Workplace injuries: INAIL issues new return-to-work instructions

Personnel Administration
Workplace Injuries: New INAIL Instructions on Return to Work, Prognosis, and Certification
INAIL

INAIL has issued new operational instructions on the management of medical certificates relating to workplace injuries, addressing certain practical aspects that directly affect the resumption of work and the associated administrative obligations.
The circular clarifies, in the first place, that medical certificates transmitted electronically to the Institute may be assigned various operational designations, but that such designations do not alter the legal status of the certificate or impose additional obligations. Their function is purely organisational.
Among the most significant aspects, it is clarified that a worker may return to work upon the expiry of the last prognosis period notified to INAIL, without the need to obtain a further “final” medical certificate. Only in specific circumstances will the Institute issue an additional medico-legal certificate, including by means of telemedicine.
A different regime applies to early return to work: in such cases, resumption is possible only if a doctor modifies the original prognosis by bringing forward its conclusion. The new instructions also apply to occupational diseases and are intended to harmonise procedures and simplify the administrative management of periods of absence.