Labour relations

The Group is careful to guarantee trade union freedoms and the right of association in representative bodies of workers, adopt complementary protection measures and recognise that all people have the opportunity to express their individuality and creativity in their work, enhancing the diversity and specificity of each individual, as a driver for innovation and an essential contribution to the Group's growth.

In line with the commitment enshrined in the Code of Ethics, the management model is based on agreements relating to national and second-level bargaining. Compliance with these rules, together with the regulatory and jurisprudential system of reference, is functional to the improvement of the working climate in a process of constant growth in the quality of relations between the Group and people.

The discussion and search with the trade unions for shared solutions - which protect the personnel involved, from an employment, professional and economic-regulatory point of view - constantly accompany the moments of reorganization and development of the operational and corporate structures of our Group.

As of December 31, 2024, a total of 89% of the Group's employees are covered by applicable National Collective Labor Agreements (CCNL), of which 100% are in Italy. In countries where collective bargaining agreement is not covered, the Group regulates its relations with employees in constant compliance with the provisions of local labour legislation.

With reference to the Italian perimeter, 76% of employees are members of a trade union.

Since its inception, the Group has been characterized by an articulated welfare system developed also through dialogue with the trade unions; the Group-level institutions, which find their synthesis in the Second Level Collective Agreement – renewed on 8 December 2021, are integrated with those regulated by the national collective bargaining agreement by offering colleagues:

• a system of guarantees – through supplementary pension funds and supplementary health care
• flexibility to reconcile life and work – through leave, leave, flexitime, part-time, etc.
• Subsidies and economic contributions - Provisions for family members with disabilities, non-occupational accident policies, loans, mortgages, meal tickets, scholarships
• "Youth Package" (dedicated to the under 30s) which includes an increase in the employer's contribution to supplementary pension for the first 5 years after hiring, a "first home bonus" and a "child birth bonus" payable within the first 10 years of hiring.

Since 2015, flexible working has been the smart working model of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. From the experimental phase to today, an ever-increasing number of people have gradually been involved, until the availability of the following has been established:

• an annual ceiling of flexible working days from home equal to 120 (extendable to 140 in specific cases)
• the possibility of working in specially set up company spaces, other than one's own office ("company hubs") and/or the customer.

Starting from 2023, thanks to an agreement signed with the trade unions, the possibility has been introduced in Intesa Sanpaolo to use the so-called short week (4x9) which allows its employees to work between Monday and Friday over 4 days for 9 hours for the same pay, and on a voluntary basis, compatibly with the company organization and technical and production needs.

Leveraging the experience gained during the emergency period and with the contribution of internal surveys, the banks within the scope of the International Banks Division (IBD) have launched new projects and flexible working models, in line with the provisions of local laws. Common elements of these initiatives are the identification of a number of days foreseen for flexible work, the revision of the layout of the spaces of the company offices based on new needs and the extension of flexible work to a wider population. The situation in 2024 sees the application by all banks in the International Banks Division perimeter of a flexible working mode for the central offices, with extension to the network for some of them.

The CCNL of Credit provides for different forms of part-time work, with several ways of distributing working hours: vertical, horizontal, mixed, cyclical, both fixed-term and open-ended, with weekly hours ranging from a minimum of 15 hours to a maximum of 32 and a half hours. In addition to the provisions of the law and the sector's collective agreement, the Group's second-level bargaining has over time defined priority criteria in accepting requests related to personal and/or family needs with a view to sustainability.

Overtime work. Intesa Sanpaolo has specific internal rules. The actual daily working time remains fixed, as a rule, at 7 hours and 30 minutes, and overtime is allowed only in specific and justified cases, approved by the Head of each office. In addition, with the renewal of the National Contract, the working week has been reduced to 37 hours on a weekly basis starting from July 2024. According to the legislation in force in Italy, overtime can be carried out within the maximum limit of 2 hours per day and 10 hours per week, and for the contractual regulations of the sector the annual limit provided for is 100 hours.

For professional areas, the flexibility tool of the time bank is contractually provided, into which the first hours of additional service are transferred for subsequent recovery, up to a maximum of 100 hours in total. Hours after the 50th can be paid on the basis of an annual option as overtime.

The Group's 2021 second-level collective agreement provides for additional tools to support parenthood, which complement what is already provided for at the legislative and national bargaining level in Italy. For example, we note: paid leave for participation in childbirth preparation courses, for the placement of children in nursery or kindergarten, for accompaniment to the Emergency Room and additional unpaid days aimed at assisting minor children, additional permits / welfare initiatives to support parenting and caregiving.

For fathers, specific additional paid leave is available for the birth of their children, and the recognition of an economic supplement of 10% of the paid portion provided for by law for parental leave, as well as the possibility of taking an additional 10 days of parental leave.

Second-level collective bargaining has strengthened inclusion and equal opportunities, extending the provisions to protect parenthood to civil unions, de facto unions and in favor of the spouse's children. In this context, a specific extraordinary paid leave has been introduced on the occasion of birth or entry into the family and an optional extraordinary leave for the care needs of the children of the spouse, the civil partner or the cohabitant, which can be used by the age of twelve, with an economic treatment equal to that provided for parental leave for fathers and entirely borne by the Group (40% or 90% of the salary).

To summarize, therefore, with reference to parenting support:

• The mother has extensive protections provided for by Italian legislation and enshrined 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 provided for by the National Collective Bargaining Agreement
  • up to 6 months of parental leave available up to the child's 12th birthday (30% of salary). From 2025 up to 80% of the salary for a maximum of three months, to be taken within 6 years of the child's life (in the case of compulsory maternity leave or compulsory and/or alternative paternity leave taken after 31 December 2024 - ref. 2025 Budget Law).
  • 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 childbirth preparation course and subsequently from tools, with different time extensions, to deal with the arrival of the child, support its growth and take care of it in case of illness. The reconciliation of life and work times for new mothers is also favored by preferential access to the institution of "part-time"
  • during the first year of the child's life, the working mother is entitled, on request, to two paid daily rest periods of one hour each, if the daily working time is equal to or greater than 6 hours, even cumulative; if, on the other hand, 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 16 fully paid working days available:
  • 10 working days of compulsory paternity leave provided for by Italian legislation
  • 6 working days of paid leave granted by the Bank
  • up to 6 months of parental leave available up to the child's 12th birthday (30% of salary).  From 2025 up to 80% of the salary for a maximum of three months, to be taken within 6 years of the child's life (in the case of compulsory maternity leave or compulsory and/or alternative paternity leave taken after 31 December 2024 - ref. 2025 Budget Law).
  • To support greater use of the tool by fathers, the bank has provided for an economic supplement of 10% of the paid portion required by law for parental leave.

Voluntary suspension

It allows the use of up to 20 days per year of suspension of work that can be used without having to justify their use, guaranteeing a salary of 35%, with payment of the corresponding social security contributions. It is also allowed to exceed the measure of 20 days per year for caregiving needs.

Time Bank

• Reserve of time made available by the company and the people of the Group to be closer to those people who find themselves, even for short periods, in difficult situations and to give them the opportunity to have extra time. The Time Bank is established annually with an initial ceiling of 65,000 hours and each person has the opportunity to donate some of their leave or holidays, which the company implements with an equal amount of time, up to a maximum of 100,000 hours in total.
• During 2024, multiple corporate volunteering activities were launched as part of the Time Bank, which allowed over 400 people to work on working days at associations and external bodies selected by the Group throughout the country.
• The hours of leave were a total of about 150,000.
• In 2024, more than 40,000 hours were donated by the Group's people, in addition to the hours made available by the company, for a total of approximately 155,000 hours, also taking into account the hours made available for unused holidays by staff terminated pursuant to the company agreements for voluntary exits.
• The time bank was expanded as part of the renewal of second-level bargaining in 2021 by providing for the possibility of use also for support for family members and relatives within the first degree, the elderly (over 75 years of age) or not self-sufficient, and introducing a new ceiling to assist the spouse, family members and relatives within the second degree during surgery.
• In relation to the serious flooding events that involved the Emilia Romagna and Marche Regions in October 2024, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Trade Unions signed an agreement, aimed at promoting donations to the Banca del Tempo to recognize paid leave to the Group's people who had to meet personal and family needs due to the flood and to allow participation in volunteering initiatives aimed at supporting the affected populations.

Discussions with trade unions are regulated not only by sector forecasts, but also by the Industrial Relations Protocol, which makes it possible to implement a specific model of trade union relations in the Group. The dialogue with the trade unions on company projects is constant, timely and aimed at identifying shared solutions with respect to the different needs that come to the attention of the Parties, also in line with the trade union representation in Italy (75.70% of the staff in service), in line with the national one in the sector. In 2024, more than 30 agreements were signed. Attention continued to be paid to the integrated welfare system, with particular regard to the issues of Supplementary Pension and Health Care.

The Group's Welfare has been enriched with the establishment of a new Third Sector Body, the Mutual Aid Society, which promotes mutualistic values and social solidarity. Among the first objectives of the Institution are the support of members who are in disadvantaged or difficult conditions, the Long Term Care insurance coverage in favor of family members not covered by the Supplementary Health Fund and the support of children with disabilities who are not self-sufficient of the people of the Group

The agreements reached make it possible to further enhance and expand welfare tools for the benefit of Intesa Sanpaolo people and their families, to improve the effectiveness of the company organisation and to define sustainable and differentiated labour policies even at different stages of working life, such as to create cohesion and solidarity between the different generations present in the Group. Also during 2024, the role and activity carried out by the Welfare, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee established following the Industrial Relations Protocol was fundamental; a bilateral body, composed of adequate company representation and trade unions, from time to time supplemented by technical components capable of offering specific skills with respect to the subject matter.

For all the Group personnel, with the exception of Risk Takers and Middle Managers, to whom specific incentive systems apply, a trade union agreement was entered into on 30 May 2023 for the payment of the 2023 Broad-based Short-Term Plan (PVR) with both distribution-ownership purposes, aimed at enhancing the contribution provided collectively to the achievement of the year’s results and to the achievement of the 2022-2025 Business Plan objectives, and with incentive purposes, in order to reward the team’s merit and performance. The 2023 PVR, which rewards increased profitability, productivity, innovation, quality and greater efficiency, confirms the principles of inclusion, merit and orientation towards sustainable results in the medium-long term as central values, in relation to the Business Plan. According to a redistribution logic, following the Bank’s excellent results, the Group will increase the total amount allocated to the 2023 PVR to 155 million euro (116 million euro in 2022), 25 million euro of which coming from the experimental incorporation into the incentive policy of the Protection Excellence System, which until now had not been subject to negotiation. The base bonus amount paid ranges from a minimum of 1,020 euro to a maximum of 2,750 euro, to which the excellence bonus units will be added. The 2023 PVR consists of two portions:

• Base Bonus, paid according to the professional role or seniority level, consisting of a fixed fee for all employees and an additional fee for income up to 37,000 euro
• Excellence Bonus, paid based on distinctive individual performance and team goals, consisting of two portions, one of which is dedicated solely to Network personnel involved in the provision of insurance products. In 2023 as well, employees who were absent for long periods of time continued to be eligible to participate in the Plan.

In addition, confirming the importance that the issues of assistance and services for families and work-life balance have in the Group’s policies, employees once again had the option of requesting that all or part of their 2023 PVR be recognised in the form of welfare services, taking advantage of the opportunities that the tax regulations in the area of workplace productivity remuneration offer employees year by year. Finally, with the agreement dated 9 June 2023, the Insurance Division personnel was paid a Variable Additional Bonus (PAV) and a Social Bonus.

In addition to these tools, in order to enhance the commitment and involvement of all Group’s people to the achievement of the financial, equity and sustainability objectives of the 2022-2025 Business Plan, the Group confirmed the use of Long-term Incentive Systems aligned with the time horizon of the same Plan and broken down by purpose, instruments and clusters. Specifically, two new long-term Incentive Plans were launched for all employees:

• the Performance Share Plan (PSP) reserved for the Management (including the Managing Director and CEO, the remaining Group Top Risk Takers and other Group Risk Takers) and based on shares paid on a fixed basis upon the achievement of specific performance objectives;
• the LECOIP 3.0 Long-Term Incentive Plan intended for professionals in Italy and based on Certificates with Intesa Sanpaolo shares as underlying.

These Plans, albeit according to different mechanisms depending on their respective cluster, include the ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance dimension (see page 56 – paragraph “Remuneration” in the chapter “Governance and risk management”). More specifically, the LECOIP 3.0 Plan, entered into with the Trade Unions in 2022, in continuity with the previous editions and to which around 45,600 Professionals participated, entailed the free assignment of Intesa Sanpaolo shares and allows the accrual of a capital greater than the initial investment, depending on the positive performance of the Intesa Sanpaolo share, inclusive of a minimum 4% return linked to the achievement of specific Group ESG objectives, calculated as a fixed percentage of the capital initially allocated.

Since 2015, the Group and the trade unions have shared the introduction of a Variable Result Bonus (VRB) which has integrated the component relating to the productivity of the staff as a whole into a single bonus with incentive systems aimed at enhancing excellent performance, providing for increasing recognition for the achievement of the expected objectives.

The company cooperates with the Trade Unions to define corporate training plans aimed not only at obtaining professional skills and complying with legal regulations, but also at enhancing the value of human resources.

The training activities’ targets include providing guidance and promoting individuals, as a growth factor of the company community.

These corporate training plans are frequently the subject of evaluation by the Welfare, security and Sustainable Development Committee, followed by specific arrangements with the trade unions aimed at seizing the financing opportunities offered by the Fondo Banche e Assicurazioni.

The renewal of the second level collective agreement, which took place on December 8, 2021, allowed for the confirmation and implementation of some tools in the field of conciliation, inclusion and sustainable development.