Employee benefits
Employee benefits are considerations given by the Group in exchange for service rendered by employees or for the termination of employment.
Post-employment benefit plans, including informal arrangements, are classified as either defined contribution plans or defined benefit plans depending on the economic substance of the plan as derived from its principal terms and conditions. Under defined contribution plans, the Company’s obligation, which consists in making payments to the State or to a trust or a fund, is determined on the basis of contributions due.
The liabilities related to defined benefit plans, net of any plan assets, are determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and charged on an accrual basis during the employment period required to obtain the benefits.
Net interest includes the return on plan assets and the interests cost to be recognized in the profit and loss account. Net interest is measured by applying to the liability, net of any plan assets, the discount rate used to calculate the present value of the liability; net interest of defined benefit plans is recognized in ”Finance income (expense)”.
Re-measurements of the net defined benefit liability, comprising actuarial gains and losses, resulting from changes in the actuarial assumptions used or from changes arising from experience adjustments, and the return on plan assets excluding amounts included in net interest, are recognized within the statement of comprehensive income. Re-measurements of the net defined benefit liability, recognized in the equity reserve related to other comprehensive income, are not reclassified to the profit and loss account in a subsequent period.
Obligations for long-term benefits are determined by adopting actuarial assumptions. The effects of re-measurements are taken to profit and loss account in their entirety.