Labour relations

People are the core of this project: we would like to promote a profound cultural change, strengthening the relationship of trust and mutual responsibility between the manager and the collaborator, between the company and the worker, further favoring the reconciliation of private needs with corporate ones.

In specific situations, exceeding the maximum limit of 120 days of flexible working from home may be assessed, for example for personnel suffering from serious pathologies or with certified disabilities.

Within the scope of the International Subsidiary Banks Division, the Banks, by leveraging on the experience gained in the emergency period and with the contribution of internal surveys, launched new flexible working projects and models, in line with the provisions laid down by local laws. More specifically, in 2022, VÚB Banka, CIB Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Slovenia continued to implement new flexible working projects and models, while a pilot phase was completed in PBZ and extension to all the employees is currently being considered. Moreover in Banca Intesa Beograd the flexible working is also being extended. The common threads of these initiatives are the identification of a target number of days to work from home, the redesign of the layout of company office spaces on the basis of the new needs and the extension of flexible working to a greater number of people.

The Time Bank is a reserve of time made available by the company and Group’s people so they can provide greater support for employees in difficulty, even for brief periods, and give them more time. 

The Time Bank is made up of a reservoir fed:

• annually by the bank for 65,000 hours
• donations of holidays or leave from colleagues (starting from 15 minutes)
• company allocation of the same number of hours donated by colleagues, up to a maximum of 100,000 total hours.

In 2022, more than 22,000 hours were donated by Group people, to which were added the hours made available by the company (22,000), for a total of 109,000 hours.

The possibility for colleagues in difficult situations to draw on this reserve, was extended as part of the renewal of the second-level bargaining agreement in 2021, providing for the possibility of it being used also for assistance to the elderly (over 75 years of age) or dependent persons (family members and relatives within the first degree), and introducing, by way of an experiment, for the 2022-2023 two-year period, a total number of hours to assist spouses, family members and relatives up to the second degree during surgical procedures. In relation to the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Trade Unions entered into an agreement in March 2022, aimed at promoting donations to the Time Bank in support of specific voluntary and reception initiatives by the Group’s people. As part of the Time Bank initiative, corporate volunteering activities resumed in 2022, which led approximately 120 people to carry out volunteer work, on working days for external associations and bodies chosen by the Group. A total of 860 hours of leave were granted. 

In May 2023, a further agreement was reached with the trade union organizations to allow Group people to use the Time Bank in the flooded areas of Emilia Romagna, Marche and Tuscany and for organized volunteering activities. The Bank has made available an additional pool of 2,000 hours and an extraordinary time donation campaign has been activated by colleagues, which Intesa Sanpaolo will increase by an amount equal to the donations specifically addressed to this initiative.

Interventions to support maternity and paternity

The set of rules dedicated to parenting provides:

• paid leave to settle children in the nursery or kindergarten, to take them to the emergency roomfor and additional unpaid days aimed at assisting minor children in favor of separated or divorced parents, the exclusive guardians of children, as well as in the cases of widowhood and single-parent families .sothe exclusive guardians of children, as well as in the cases of widowhood and single-parent families
  
• permits for the assistance of children with specific learning disorders (SLD)

2022 saw the continuation of the process for the extension of the second-level bargaining agreement measures with the signing of two trade union agreements that strengthen inclusion and equal opportunities, extending parenting protection provisions to same-sex civil unions, de facto relationships and in favour of the spouse’s children. A specific paid extraordinary leave was introduced on the occasion of the child’s birth and an optional extraordinary leave for childcare needs in relation to the children of the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant. Similarly to parental leave for fathers, these leaves can be used by the child’s twelfth birthday with a remuneration equal to 40% of the salary paid by the Group.

With the renewal of the Second-Level Collective Bargaining Agreement, as of 2023 a new welfare contribution was introduced for each dependent child up to the age of twenty-four by way of a payment to the supplementary pension scheme position in the name of the same child, also providing for the possibility of using the amount by way of reimbursement through the “Conto Sociale” account. The same contribution will also be paid to families with foster children.

In terms of parenting support, the possibility of requesting financial aid was also extended to family members with serious disabilities, as well as to foster children, including for the children of the spouse/civil partner or de facto cohabitant.

Among the company welfare programmes, the so-called “Youth package” was recently introduced, which includes an increase in the employer’s contribution to the supplementary pension scheme for the first 5 years after hiring, a “primary residence bonus” and a “child birth bonus” payable within the first 10 years after hiring.

The Second Level bargaining then confirmed the tools for balance professional and family life by introducing some innovations in the light of the experiences gained:

• as part of the possibility of taking advantage of days of suspension from work, the opportunity is offered to increase - beyond the ordinary 20 and to meet specific family assistance needs - the number of working days for which the Company provides a substitute salary equal to 35 % of salary
• within the overall system of parenting support, which integrates and improves the set of leaves and permits guaranteed at the national legislative and contractual level, specific interventions have been envisaged aimed at encouraging the involvement of fathers in family care. For fathers, specific additional paid leave is available following the birth of their children, as well as the entitlement to an allowance of 10% of the sum granted by law for parental leave, and the possibility of taking 10 days of parental leave, and additional days of unpaid leave for the illness of a child or for other reasons.

To summarize, therefore, with reference to parenting support:

• The mother has extensive protections provided for by Italian legislation and included primarily in the Consolidated Law on the protection and support of maternity and paternity (Legislative Decree 151/2001): 
  • 5 months of compulsory maternity leave, with 100% pay envisaged by the National Collective Labor Agreement 
  • up to 6 months of parental leave available until the child's 12th birthday 
  • from the early stages of pregnancy, the Group's new mothers can also benefit from paid leave for prenatal examinations and for participation in the preparation course for childbirth and subsequently from tools, with different time extensions, to deal with the arrival of the child, support its growth and look after it in case of illness. The work-life balance for new mothers is also favored by the preferential access to the "part-time" institution
  • during the first year of the child's life, the working mother is entitled, upon request, to have two fully paid daily rest periods of one hour each, if the daily working time is equal to or greater than 6 hours, which may also be combined; if instead, the daily working time is less than 6 hours, only one hour of rest is due.
    
• The father, on the occasion of the birth of children, has at his disposal: 
  • 10 working days of mandatory paternity leave provided for by Italian legislation 
  • 6 working days of paid leave granted by the Bank for a total of 16 fully paid working days 
  • up to 6 months of parental leave that can be used up to the child's 12th year - to support greater use of the tool by fathers, the bank has envisaged an economic supplement of 10% of the paid quota envisaged by law for parental leave has been provided (30%).

In particular, the inclusion agreement identifies subjects (Welfare, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee and Interfunctional Working Group, Disability Management) and ways to promote a culture of attention to inclusion also through the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of work, as well as supporting initiatives in favor of colleagues during particular moments of private or working life. In this context, with the contribution of the Trade Unions in the Welfare, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee, methods have been identified, the experimentation of which, which began in November 2019, is now fully consolidated with support and facilitation actions upon returning from long absences .
In order to contribute to the financing of projects aimed at increasing the employability of people with disabilities, the same agreement confirmed the initiative called "Arrotonda Solidale", which provides for the voluntary payment by employees of the rounding euro cents salary, followed by the further payment by the Company of the supplement of 1 euro.

As part of active employment policies, in order to encourage new permanent hires - with particular attention to the branch network, Southern Italy and the disadvantaged areas of the country - and the contextual generational turnover, the Company is continuing the experimentation of the "mixed contract", an innovative way of carrying out the work activity that provides for the simultaneous presence of two contracts for the same person (one subordinate, part-time and one independent from a financial consultant). The first "mixed contracts" were activated in 2017, following the signing of the Protocol for sustainable development, and at the end of 2021 there are over 720 people in service with this type of contract.