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UniCredit to pay bonus, replace 850 older branch staff in Italy
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s second-biggest bank UniCredit will give employees in Italy a one-off payment of 2,400 euros ($2,526) to reward productivity and help them to weather rising prices, it said on Friday.
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s second-biggest bank UniCredit will give employees in Italy a one-off payment of 2,400 euros ($2,526) to reward productivity and help them to weather rising prices, it said on Friday.
As part of a broad accord signed on Thursday with unions, UniCredit will also pay for 850 branch employees who would qualify for pension by the end of 2029 to opt to go into early retirement, being replaced by as many young hires.
The one-off bonus includes a 1,600 euro productivity premium for 2022, whose payment UniCredit has brought forward.
“This accord reflects the positive contribution of the Italian market to the group’s good performance,” UniCredit said.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel, a former investment banker who arrived in April 2021, has pledged to refocus the bank’s business on Italy, its biggest market which however had lost importance under previous CEO Jean Pierre Mustier.
The remaining 800 euros are a one-off payment facilitated by government measures exempting from taxation companies’ payments to staff to help with the cost of living crisis.
UniCredit had announced similar measures in Germany whose government has also introduced an aid scheme to allow companies to pay tax free bonuses.
UniCredit said it would pay a bonus of 2,500 euros to its staff in Germany to help them cope with soaring prices.
UniCredit has 34,608 staff in Italy and 13,740 in Germany, according to its website. ($1 = 0.9502 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina Za; editing by Federico Maccioni and Keith Weir)
A one-off payment is a single payment made to an employee, often as a bonus or reward, rather than a recurring payment. It is typically used to recognize exceptional performance or to help employees manage unexpected costs.
Early retirement refers to the option for employees to retire before the standard retirement age, often with certain financial incentives or benefits. This can help companies reduce workforce costs while providing employees with a chance to retire sooner.
A productivity premium is an additional payment made to employees based on their performance or productivity levels. It serves as an incentive to encourage higher output and efficiency in the workplace.
Pension eligibility refers to the criteria that determine whether an employee qualifies for pension benefits, which may include age, length of service, and specific employment conditions.
A tax-free bonus is a payment made to employees that is exempt from taxation, often provided by employers to help employees cope with rising living costs or as a reward for performance.
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