By circular message No. 92/2026, INPS intervenes on the economic treatment granted to workers in the event of sickness, providing new guidance concerning the start date of the prognosis period to be specified in the medical certificate – certifying temporary inability to work – for the purpose of recognising the relevant daily allowance.
Notably, INPS has specified that, with effect from 4 September 2026, economic protection for sickness is recognised from the day immediately preceding the issue of the medical certificate where the illness is verified by the doctor not only through a home visit, but also through an outpatient visit.
The previous position of the Institute is therefore superseded (INPS, circular message No. 134368/1981), which in any event remains applicable until 3 September 2026 and under which recognition of the daily sickness allowance began alternatively:
– from the date on which the medical certificate was issued by the attending doctor;
– from the day immediately preceding the date on which the medical certificate was issued, where the attending doctor had carried out a home visit.
The above extension of economic protection, which also applies in the event of continuation or relapse of the sickness, is subject to the worker’s attending doctor issuing a medical certificate in which the field ‘declares that he/she has been ill since…’ is completed by indicating the day immediately preceding the visit.
This extension is, however, excluded where the day immediately preceding the date of issue of the medical certificate is i) a weekday public holiday or ii) falls on a Saturday or Sunday.
By explicitly referring to the current organisational context of the national health service, INPS adopts this broader approach in order to ensure effective social security protection for workers also in cases where the attending doctor is unable, for organisational or care-related reasons, to attend the worker’s home by the day following the onset of the illness or to receive the worker at their surgery.
Economic treatment and waiting period
Unless otherwise provided for in this regard by the applicable NCBA, the daily sickness allowance is due:
– from the employer for the first three days of the prognosis period, being the waiting period, calculated according to the above criterion;
– from INPS from the fourth day of the prognosis period.
We remain available for any further clarification.