A package of welfare benefits dedicated to employees and family members

The collective labour agreement of professional firms is based on a rich bilateral system: Cadiprof, for supplementary health care; Ebipro, a welfare tool; Fondoprofessioni, the reality promoted by the social partners that helps training, skills growth and retraining in firms.

It is an integrated system of benefits and protections 'capable of combining social protection, welfare and quality of employment', explains the Observatory on the Liberal Professions, the research structure of Confprofessioni.

Cadiprof represents the main supplementary health welfare instrument for workers in professional offices (now extended to their family members as well). Between 2017 and 2024, Cadiprof's activities expanded significantly, both in terms of the number of services provided and the economic resources allocated to reimbursements. The total volume of services rose from just over 200 thousand interventions in 2017 toalmost 285 thousand in 2024, an increase of 37 per cent. In the lead are examinations and diagnostic tests, which also account for the bulk of the expenditure, 11.6 million. In total, the bill for Cadiprof rose from 14 million in 2017 to over 23 million in 2024, (+ 67 per cent). Among the interventions for the family, innovative is the one dedicated to minors to prevent and treatpsychological difficulties.

Ebipro finances benefits and services aimed at improving the quality of work and well-being of employees, intervening in social, educational and family areas. The range of action has progressively expanded: from the reimbursement of school books to the payment of university fees, from contributions for sports activities to those for public transport. Thanks to the strengthening of bilaterality, fostered by the 2024 contractual renewal, 'the body,' explains the Liberal Professions Observatory, 'has introduced three guarantees in addition to the existing ones: reimbursement of summer centres, incentives for the use of the parental leave by fathers and single parents, and the integration of the Inps accompaniment allowance received by family members with serious disabilities. Between 2017 and 2024, the number of workers benefiting from the guarantees increased from just over 3,000 to almost 30,000.

Finally, the contractual system provides employers and their employees with a 'counter' for training and professional retraining. The tool is Fondoprofessioni: the 0.30 contribution is already included in what is paid to Inps, the employer therefore only has to activate the option to be able to access the services. Fondoprofessioni is dedicated to studios but also registers micro enterprises among its members, since its initiatives are addressed and modelled on the needs of small economic realities. Ninety-three per cent of the structures enrolled in the Fund employ between one and nine employees, and about 70 per cent have no more than three employees. However, there is evidence of a gradual increase in the structuring of studios/companies.