the period of mandatory leave is frozen for the entire duration of the hospitalisation and, again, the days are recovered later.

DEMOTION
This is one of the most controversial points of the Jobs Act and regards many women who return from maternity leave. “There is a substantial change of article 2103 of the Italian Civil Code which governed the issue”, said Silvia Torsella, employment lawyer in Taranto. “To date the demotion pact was considered null, even if the worker agreed, because it was suspected that her consent was extorted with blackmail. The Jobs Act has made it possible based on an agreement between the parties, without even the guarantee of maintaining the same salary level, which can be lowered”. And there is more. A horizontal transfer is also possible, i.e. a complete change in the type of work, based on organisational and company needs. For women who return from maternity leave there is a type of demotion “for their own good”. Torsella said: “It should serve to improve the woman’s life and working conditions, relieving her from duties which are burdening – for example, frequent business trips – due to the new conditions of the mother”. In reality this possibility was already included in the previous law, and it entailed a temporary change in duties, with a precise expiration, which the reform eliminated. “The sensation”, said Torsella, “is that the protection has shifted from the worker to the market, with the idea, still to be verified – that this will lead to more employment”.

Is demotion one step away from mobbing?
Not exactly. “Demotion is a marginal aspect”, said Torsella, “it is not enough alone to determine a mobbing conduct, which must continue over time and be accompanied by other hostile behaviour such as threats, harassment and slander. The employer’s aim to marginalise the employee must be proven”. Moreover, it must have caused damage to health certifiable by an occupational medicine doctor.

Source:
“Io e il mio bambino” – N. 5 May 2015