Maternity leave cannot become a financial penalty. This was established by the Taranto Labor Court, which recognized the discriminatory nature of the Ionian Local Health Authority's conduct toward an employee excluded from the productivity bonus during mandatory leave. The ruling, issued by Judge Maria Leone, concerns a healthcare worker who, in 2024, was first placed on early suspension for pregnancy and then on mandatory maternity leave.
During her annual performance evaluation, the health authority had labeled her "not assessable," effectively excluding her from the bonus payment. Assisted by lawyer Mario Soggia, the ASL employee—a member of the CISL FP union—then appealed, and the judges ruled in her favor. The court found "discriminatory conduct against a working mother who has taken periods of mandatory leave." Maternity leave, the ruling, which cites the protections provided by national and European law, states "is a legitimate impediment arising from a biological condition protected by the Constitution."
For this reason, "the period of mandatory maternity leave cannot result in financial or career harm." The Local Health Authority's argument that the employee's absence from work would make it impossible to evaluate her was also rejected. According to the Court, "the company has the obligation to adopt neutral calculation criteria," such as the average of previous evaluations or objective parameters. In this specific case, the judge ruled that the productivity bonus must be calculated using the average of the worker's scores over the previous three years.
"In the event of total absence due to maternity leave," the ruling further clarifies, "it cannot simply be stated that the bonus is not due, but the worker's theoretical performance must be reconstructed." The Court therefore declared the Taranto Local Health Authority's conduct discriminatory, ordering the payment of the productivity bonus with interest and revaluation, and ordering the company to also cover legal costs. "This ruling," commented attorney Mario Soggia, "reaffirms a fundamental principle: maternity leave cannot become a professional expense for a worker. The right to parenthood is a social value that the legal system must protect, not penalize."