The new instruments of corporate retention policies

Within the implementation of retention policies – which are increasingly more appropriate to retain talents – and with the necessary attention to cost containment, in recent years companies are increasingly using remuneration policies implemented also by granting goods and services as fringe benefits or corporate welfare.

These forms of remuneration in kind also allow employees to benefit directly from goods and services, thereby also reducing the high taxes and social security contributions that are usually levied on employee income.

Such effects seem to be appreciable, also in terms of employees' actual spending capacity: according to a research by “The European House Ambrosetti”, the recent increases in the tax exemption limit for goods in kind provided to employees, proposed by the most recent Budget Laws, would have led to an estimated increase in household consumption by 0,8%.

However, despite the above considerations and the incentive value of these measures, companies are required to carefully assess the measures to be applied, in order to avoid undermining (or even annulling) the effects of the policies adopted.

In fact, the provision of goods or services in kind presumes an in-depth knowledge of the company population, both in terms of family expectations and needs – given the ‘welfare’ nature that characterises large part of the benefits granted that do not contribute to the calculation of taxable employment income – and of subjective criteria, for the purposes of an effective application of the non-taxability limits of fringe benefits.

In this sense, it is fundamental – for the purposes of an effective use of such instruments – to provide a clear definition of what is considered ‘fringe benefit’ and what is ‘corporate welfare’.

These are, in fact, Anglo-Saxon terms which do not find full correspondence in the Italian system, with varying effects from a tax and social security contribution perspective.

If we had to make a distinction, we could consider as ‘corporate welfare’ that set of company goods and services that can be provided in relation to all or categories of employees and that - for this reason, in line with the position of the Italian Revenue Office – have a welfare rather than properly remunerative character.

On the other hand, ‘fringe benefit’ frequently refers to the provision of goods and services with a more marked remunerative nature and which, in compliance with regulatory provisions, can also be recognised ad personam, thus representing a more agile remuneration instrument that can also be used to build a remuneration package for specific employees.

Per dare un’idea di massima, possono rientrare – a titolo esemplificativo – nella fattispecie del welfare aziendale:

Therefore, while the recognition of fringe benefits is ordinarily based on individual agreements entered into by the employer and the employee (regardless of whether they are reached at the time of hiring or later, during the employment relationship), corporate welfare is, as a rule, instituted and regulated by collective agreements or internal regulations.

To provide a general overview, the following may be included - by way of example – among corporate welfare measures:

• Contributions to supplementary healthcare funds;
• Collective transport service provisions;
• Refund of local public transport tickets;
• Use of works and services for education, training, recreation, social and health care, or worship purposes;
• Amounts, services, and provisions granted for the use of education and training services by family members, as well as for access to recreation centres and summer and winter camps, and for scholarships;
• Amounts and provisions granted for accessing assistance services to elderly family members non-self-sufficient family members;
• Contributions and premiums paid for provisions, including insurance, relating to the risk of non-self-sufficiency in the performance of daily activities or relating to the risk of serious diseases.

On the other hand, the following are included among fringe benefits:

• Goods and services provided in kind;
• Granting of mixed-use cars;
• Granting of loans;
• For the three-year period 2025-2027, amounts issued or reimbursed by the employer for the payment of household utilities relating to the integrated water service, electricity and natural gas, as well as of expenses for renting or for mortgage loan interest of the main dwelling.

It should also be pointed out that, while corporate welfare does not contribute entirely to the calculation of employment income, fringe benefits must be considered for such calculation, at their ‘normal’ or ‘conventional’ value and, when a cumulative statutory exemption limit is exceeded, they are fully taxable.

In this regard, it is highlighted that in recent years this limit, ordinarily set at €258.23 per year (a value, in our opinion, excessively low and annulling the effectiveness of fringe benefits) has been subject to continuous, albeit temporary, increases, up to the current limit – for the three-year period 2025-2027 – of €1,000 per year for all employees or €2,000 per year for employees with dependent children.

It is quite evident how the overall picture described is extremely complex and how, consequently, companies and HR managers may be discouraged from adopting such complementary remuneration.

Therefore, the opportunity to rely on professional figures, such as labour consultants, should be considered, since thanks to their specific skills they can effectively assist companies in the construction of company welfare policies and in granting fringe benefits, to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the current system.