Family Support

Offering solutions to improve the lives of our employees by addressing the needs of their families.
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Supporting employees and their families

We are strongly committed to making a difference in the lives of everyone that work with us and their families. To this end, we invest in internal social responsibility programmes and initiatives focusing on health, education and family well-being.

36.3 M€
investment in Internal Social Responsibility

As at 31/12/2023

Health

Our people and their families’ health is a top concern for the Group. As a Benchmark Employer, investing in ways to improve their quality of life is a strategic priority.

Support for serious illness

In Portugal, the Mais Vida (More Life) programme supports employees with cancer and their families by providing second opinions and multidisciplinary support. In Poland, Biedronka supports employees with serious, life-threatening illnesses and disabilities by financing treatment and rehabilitation.

298
Employees with serious illness supported in 2023

Special Families and Little Heroes

Through the Famílias Especiais (Special Families) programme in Portugal and the Mali Bohaterowie (Little Heroes) programme in Poland, we also support the families of employees with children suffering from rare diseases or special needs by providing access to treatment and medical equipment.

523,000 €
Investment in support for children of employees with serious illnesses in 2023

Education

We promote several initiatives for the care of our employees’ children, such as day care centres, scholarships, back-to-school campaigns and holiday camps. Some of which have been in place for over a decade.

Holiday camps

The holiday camps answer to the concerns of employees who, in those periods, found it difficult to ensure care and occupational activities for their children. Yearly children and young people are challenged in the holiday camps promoted in Portugal and Poland, where they participate in activities relating to healthy eating habits, sustainability and social inclusion.

2,431
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED HOLIDAY CAMPS IN 2023

Online study hall

The Online Study Hall programme aims to promote academic, social and emotional skills in children and young people up to the third cycle of schooling in Portugal. It is an accompanied study program, which encourages students’ responsibility and autonomy by teaching them methods of studying. Parents are also involved through workshops focused on the challenges of family management. In 2023 we offered preparation sessions for national exams and have expanded the subjects covered by the programme.

838
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED THE ONLINE STUDY HALL IN 2023

“Being a woman, a mother and a professional is a challenge, but the Group’s parental support measures are crucial for managing family life and balancing personal and professional life, especially for those like me who work in IT and have peak work periods. During the summer, my children attend the Jerónimo Martins holiday camps, and this opportunity offered by the company to families not only keeps them busy, but also relieves their grandparents, who are already overworked during the year. The Group is very committed to the needs of its employees and promotes family support in various ways.”

Marta Galvão
Finance Applications Manager

Family well-being

We are aware that sometimes everyone faces more challenging moments in their lives and for which the community does not always provide responses as effective as needed. We take on the responsibility of responding to the needs of our families through structured and forward-looking approaches.

Social Emergency Fund

Created in Portugal in 2011, the Social Emergency Fund (SEF) ensures a response to urgent situations of food shortages, domestic violence, the need for legal support and/or financial, healthcare, among other situations. The social workers working at the SEF design specific plans together with each employee and their family while encouraging their autonomy and reorganisation.

1,688
EMPLOYEES SUPPORTED BY SEF IN 2023

Możesz Liczyć (You Can Count on Biedronka)

The programme allows funds to be allocated in response to requests of a social nature, which are assessed by a committee responsible for managing the Social Fund. Employees are helped to overcome financial difficulties and emergencies through subsidies and loans with special conditions.

12,910
Granted subsidies and loans by możesz liczyć in 2023

SOCIAL SUPPORT IN COLOMBIA

We have implemented several measures to support the employees of our operations in Colombia. The Fiado programme allows employees to buy products on credit at Ara stores with the amount deducted from their salary at the end of the month, while Payflow allows employees to receive advances of part of their salary, depending on the days of the month they have already worked, to meet their expenses in stages.

The “Fondo de Empleados: ATulado” (Employee Fund: By Your Side) supports access to loans with lower interest rates than those charged by banks or in informal markets.

2,530
LOANS GRANTED BY “FONDO DE EMPLEADOS” IN 2023