The Group is creating a coherent and well-structured welfare system to meet the needs of the different personnel segments and to extend the best practices to the whole Group and is also involving the trade unions in this process. The programmes that have already begun are implemented though a series of initiatives focused on the needs of the individual and household.
With the Covid-19 emergency, the primary and immediate concern of Iren Group was to protect the health of the employees and their families and, given the impossibility of providing services requiring an in-person intervention, some suggestions were periodically circulated for the use of welfare services left available that could help in some way to take care of themselves and support new and unforeseen needs in the immediate future, given the need to modify or suspend everyone’s usual activities, both physical and cultural and entertainment.
The health emergency has led to the emergence of new social challenges and needs, with particular regard to the difficulties of access to health care, conditions of social and economic insecurity, new ways of organising work (smart working) and the problem of reconciling work and family. This situation has resulted in changes and new ways to develop the corporate welfare plan. Therefore, the Group has decided to carry out an internal survey in 2021 to collect data on the welfare and health of employees and their families.
Quality of life for quality of work
The Group pursues a management policy that promotes and supports the correct balance between professional and private life, providing its employees with a range of opportunities that allows them to reconcile work commitments and personal needs (flexible working hours, teleworking, smart working, part time, ultra-daily flexibility, additional leave up to a maximum of 2 days to be taken, even by the hour, within the year of maturity resulting from the replacement of part of the performance bonus, short leave and short paid leave, integration of compulsory maternity leave, conciliation desks).
Thanks to these experiences of flexibility and the launch of a robust digitalisation process in the human resources area, the Group has responded effectively to the new needs of the corporate population related to the pandemic and the resulting lockdown, using all available forms of reconciliation.
Smart working: adopted from 2018 to better balance private and professional life, in 2020 it took on a different and more articulated meaning: firstly, it represented the possibility of maintaining the Group’s production capacity and operational continuity, despite the Covid-19 emergency, also reassuring personnel about any risks of job loss as happened in other sectors and, secondly, it was a fundamental element of protection of employees from the risk of infection. The implementation, which would have been more gradual, was transformed into a “live” experiment of massive adoption of smart working (3,166 people involved), which met with considerable success also because it made it possible to test both the resilience of the technical system (by way of example, but not limited to, the rapid adoption of portable PCs, use of new collaboration tools, revision of consolidated work processes in the light of the new digital skills) and the social system, testing on a large scale relationship of trust and joint flexibility and providing truly significant experiences, otherwise challenging to experiment with.
Remote Working: Group employees can take advantage, on a voluntary basis, of part-time remote working, which was introduced to the Company with specific agreements. The Group prioritises requests motivated by work-life balance needs (caring for children and the elderly, personal or family member health problems, the distance between their home and place of work, etc.). In 2020, 98 employees worked from home.
Part time: all employees can request part-time hours (horizontally, vertically, or mixed), on a voluntary and always reversible basis, without the exclusion of the benefits provided for employees with full-time contracts.
| Part-time contracts (no.) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Women | 250 | 262 | 235 |
| Men | 90 | 85 | 38 |
| TOTAL | 340 | 347 | 273 |
Initiatives for employee welfare
With a view to promoting the well-being of its employees, the Group has chosen to meet employees’ needs in terms of health and conscious consumption in eight operational company cafeterias.
Concerning the Covid-19 emergency, a series of new safety and hygiene measures were implemented to allow, as far as possible, the use of company cafeterias: hygienisation of spaces, use of personal protective equipment, placement of plexiglass on tables to protect diners, restriction of access. Disposable plastic materials, which had been eliminated concerning the “Mensa sostenibile” [Sustainable Cafeteria] project, were once again made available and, with a view to a “plastic-free” service, given the persistence of the emergency during the year, more eco-sustainable solutions were evaluated to replace the plastic cutlery with metal cutlery wrapped in paper. This solution reduces the production of waste that would have been produced in any case, even through the use of compostable cutlery. As usual, careful checks and sampling were carried out to verify compliance with contractual and legal provisions in defence of health, with particular attention to the quality of the raw materials used.
Additionally, the Group has implemented a benefit scheme to improve the quality of life of its employees: meal vouchers and discounted dining in the local areas, company cafés offering regulated prices (closed for most of 2020 due to the Covid-19 emergency), indoor parking for private cars, and subsidised tariffs or contributions for buying subscriptions to the local public transport network.
All employees are offered, voluntarily and following an agreement with the trade unions, the possibility of allocating part of the 2020 performance bonus to corporate welfare initiatives, benefiting, in this case, from a surcharge. By accessing the Iren Welfare Portal, it is possible to obtain, within the limits of the amounts allocated, refunds and/or goods and/or services in the following areas: family, healthcare fund, mortgages, supplementary pension, sports, culture and leisure, trips.
The Iren Welfare Portal, starting from July 2020, has taken on a new configuration, and special webinars open to all employees have been organised to ensure the most effective use of it and provide support and assistance.
More than 6,300 employees are already registered with the new portal, which, in 2020, managed approximately 1,701,000, Euro of which 264,833 Euro related to the disbursement of the budget allocated under the “Covid Presence Award”. This award, shared with the trade unions, was exceptionally set up for 2020 to recognise the efforts made by employees who, during the lockdown period, carried out their operational activities every day to ensure the continuity of services.
In 2020, as part of the projects aimed at employee well-being, the Group decided to promote, in collaboration with a wellness provider, an innovative path geared towards improving employee health by encouraging physical activity and making available a flexible and convenient platform, which has more than 2,300 sports facilities in Italy (yoga, swimming, pilates and more), which can be attended with a single monthly subscription. The agreement guarantees the Group’s employees discounted rates and subscription plans of up to 60% off the market cost.
As part of this collaboration, the Group’s wellness provider has made new digital solutions available in response to the needs created by the pandemic to help people stay active and fit at home.
As part of its mobility management activities, in 2020, the Group launched a project that involved employees at its main offices in Genoa, La Spezia, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Turin and Vercelli, submitting a questionnaire aimed at collecting data on home-work journeys and also aimed at finding out about mobility needs and identifying possible changes. Given the particular moment of emergency, it was considered essential to know the methods adopted for home-work journeys in order to be able to identify any new needs or criticalities. Examination of the responses to the questionnaire concluded during the year with the drafting of the Home-to-Work Travel Plans (PSCL) required by the relevant legislation, which constitutes the Group’s Home-Work Mobility Plan, a tool for analysing and developing a set of valuable measures for rationalising company personnel travel in order to improve mobility. Starting in 2020, moreover, each employee can, through the implementation of a self-booking tool, search, book or purchase travel tickets in real-time, in complete autonomy and compliance with company policies, doing a comparative search between the various travel services customarily required to manage a trip (flights, trains, hotels and car rentals).
Finally, all employees have the option of purchasing some of the IT and telephone equipment that they currently use at discounted rates, in the case of replacement when they become obsolete or when they terminate their service.
Prevention programmes
Iren Group promotes the health of its employees by facilitating access to a series of services and specific initiatives as part of a broader Health and Prevention Programme.
The Welfare Project continues, offering the possibility of a voluntary two-year preventive health check-up for an individual contribution of 10 Euro, which is donated in full to Local Health Authorities. The project is structured in two phases (“Health Project” and “Heart Project”) (programme promoted by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità) and aims to identify, through laboratory examinations and a visit aimed at preventing cardiovascular risk, the main health risk factors in relation to age and gender.
In 2020, 316 employees were checked, compared to the 1,500 employees who had joined the project, since, due to the health emergency and the consequent need to prioritise compulsory health obligations, the planned visits were suspended and will resume in 2021.
In 2020, in relation to the period of the health crisis, the “Iren Health Day” took place in live streaming from the Teatro Regio of Turin, through a talk show dedicated to employees and their families, realised within the initiative “SaluTo2020 – Medicina e benessere”, born thanks to the collaboration between the School of Medicine of the University of Turin, the City of Turin and the Polytechnic University of Turin. For Iren, the theme of the meeting was “Health in the Covid-19 era: good habits for well-being, in the office and smart working”. The talk show was attended by authoritative experts who spoke about good habits to keep in smart working, eat in the office and at home, highlighting the importance of the regular physical activity to combat the “couch” syndrome.
Supplementary pension coverage
Since the legislation reforming the supplementary pension system came into force, employees have been able to decide how to use their employee severance pay. They can either leave it with the company or put it in one of the pension funds provided for by law, which supplements the compulsory government-managed pension and thus ensures a higher coverage. Due to the number of participants, the ones that stand out are the pension funds established by collective bargaining, which can only be joined by workers applicable for certain collective agreements. The main funds for Iren Group employees are as follows: Pegaso (electric or gas-water National Collective Labour Agreement), Previambiente (environment National Collective Labour Agreement) and Previndai for executives. As part of the unification and standardisation process for economic and regulatory treatment, in order to promote the value of supplementary pension funds among young people, for employees hired on permanent contracts or apprenticeships an additional payment is made every year to the supplementary pension scheme in which they are enrolled.
On 31 December 2020, 6,810 employees had joined the supplementary pension funds to which the Group had paid a total of 3,495,398 Euro during the year, by way of contribution at its own expense.
Employees can also make use of a pension support and advice service.
Personnel insurance coverage
Almost all employees in junior management, white-collar and blue-collar positions are insured by a policy stipulated by the Group for death or total or partial permanent invalidity due to accidents at and outside of work. Furthermore, special insurance policies have been taken out in the event of death and/or total permanent invalidity resulting from non-occupational illness for electricity and gas-water sector employees, in accordance with the provisions of the respective National Collective Labour Agreements. Insurance coverage in the case of accidents (even ones which occurred outside of work and in the case of occupational illness) and life insurance are provided for all executives, as per the provisions of the Confservizi National Collective Labour Agreements for Executives. As of 2020, a new policy has also been taken out to cover damages involuntarily caused to third parties by the executive or his/her family members in the performance of activities relating to private life (insurance cover for “head of household” liability).
Supplementary healthcare
Through their membership to supplementary healthcare funds, healthcare coverage is given to employees in relation to their National Collective Labour Agreement (FASIE for personnel employed on a gas-water contract, FASDA for personnel employed on an environment contract). The National Collective Labour Agreement for the electricity sector provides for the payment of contributions to CRAL associations for healthcare activities. In Parma, and for members of the CRAL ARTA association in particular, employees can join a prevention programme that includes specific health checks. Specially constituted funds manage the payment of healthcare benefits that ordinary members (employees) and their dependants can benefit from.
All executives, for whom primary healthcare coverage is provided by their membership to Fasi, are also supplied with supplementary health insurance which refunds additional healthcare costs that are not reimbursed by Fasi.
Advance on employee severance pay
Employees may benefit from better conditions than those provided by the legislation in force by applying for an advance of their employee severance pay more than once to pay for healthcare, to buy their first house, renovate a property, restructure or modify buildings in order to remove architectural barriers and in other specific cases.
Pension benefits
Retired employees, and their dependants, can remain members of Group leisure, cultural and sports associations and thus take advantage of a significant part of the offered services. Retired executives, whose last working relationship elapsed while holding the position of executive, which lasted not less than one year, can keep their subscription to the Fasi supplementary healthcare fund and make use of the benefits provided. The healthcare also covers any dependants and, in the case of their death, those who hold survivors’ pensions.
The electricity sector National Collective Labour Agreement provides for additional monthly payments to the leaving entitlement for employees who leave service with 40 years of contributions or are 60 years of age.
Leisure, cultural and sporting activities
Through the company leisure clubs, which are present in the various areas, recreational, leisure, sports and cultural activities were offered to employees in 2020, with the limitations arising from the pandemic. Aiming to increase sociability between employees, the following are available: the Employees’ Recreational and Cultural Club in Genoa, Adaem and CRAL AMIAT in Turin, the Quercioli Club in Reggio Emilia, CRAL AMPS and CRAL ARTA in Parma, CRAL ENÌA in Piacenza, the CRAL ADAM in Vercelli and the CRAL ACAM in La Spezia.
Some associations contribute to the educational expenses of employees’ children, as well as allowing school books and stationary to be purchased at discounted prices. The clubs also enter into commercial agreements in the areas of interest to allow employees to purchase products and services at discounted prices.
The clubs are almost entirely funded by the Group, which also makes the spaces and equipment required to carry out the activities available to them through a special free loan.
In regard to the regulations of the CRAL, discussions are under way with trade unions in order to harmonise the various economic and regulatory treatments provided by company supplementary agreements which have been subject to withdrawal.
| Contribution paid (Euro) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Leisure activities | 927,495 | 847,690 | 769,632 |
| Healthcare activities | 2,346,442 | 2,250,435 | 1,972,327 |
| TOTAL | 3,273,937 | 3,098,125 | 2,741,959 |
N.B. The personnel data contained in the Sustainability Report do not contain the data of the former Unieco Environment Division.
