ASL Toscana Centro: how corporate welfare supports, motivates and retains staff
Around 12 million euros over a two-year period for 13,000 employees: tax-deductible schemes such as fringe benefits are complemented by a social dimension
The employee welfare scheme introduced by ASL Toscana Centro is not merely a measure of financial support. It is a deliberate choice, designed to ensure that the staff of our organisation feel valued and protected. This choice also represents a new way of understanding public sector work: in a market where striking a balance between private and professional life is increasingly important, creating conditions for organisational wellbeing means being able to attract motivated people. And, at the same time, it means valuing and retaining the talent already within our organisation.
Resources in the field
We are the first public-sector organisation in Tuscany within the healthcare sector to have introduced a structured corporate welfare scheme. This achievement was reached following a process of consultation and collaboration with the trade unions and the USL Centro RSU. Every employee in the sector will receive a payment of 500 euros. Approximately 12 million euros will be allocated for the two-year period 2026–2027 to around 13,000 employees in the public healthcare sector in Empoli, Florence, Pistoia and Prato – the areas covered by the ASL Toscana Centro. The measure also covers managers, with a payment of 1,670 euros; this year, it applies only to those in the healthcare sector, but we will expand the group of beneficiaries and, in 2027, extend it to technical and administrative managers as well. For them, the total over the two-year period will be almost ten million euros.
We are talking about significant resources that are already available and which we have chosen to make the most of as part of a well-thought-out strategy, thanks to the tools provided for under supplementary collective bargaining agreements. Together with the staff representatives, we have agreed to fund the company’s supplementary welfare scheme by using a portion of the remaining balances from the contractual funds of previous years. Specifically, for staff in the healthcare sector, we will use a portion of the remaining balance from the Bonus Fund, whilst for senior management in the healthcare sector, we will draw on a portion of the remaining balance from the Performance-Related Pay Fund. This decision enables us to allocate existing resources to welfare, transforming them into a tangible benefit for our employees and strengthening the system of care and support that we wish to build for them and their families.
From fringe benefits to support for carers
Our approach to welfare is reflected in the choices made within the Company Support Programme. We have devised a welfare system incorporating tools such as tax-deductible fringe benefits, whilst not neglecting the social dimension. The former will enable the Company to generate savings that we can reinvest for the benefit of our employees, further strengthening the rewards system. Work-life balance, healthcare, support for parents and caregiving are, on the other hand, the means through which we aim to provide a practical response to the needs of our staff, supporting them not only in the workplace but also in their daily and family lives. We believe that the value of a healthcare organisation is not measured solely by the quality of the services it provides. Behind every high-quality healthcare service lie skills, professionalism and people. It is in these people that we wish to continue to invest.
* Director-General of the ASL Toscana Centro
