Initiatives for the inclusion of people with disabilities
Intesa Sanpaolo carefully manages the inclusion of people with disabilities within the Group, guaranteeing an entry role suited to their skills and needs, as well as a professional development plan for the future.
The reference contact within the company to address all problems connected with the world of disabilities and illness is the inter-functional Working Group, created following the Inclusion Agreement of August 2018. Coordinated by the Welfare function, it includes the active participation of around 80 Group’s people representing multiple corporate structures. The aim is to combine the different professional skills with team working, in order to support and enhance the employees’ contribution and promote as much as possible a well-being condition and a support in the development in the company, also enriching the welfare tools in support.
The group periodically meets with the Trade Unions as part of the Welfare, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee to define the initiatives to be undertaken and works in synergy with the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Function. All the members of the group and a representation of all the trade unions participated in the Higher Education Training Course “Disability Manager and the working world” organised by Cattolica University of Milan, in order to lay the foundations for a common language, an important tool of work.
The Group’s commitment on the subject lies on the one hand in the management of individual reports from the Group’s employees and on the other hand in multiple activities such as monitoring issues with accessibility to computer systems, training and the organisation of cultural initiatives aimed at raising awareness and involving people on the subject.
The Cross-Functional Working Group (WG) carefully manages and analyzes individual reports through the Reasonable Accommodation process. This process includes necessary changes and adaptations, adopted when necessary, to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy and exercise all human rights and fundamental freedoms, on an equal footing with others. In addition, the WG works on various project areas: accessibility, communication, development of an inclusive culture, training, co-design that sees the direct involvement of Intesa Sanpaolo people.
2024 saw the strengthening of the identity of an additional affinity group aimed at disability issues: "ARTICLE 19 – Disability & Citizenship". Starting from a small group of people and growing progressively, it aims to develop content and ideas to improve the lives of people with disabilities and their families with the perspective of providing further contributions on the issues of disability and inclusion.
In this context, on the initiative of the Intesa Sanpaolo Philanthropic Entity Foundation, a mutual aid company – Ente del Terzo Settore – was set up with the commitment to provide initiatives in favour of the children with disabilities who are not self-sufficient of the Group's people.
In addition, there is an intense commitment to the outside world, with participation in the inter-company working group "Let's enable disability", in which Intesa Sanpaolo is present, to discuss the experiences gained, with the aim of deepening, consolidating and disseminating an advanced culture on disability management issues, as well as various conferences on the subject.
During 2024, in order to exchange experiences and co-design initiatives dedicated to inclusion, with a particular focus on disability, the International Banks Division (IBD) collaborated with the Group's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion structure in three face-to-face meetings involving all the Banks of the Division.
Intesa Sanpaolo has always put a constant commitment in making the Bank more and more accessible both in terms of spaces/places such as branches (physical accessibility for people with disabilities has been guaranteed in most of our agencies), both in terms of digital applications (mobile apps...) and physical (e.m. ATMs) that can be enjoyed by customers/colleagues with disabilities.
For over a decade, the Gallerie d'Italia has been constantly focusing its attention on the creation of content and support capable of promoting the accessibility and inclusiveness of its collections to people living in conditions of fragility and social hardship, in particular: tactile and Braille content, videos in LIS - Italian Sign Language - and dedicated tour itineraries created as part of the collaboration with Civita Mostre e Musei.
The tours are always free and are offered in all the Gallerie d'Italia locations: Milan, Turin, Vicenza and Naples and are designed with experts and associations in the sector, adapting them from time to time to the characteristics and needs of people with physical, cognitive and sensory limitations.
Other initiatives include "Visits of other senses" (with the first pilot launched in November 2022) and "Beyond the barriers" (starting in 2024). The first, created in collaboration with "Gallerie d'Italia", involves the Group's people with visual impairments in the role of sensory museum guides. The goal is to allow you to appreciate art from a different perspective and, above all, to encourage empathy by putting yourself in the shoes of others. The second, in collaboration with Innovation Center, saw the creation of a project related to accessibility in urban travel, finalist of the internal "#RealizzAbile" competition, which started as the first pilot with the involvement of the municipality of Turin and some start-ups. Participation in the aforementioned initiatives was respectively about 70 for museum visits and 44 teams participating in the competition.
Inclusion is also a key issue for the Group in the context of trade union bargaining, which has defined the Framework Protocol on Inclusion and Equal Opportunities since 2014, a prerequisite for a specific agreement, an integral part of the Group's second-level collective agreement.
The Inclusion Agreement provides, in addition to the promotion of the specific cross-functional working group that deals with issues related to the world of disability and disease, the launch of experimental projects, with the support of the Welfare, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee, aimed at promoting the employability of people with autism spectrum disorders. These projects are partially financed through the Rounding Up Solidarity initiative, which provides for the voluntary payment, on a voluntary basis by all the people of the Group, of the rounding up of the net monthly salary to the lower euro; the Company, in turn, pays the missing cents to complete the euro for each person in the Group participating in the initiative.
Dyslexia friendly company certification
In addition, Intesa Sanpaolo has received the Dyslexia friendly company certification since 2018, confirming its commitment to raising awareness of specific learning disorders (SLD). This commitment takes the form of the provision of specific webinars aimed at all the people of the Group, the presence on the intranet of guides, video clips, infographics and a self-assessment questionnaire for parents and families, useful for deepening the topic in all its facets and managing coexistence, with an improved impact on well-being and quality of life in all contexts.
People on long-term leave
As part of the initiatives to promote the inclusion and enhancement of the Group's people at different stages of their lives has been developed a path dedicated to colleagues who are absent from work for periods of more than three months (e.g. for maternity, expectation, illness...). The project was born with the aim of maintain a relationship of closeness and listening during absence, strengthening the sense of inclusion and belonging even in moments when you are away from the company. In 2024 it involved more than 500 people in an optional accompaniment path, with the aim of establishing a relationship of closeness with the person during the absence and encouraging a fruitful return to work.
Last updated 13 May 2025 at 15:17:54
