From 1 January 2022, the life and pension fund (called the “Antonio Pastore”), which is mandated by the national collective bargaining agreement (CBA) applying to executives (called “dirigenti”) in the commercial sector, has expanded its services to include new insurance coverage for “professional and non-professional accidents.”
The new mandate will increase employers’ annual contribution to the Antonio Pastore fund from EUR 4,761.26 to EUR 5,048.26 for each executive in the commercial sector.
Background
The national CBA for executives in the commercial sector currently covers about 8,000 companies and provides supplementary benefits through a contribution to the following funds:
- Antonio Pastore fund covering life and pension
- Mario Negri pension fund
- Mario Besusso or FASDAC healthcare fund
The national CBA for executives in the commercial sector mandates executive employees in the commercial sector to be provided with an accident policy covering “professional and non-professional accidents” as follows:
- In the event of death, five times the gross annual salary
- In the event of permanent disability, six times the gross annual salary
Employers have traditionally placed these policies in the private insurance market via insurance agents/brokers. From 1 January 2022, “professional and non-professional accidents” coverage should be included in the Antonio Pastore fund covering life and pension.
Key details
Employers had the option of opting out of this program until 31 December 2022. In the absence of the notice to postpone, the Association proceeded with the contribution increase for the new accident coverage as of 1 January 2022.
Although the additional cost of contribution for this insurance offered by Antonio Pastore is very competitively priced, there are a few important items that should be noted:
- The Antonio Pastore fund association recently stated that the professional and non-professional accidents insurance coverage will be guaranteed subject to the limits and exclusions set forth in the policy and may not result in the automatic fulfillment of obligations under the existing National Labour Contract. Considering this statement, and the fact that the actual policy wording has not been disclosed, it is unclear if the special conditions such as Dangerous sports, reckless activities, coma, etc. are insured by this new policy.
- The Antonio Pastore coverage offered has a limit of EUR 750,000 for death and EUR 900,000 for permanent disability. Therefore, executives with monetary compensation in excess of EUR 150,000 will not be fully insured as the insurance market is not prepared, on a large scale, to structure an insurance program to cover any excess insurance required to cover shortfall on the Antonio Pastore accident offering.
In the early months of 2022, a working table will be opened with the main local insurers to define the possibilities of integration to the accident coverage of the fund.