A third of Italian SMEs provide for additional contributions to be paid by the company ai supplementary pension funds. 15,9%, on the other hand, adhered to social security insurance or company social security funds or open-ended funds. The data emerge from the first national report on welfare in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Promoted by Generali Italia, Confindustria and Confagricoltura, the study is based on the Welfare Index Pmi, the index that measures the level of corporate welfare in Italian SMEs. The research was carried out by the specialized company Innovation Team on a sample of 2.140 companies with 10 to 250 employees and concerns not only supplementary pensions, but also 9 other welfare areas.
HEALTH
According to the analysis, 30,4% of SMEs adhere to category health funds, while other solutions are envisaged in very limited cases: these are company health policies (4,4%), company funds (4%) and membership to open healthcare funds (1,8%). As many as 61,2% of companies do not have supplementary health coverage, even if health initiatives are starting to spread, such as prevention, check-up and diagnosis services (3,6%), company medical branches (1,4% ), and to a very limited extent, allowances for children's medical care (0,2%).
INSURANCE FOR EMPLOYEES AND FAMILIES
As far as insurance policies are concerned – which are taken out by around one out of two SMEs – the most widespread is that against accidents (48,5%), followed by life insurance in the event of death (22,8%) or travel abroad (16,3%), family or home insurance policies (1,5%) and job loss insurance (0,6%). 47% of companies do not provide any insurance.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND SUPPORT FOR PARENTS
Most SMEs (81,5%) have not implemented any initiatives in this area. Among the companies that have moved, by far the most widespread measure concerns the flexibility of working hours (15,8%). Much more limited recourse to interventions such as the complete integration of maternity leave (4,3%), additional paid leave (4,1%), telework (1,8%), support for the care of minors ( 0,4%) or the possibility of accessing company nurseries (0,4%) or affiliated nurseries (0,4%).
WORK-LIFE CONCILIATION
93,9% of SMEs have not taken any initiative in this area. The few company activities found concern sport, culture and leisure (1,8%), agreements with sports, recreational or cultural centers (1,8%), services for handling bureaucratic procedures (1,3%), company transport (0,9%), agreements with local transport (0,1%), nursery schools, play or after-school centers (0,1%).
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES
As for the insurance companies, this area also sees active about one SME out of two of those surveyed. The most widespread measures, as expected, concern the company canteen (21%) and ticket restaurants (15,7%), followed by agreements with restaurants (6,2%), subsidized loans and microcredit (4,9%), accommodation free or at subsidized prices (4,2%), agreements for the purchase of goods (2,5%), reimbursements for season tickets for public transport (0,6%), summer holidays or camps for children (0,3, 53,8%). XNUMX% of companies do not guarantee their employees any of these services.
TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR MOBILITY
This is the area of corporate welfare where initiatives are most frequent. In most cases it concerns basic (56,9%) and advanced (34,3%) vocational training. People enhancement activities are much less common: language training (15,3%), masters or business schools for talents (1,6%), scholarships (1,5%), study trips abroad (1,2 ,36). XNUMX% of businesses offer none of these benefits.
The initiatives for the training and mobility of the new generations are still in an initial phase and their diffusion is very limited: these are educational or professional guidance services (1,3%), awards for academic merit (0,3% ), reimbursement of textbooks (0,2%) and initiatives to combat early school leaving (0,1%).
SAFETY AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Safety is an area strongly controlled by legislative and contractual regulations, therefore the research concentrated on the specific and additional initiatives adopted by companies. The most frequent have to do with codes of conduct (in 28,2% of cases), information and educational activities (28,2%) and voluntary certifications (10,8%).
SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND SUPPORT FOR WEAK PEOPLE
53,1% of SMEs employ disabled workers and 49,5% non-EU citizens. And yet, only 11,8 of the enterprises put in place initiatives to favor the integration of the disabled and the support for non-EU employees is also very limited. The latter takes place mainly in four forms: assistance in bureaucratic procedures (8,7%), linguistic training (4,2%), assistance with housing (0,7%) and cultural mediation (0,6 %).
WELFARE EXTENDED TO THE TERRITORY
This area refers to the initiatives with which companies propose themselves as a reference for the community in the area. The activities are not particularly widespread but mark the beginning of a protagonism of SMEs: 10,1% offer contributions or support to voluntary initiatives, 5,8% organize recreational or cultural events, 3,1% found or support recreational or cultural centres, 2,4% create or support schools, 1,6% finance homes or lodgings. Minimal activities, on the other hand, in the transport (0,3%) and nursery schools (0,2%) sectors.
