# Annual, Personal and Long Service Leave in Australia vs Leave in Italy

> NES annual leave, 10 days personal/carer's leave and state long service leave vs Italian ferie, ROL, INPS sick pay and 12 public holidays.

Australian staff get four weeks of annual leave, ten days of personal/carer's leave and, after years of service, long service leave under state law. Italian staff get four weeks of leave too, but with more public holidays, extra paid hours off from the CCNL, sick leave without a fixed day count, and no long service leave. Full comparison on [Italy vs Australia](/italy-vs-australia.html).

## Annual leave

**Australia.** Full-time and part-time employees accrue **4 weeks** of annual leave a year based on ordinary hours (Fair Work Ombudsman). Some shiftworkers get a fifth week under their award. Leave loading, where it applies, comes from the award or agreement. Cashing out is possible only within the rules of the award or agreement.

**Italy.** At least **4 weeks** of paid leave a year (D.Lgs 66/2003). At least two weeks must be taken in the year they accrue, the rest within 18 months. Leave **cannot be paid out** while employment continues; only on exit. On top, most CCNLs add **ROL** (riduzione orario di lavoro) and ex-holiday hours, often several dozen hours a year for office staff , which act as extra paid days off.

## Public holidays

Italy has **12 national holidays** that can fall on a workday from 2026, including **4 October** restored by Law 151/2025, plus Easter Monday and the local patron saint's day. Work on a holiday is paid at a premium or replaced by a day off according to the CCNL. Australia's NES give public holidays set by state and territory law.

## Personal (sick) leave

**Australia.** Full-time employees get **10 days** of paid personal/carer's leave a year, pro rata for part-time, carried over if unused. The employer pays the full rate.

**Italy.** There is no fixed number of days. An employee who is sick is paid from day one with an online medical certificate sent by the doctor to INPS:

- Days 1–3: paid by the employer under the CCNL (often 100%).
- **Days 4–20: INPS pays 50%**, the employer tops up per the CCNL.
- **From day 21 up to 180 days: INPS pays 66.66%**, topped up per the CCNL.
- **Industry white-collar staff** get no INPS sick pay: the employer pays in full per the CCNL.

The job is protected for a **comporto** period set by the CCNL (often around 180 days in a year). INPS can send a doctor to check the employee at home during set hours. The cost to the employer is shared with INPS, but absence is open-ended until the comporto ends.

Carer's leave in Italy takes different forms: paid days for relatives with severe disabilities (Law 104/1992), illness of a child, and CCNL leave for family reasons.

## Long service leave

**Australia.** Most employees get long service leave from **state or territory law**, for example after **7 years** (it varies by state), and it is paid out on exit in many cases. The NES preserve these entitlements.

**Italy.** There is no long service leave. Seniority shows up instead in CCNL pay increments (scatti di anzianità), longer notice periods and the growing **TFR** balance. Budget for TFR rather than LSL (see [notice and redundancy pay vs TFR](/articles/australia-redundancy-pay-notice-vs-italy-tfr.html)).

## Working time

The NES cap ordinary hours at **38 a week** plus reasonable additional hours. Italy sets a 40-hour standard week, a **48-hour weekly average** including overtime, and **250 hours** of overtime a year unless the CCNL sets a different cap (D.Lgs 66/2003). There is also a right to 11 consecutive hours of rest a day and a weekly rest day.

## Side by side

| Leave | Australia | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | 4 weeks (5 for some shiftworkers) | 4 weeks minimum + ROL hours by CCNL |
| Payout during employment | Cashing out under award/agreement rules | Not allowed |
| Public holidays | State and territory list | 12 national + Easter Monday + patron saint |
| Sick leave | 10 days paid by employer | No day cap; INPS 50%/66.66% + CCNL top-up; job kept for comporto |
| Long service leave | State law, e.g. after 7 years | None; seniority in pay, notice and TFR |
| Ordinary hours | 38 + reasonable extra | 40 standard, 48 average maximum |

## Common questions from Australian companies

**Can we offer unlimited leave?** You can offer more than the minimum, but the four weeks must actually be taken and tracked. Unused minimum leave is a liability and an INPS issue.

**Do Italian employees work in August?** Many companies close for two or three weeks in August; collective leave is allowed if planned.

**What about leave loading?** No general equivalent; the 13th and 14th month play a similar role in the annual pay structure.

## Planning leave for an Italian team member

When you build a leave policy for Italy, start from the CCNL rather than from your Australian handbook. Check how many ROL and ex-holiday hours the CCNL grants, whether the company will close in August or over Christmas, and how leave requests are approved and recorded. Italian payslips show accrued and used leave and ROL balances every month, so the employee can see their position at any time. Remember that unused minimum leave cannot simply be paid out at the end of the year, and that accrued leave is paid out on exit together with TFR. For sick leave, agree an internal process for the employee to send the INPS certificate protocol number on the first day of absence, and accept that the employer cannot ask about the diagnosis. Long absences should be monitored against the comporto period in the CCNL, because once it is exceeded the employer may dismiss, while before that point dismissal for sickness is not allowed.

## What this means if you hire through an EOR

The EOR tracks leave, ROL and sick leave, receives INPS certificates and applies CCNL top-ups through payroll. You approve time off as with any team member. See the [Italian employment contract](/italy-employment-contracts.html), [other countries](/italy-vs-your-country.html), the [cost calculator](/calculator.html) or [contact us](/contact.html).

## Related guides for Australian companies

- [Paid Parental Leave vs Italian maternity and parental leave](/articles/australia-paid-parental-leave-vs-italy-maternity.html)
- [Modern awards and the NES vs the Italian CCNL](/articles/australia-modern-awards-nes-vs-italian-ccnl.html)
- [Superannuation and PAYG vs INPS and IRPEF](/articles/australia-superannuation-payg-vs-inps-irpef-employer-cost.html)

*General information, not legal advice.*

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Source: https://hiringitaly.com/articles/australia-leave-nes-long-service-vs-italy.html · 2026-11-10