Italian insurers improve long-term sick arrangements

The 40,000 employees in the Italian insurance industry have a new agreement which significantly improves arrangements where employees are sick for long periods.

The length of paid time off in the case of sickness is increased from the current 12 months to 18 months and for those with more than 10 years of service the increase is from 18 to 24 months. It has also been agreed that the employees will contribute 0.2% of the pay bill to a joint fund to pay for "long-term care" where this proves necessary.

The agreement provides for the setting up of a national observatory on bullying and harassment. This will investigate the extent of the problem, looking at the particular circumstances in which bullying is most likely to arise. It will also develop policies to combat it.

The deal included pay rises of 6.3% backdated to January 2003 to take account of forecast inflation over two years plus a further increase of 0.2% in January 2004.

The latest figures for pay deals in Italy pay show them lagging behind inflation. Collectively negotiated pay rates rose 2.1% in the year to July compared to an increase in prices of 2.7%.