In four years, Gruppo Veronesi pays out over €8,000 in bonuses to each of its 8,000 employees
In February, the group will pay a variable productivity bonus agreed with trade unions. This will cost over €60 million, and employees can also convert their cash into goods and services that improve their welfare.
Verona, 7 February 2019
Gruppo Veronesi, Italy’s leading integrated food production, processing and distribution group, has paid out over €8,000 in bonuses to each of its 8,000 employees over a four-year period. The 2018 variable productivity payments, laid down in contracts with unions, will be made from February onwards.
The scheme, known as Veroneasy Life, allows employees to receive the gross value of their bonuses in their pay packets and pay tax and social security contributions on them, or obtain all or part of them tax free and buy a wide range of goods and services that improve their quality of life. The services include additional health and social care, education, vouchers for petrol and other items, sports and recreation, tablets for students, babysitting, childcare, and leisure management.
Employees must decide by 15 February whether to join the welfare scheme. It covers over 80 percent of the workforce, and will be available to all employees after the next round of contract renewals.
“The productivity bonuses aim to involve all employees in achieving the group’s strategic goals,” says human resources director Giuliano Allegri. “The welfare scheme is important because it helps them to achieve a better work-life balance. Different people have different needs, so we’ve opted for a comprehensive welfare plan ranging from help with healthcare and education to leisure services. Corporate welfare schemes are increasingly complementing government provision, and companies must respond by using public- and private-sector resources to meet these needs.”
Employees choose their benefits by setting up accounts on www.veroneasylife.it, where they apply for the services they require and obtain reimbursement. The portal is divided into six sections: healthcare costs; training and education for employees and their families; other services such as school meals, transport, travel, and babysitting; social care for relatives aged over 75 or who are not self sufficient; additional social security benefits from the employee’s chosen fund; sports, recreational and cultural activities; and vouchers for electronic equipment.
The company also operates a call centre to advise employees on how to use the portal.
Gruppo Veronesi
Gruppo Veronesi is Italy’s leading integrated food supply chain, making, processing and distributing animal feeds and traditional Italian gourmet meat products. Its market-leading brands Veronesi, AIA and Negroni employ over 8,000 people at twenty-three factories in Italy.
The group achieved revenue of €2.97 billion in 2018, making it one of the country’s top five food companies by sales. In the same year, the company sold products to seventy-nine countries, and exports accounted for 16 percent of total sales.