For those who live with a severe or chronic disability, it can be tricky to conciliate work tasks and the need to undergo treatments, therapies and so on. We already talked about the permits foreseen by the 104/92 law, that is three days a month (that can also be used in hours) that can be requested by the employee with a severe disability or who takes care of a relative with a severe disability. But there’s also another option, that can be certainly useful when, for instance, you need to undergo ongoing cycles of physiotherapy: the treatments leave, regulated by the art. 7 of the 119 legislative decree, July 18th 2011.
who is eligible for the treatments leave?
The treatments leave can be requested by amputee or legally disabled employees whose working capability is reduced by over 50%. The leave gives right to 30 days per year, that can be used also not consecutively (but not on a hourly basis), to undergo, for instance, cycles of physiotherapy, respiratory or oncological treatments. The treatments leave is paid as foreseen by the specific national category contracts for sick leaves and isn’t counted in the time of respite, being considered apart from it.
how to request the treatments leave?
In order to benefit from the treatments leave, the employee must request it in writing to his employer, including the documents certifying his disability degree (and, thus, his working capability reduction) is higher than 50% and the request written by his general practitioner or by a specialist working at a public health establishment, certifying he needs that specific treatment due to his specific disability. Moreover, at the end of the treatments, the employee must also present the documents released by the specialist or the health establishment where he undergone them, to certify he has actually benefited from them.
In any case, if you’re interested in requesting a treatments leave, I suggest you to carefully check what your specific national contract says about it and, if needed, to ask a welfare agency for consultancy.