Corporate welfare: €1,000 paid to each employee in 2024, a 10% increase over 2023.

In 2024, Italian companies paid out an average of approximately €1,000 per employee in the form of welfare credit , a 10% increase from €910 the previous year. At the same time, the rate of use by workers also increased , reaching nearly 90%. This is according to the latest edition of the Welfare Observatory by Edenred Italia , an employee benefits company, which analyzed the behavior of over 5,000 client companies and 770,000 beneficiaries.

Driven by the Budget Law , which raised the tax exemption threshold from €258.23 to €1,000 (€2,000 for those with dependent children) until 2027, fringe benefits —including shopping vouchers, fuel vouchers, rent reimbursements, and household bills—now represent the largest expenditure item within welfare credit : for the first time, they have exceeded half of the total welfare credit companies provide to their employees, covering 52% of the total. The next largest expenditure items are recreation (23%), education (13.5%), supplementary pensions (5.6%), and healthcare (3.2%). Mobility (1.5%) and family assistance (0.9%) bring up the rear.

"By adding meal vouchers and fringe benefits, a company can provide up to approximately €2,700 tax-free for each employee. For those with an income between €25,000 and €50,000, this is the equivalent of one or two additional net monthly salaries," comments Fabrizio Ruggiero, CEO of Edenred Italia .

The use of welfare credit varies based on the recipient's age . The use of fringe benefits fluctuates between 65% of beneficiaries under 30 and 48% of those over 60. Education reimbursements are used most by those aged 40 to 59, while the provision of supplementary pension credit increases as retirement age approaches, rising from 3% of young people under 30 to 13% of total expenditure for employees over 60. Use of recreational area services, however, rises to 29% among those under 39, while maintaining an average of around 20% for those over 40.

"The obstacle we see, however, is regulatory complexity, which is hindering the adoption of welfare tools by small businesses (just 2%). We need to simplify and update the most common tools, such as meal vouchers, whose tax-free threshold is capped at €8, as established by a 2020 law. In the current socioeconomic context, marked by inflation and price increases, it's time to review this threshold to strengthen the purchasing power of 3.5 million workers," Ruggiero concludes.