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Human Resources

In line with the Industrial Plan and with the Extraordinary Plan which envisaged, in the on-going financially and economically critical situation, the adoption of drastic measures to contain the main cost items, Management activities have been further addressed to containing labour costs according to the 2011 budget aim.

Therefore, once again this year, attention was focused on operations to rationalise the resources available, prioritising internal mobility and the conversion of professional profiles, but also carefully placing and using staff, as indicated in the trade union agreements – entered into in implementation of law 247/2007, which established the assignment of permanent employment contracts to employees who had had fixed term employment contracts for a total of 36 months as at 1 April 2009 and had had, after such date, further fixed-term contracts with the same employer – both at office level and as journalists.
The incentivised resignation initiative continued, also in support of the industrial reorganisation operations envisaged by the Company in the 2010-2012 plan:
over 150 resignations were agreed to during the year.

Consequently, from the numerical point of view, in December 2011, the Company workforce comprised 10,196 members of staff, against 10,140 at the beginning of the year (including 85 people from Rai Trade in application of the resolution of the Board of Directors which established the merger by incorporation into Rai), as a result of 290 resignations (132 of which were incentivised) and 346 new employees:
304 in application of trade union agreements; 5 for mobility within the group; 17 arrivals finalised at the limited reformation of the workforce due to turnover or to satisfy new structural requirements; and lastly, 20 returns following legal disputes.

As regards savings, measures were taken to rationalise other company costs, with the adaptation of internal policies on mobile phones, rental vehicles with drivers, daily newspapers and magazines, as well as the control of representation costs and the management of the relative organisational activities.

As regards immediate interventions on the governance of variable costs, sport checks and systematic checks were carried out and objectives were monitored with regard to expenses for transfers, production and representation. Lastly, the monitoring of overtime, bonuses and transfers for so-called ‘Big Events’ continues, expanding the setting of the latter to include “minor” events for the purposes of governance and increased efficiency.

As regards organisational aspects directly related to the core business, a project for the complete review of Rai’s offering and a model of the product division based on articulation by Channels and Genres was implemented.
In line with this project the Entertainment Management was made operational as the “genre” Management, taking on responsibilities and resources from the general-interest channels. To this end, the relative organisational arrangements, the setting of the activity, the detailed responsibilities, “interface” processes with the channels and logics for the assignment of human resources were defined.
In terms of relations with the trade unions, the main issue tackled in 2011 concerned fixed-term employment and the professional catchment areas, in relation to the new guidelines introduced by law no. 183/2010 (socalled connected work).
As regards staff regulated by the collective labour agreement for middle management, white and blue collars, an agreement was signed on 29 July 2011 and a similar agreement was reached for journalistic staff with the Usigrai, with an agreement entered into on 11 October 2011.

In short, new contractual texts envisage employment guaranteed with fixed-term contracts for temporary members of staff, until they are given permanent employment contracts.
These are ‘historical’ agreements that will lead, over the years, to the progressive stabilisation, via automatic mechanisms, of almost all Rai’s temporary staff employed with fixed-term contracts, within a setting of programmed new employment contracts.
As regards out-of-court labour disputes, the preliminary activity was launched on numerous out-of-court and in-court claims received by the Company, in order to check out the possibility of reaching an amicable settlement of the individual questions; this activity led to the out-of-court transaction of 80 current or potential disputes.
42 individual positions regarding legal disputes were also settled out of court, by agreement with the defending lawyers of the plaintiffs, mainly through their stabilisation within the company workforce, following orders to such end by the judge.

As regards Legislation, as usual provision was made for the supply of the indispensable interpretative and operational instructions to the various company sectors with regard to the year’s most important innovations, reflecting particularly on the adaptations deriving from the application of the new legislation on the computerised certification of sickness or the amendments made to the regulations on pensions, to those on defence for the assistance of the disabled, to that of fixed-term employment contracts.

In terms of regulatory control, during 2011, over 200 potentially relevant cases in terms of disciplinary action were examined and prepared, following reports by structures concerned. On the basis of the preliminary proceedings carried out, disciplinary action was taken in two thirds of cases.
The training activity continued in 2011, addressed at meeting the needs arising from the changes that took place in the legislative context coming from the most diverse areas of the company.
Particularly, after completing a cycle of seminars dedicated to training in the application of the ‘Code of Public Tenders’, an initiative adhered to by about 180 participants (about 200 had participated at the end of 2010), a second training campaign was launched, relating to the roles and responsibilities of the Sole Manager of the Procedure, with 350 participants.

There were also important specialised training activities, such as the launch of the training course dedicated to the 35 most recently appointed executives, articulated by flanking the traditional classroom training activities with workshops, coaching and seminars.
Also during 2011, the training activity was aided by funding disbursed from inter-professional funds for about half a million euro.

The recruitment activity in 2011 was carried out focusing on cost reductions and regarded the process used for the assessment of the professional profiles of about 350 resources (including candidates belonging to the categories protected in accordance with Law no. 68 of 12 March 1999).
There was an articulate recruitment procedure relating to the identification of a team of new researchers who are going to collaborate on the launch of an important project of the Turin Research Centre aimed at generating patents.

In observance of that envisaged by the company policy for apprenticeships, training and workshops at Rai, 90 interns were taken on from the major universities and journalism schools recognised by the Order of Journalists, also within a logic of bringing the countries educational system and business world closer together.

The Company Health Service fulfilled the obligations envisaged by Legislative. Decree 81/08 (5,740 health inspections at the company premises in Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin), 158 preventive interventions envisaged in defence of the health of staff on foreign missions, 26 health assistance plans for big production of events throughout the territory.
The integrated health protocols for former employees exposed to asbestos continued at the Rome offices with due interaction with the local Health Departments.

The health surveillance also performed on behalf of the Associated Companies (Rai Cinema, Rai World, RaiNet, Rai Way) also allowed the harmonisation of the preventive measures within the Group.


As regards safety in the workplace, activity continued to maintain the progressive extension of the certified Rai offices, in accordance with OHSAS 18001, within the sphere of the System for Management of Health and Safety:
in 2011, this model witnessed the extension of certification to the offices of Campobasso, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara and the location in Via Novaro, reporting to of the Headquarters in Rome. The aim is to extend it to all the company offices.
In this context, the combined actions taken determined a progressive reduction of the Accident Frequency Ratio, which stood at levels considerably below those of the Inail National Average for 2006/2008 of 33.3.
The company value of 14.37 – referable to 2011 – along with other characteristics of the system considered overall, made it possible to achieve and confirm a percentage reduction by Inail of the insurance premiums payable, with a lower impact on labour costs.

Lastly, activities inherent in Internal Communication include the development and implementation in the Rai Place portal of new services, such as the on-line request by journalists for telephones following the agreement with Usigrai, the on-line request for adhesion to fiscal assistance for the presentation of tax returns by employees, as well as the improvement of the services included in the “Mobility Manager” section, including the possibility to see the waiting time for Atac vehicles at the usual stop.

This year also witnessed the organisation of the fifth edition of ‘Bimbo Rai’, the day on which the Company opens its doors to the children of employees.