Govt opens option for firms to furlough workers due to heat

Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet on

Monday approved a decree enabling some firms to access furlough

funding to be able to temporarily lay off workers or reduce

their hours because of the intense heatwave Italy is currently

enduring.

The government passed similar measures in heatwaves in recent

years.

The number of Italian cities on the maximum red alert for the

heatwave climbed from 12 to 15 on Tuesday, with Venice, Viterbo,

and Ancona joining Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Florence,

Frosinone, Milan, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Turin, and

Verona.

Latina will go red on Wednesday, taking the total up to 16.

The health ministry's alert system has three levels in addition

to level zero, green, meaning there is no alert.

Level one, yellow, is pre-alert, while level two, orange, means

the temperatures and weather conditions can pose health risks,

especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the

ill.

Level three, red, means the heat poses a risk to the health of

the general population, not just vulnerable groups.

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