Border Worker's Right to Maternity Benefit (cross-border guide)

Context

The Court of Cassation with judgment no. 18960/2024 found that the unemployed Italian frontier worker in her country of residence, although she has worked exclusively in Switzerland, has the same right to maternity allowance as a worker who has worked in Italy. The interesting question that involved the Ermellini family saw the I.N.P.S. appeal against the ruling of the Court of Appeal that had confirmed the acceptance of a request for maternity allowance for a worker who crossed the border daily for work. In particular, the social security institution complained that the exclusivity of the work performed abroad had been neglected during the encumbrance and that, as a border worker, the worker had been granted an insurance relationship in Italy suitable for the aggregation of the requirements for obtaining the measure.

Operational details

The judges of Piazza Cavour have highlighted that the case in question is governed by European Community Regulation 29/04/2004, no. 883/2004/EC, applicable as a result of Decision 1-2012 of the Joint Committee of the European Community and the Swiss Confederation. The regulation offers protection to migrant workers by means of the accumulation of working periods in the different Member States, guaranteeing equal treatment between them. Specifically, Article 11 (c) provides that a person receiving unemployment benefits under the legislation of the Member State of residence shall be subject to the legislation of that Member State. In the present case, the worker was unemployed in Italy at the time of the request for the maternity allowance. Consequently, the competent State was the Italian State. Moreover, Article 6 of the aforementioned Regulation provides that the competent institution of a Member State - whose legislation makes the acquisition, maintenance, duration or recovery of the right to benefits, admission to the benefit of a legislation, or access to compulsory, optional continued or voluntary insurance or exemption therefrom, subject to the accrual of periods of insurance, employment, self-employment or residence - shall take into account, to the extent necessary, periods of insurance, employment, self-employment or residence completed under the legislation of each

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Key points

Thus, it is concluded that the border worker residing in Italy and working exclusively in Switzerland, already a beneficiary of the unemployment benefit payable by the Italian social security institution, is entitled to the maternity benefit under the same conditions as the worker who has worked in Italy, the non-performance of work in Italy being irrelevant.

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