Hera, ‘Good work agreement’ for the quality of procurement and the well-being of employees
Here is "the company of the future", after 8 months and a night of negotiations
BOLOGNA – “With this agreement we take a position, as a group and as trade union organizations, towards an inclusive and sustainable future, of valorisation of people. Sometimes the confrontation is been tiring, but significant value emerges from the harsh comparisons. After eight months and one night, important for adding the last pieces, we consider this agreement a point of reference” also for the sector at a national level and beyond. Thus Alessandro Camilleri, central director of Personnel and Organization of the Hera group, illustrating today the“good work pact” reached and signed with the unions, in the Bologna headquarters, after eight months of negotiations at the table.
The “five pillars” of the agreement are health and safety (already above average), integrated supply chains and procurement, < strong>equity and inclusion, wellbeing, professional development and productivity, sustainability and shared value. After the successful strike of May 6th, another one was coming, scheduled for June 24th, ultimately averted by the agreement reached on June 19th at 2 am. The company and confederal and trade unions (national and local) agree in defining it today as a “broad, innovative and pragmatic” document, effectively unknown so far within the sector in Italy, given that it records 2,600 hires< /strong> (of which 200 internalisations) by 2027 (out of over 10,000 total employees, 95% permanent). With an increase in the performance bonus of 225 euros per year, but also 60 million euros of training and many initiatives, new or relaunched, of permits in favor of worker-parents, continuous learning in the company (150 hours per year of study permits, also on courses recognized by the MIUR), flexibility and smart working, combating gender violence.
The company selection qualification system is also renewed, which has been “cutting edge” since 2016, with a chapter dedicated to procurement for the many companies that collaborate with Hera which provides for more controls and inspections on construction sites, as well as a relaunch on health and safety: the commitment, again in the period 2024-2027, in this latter area is to carry out over 400,000 hours of training by investing 20 million. In addition to Camilleri, in a press conference with the unions today, the executive president Cristian Fabbri and the head of industrial relations Fabrizio Pancino spoke about it for Hera.
On the other hand, speaking for the unions are Ilvo Sorrentino (national Filctem-Cgil secretariat), Massimo Cenciotti (national FP-Cgil secretariat), Romeo Bregata (national Femca-Cisl secretariat) and Fabio Gigli (national Uiltrasporti secretariat). For parenthood, rather than maternity or paternity, there are seven days of extra paid leave for parents in the first year of their children’s life, as well as another two days in the first three years of life, to help with integration into nurseries, and there is also a permit to accompany children on the first day of primary school. In detail, 990 euros are available for each child per year, of nursery age, 500 euros for nursery schools and 100 for primary schools, with another 120 euros per year for secondary schools. There is also fees for summer camps and baby sitting, as well as five free days of psychological support for parents and children.
These are initiatives of up to 4,000 euros per year in total, alongside smart working which continues for vulnerable people, despite the stop to national legislation, and also for parents, always in the first year of the children’s life, or even for those who do caregiving or have temporary physical impediments, as well as residents of territories affected by natural disasters. Among other things, Camilleri explains further,the reintegration of people who have problems with autism or who have experienced physical and mental difficulties continues, with the intervention of psychologists and ad hoc coaches, as well as initiatives on neurodivergence.
There is a total of 6 million euros per year in corporate welfare, confirmed. Out of the 2,600 hires, “we will be looking for figures who have to deal with the transitions underway”, continues the group’s Human Resources manager. Furthermore, the shared value gross operating margin is also consolidated among the performance bonus measurement indicators. On balance,there is an increase of up to 400 euros from 2025 in the flexible share of workers, for continuous learning of 60 million in total.