Sustainable development

Company

Responsibility to employees
The Sava Re Group nurtures common values as reflected in its efforts to create a positive work environment and sound business culture. We pursue them both through adopted strategic policies and in our daily work, behaviour, communication, relationships and decisions.
One of the Sava Re Group’s strategic guidelines in the field of human resources management is to ensure a safe, diverse and sustainable work environment, one that respects the dignity and integrity of each employee. Our HRM policy dictates that HRM objectives be aligned with sustainable development policies of the Company and the Group, promoting equal opportunities and diversity of our workforce.94 For this reason, a leadership model was set up for the Sava Re Group, defining the key competencies expected of leaders in a modern organisational culture that promotes constructive collaboration, open communication, openness to change and continuous development. The leadership model serves as the basis for steering the development activities of leaders, who are key to creating and maintaining a secure, diverse and sustainable work environment.

At the end of 2017 we launched a management by objectives project, the aim of which is to establish a transparent goal-setting and tracking system that is based on the Company’s strategy. We wish to establish a governance system that will enable managers to help direct their employees to attain certain strategic goals by helping them achieve employees’ individual goals.

In accordance with the GRI standards, sustainable development with a view to human resources is monitored using the selected indicators. For more information on HRM, see section 10 “Human resources management” and section 20.3 “Human resources management”.95
94: GRI 405-1
95: GRI 102-41, 401-1, 403-2, 404-1, 404-3, 405-1
Employee benefits96
Sava Re companies in Slovenia offer their employees payment of voluntary supplementary pension insurance premiums as part of the second-pillar pension scheme. In addition, Sava Re offers its employees a co-payment version of voluntary pension insurance premiums as part of the third pillar pension scheme. The amount of the payment varies among companies and is determined as an lump sum or as a percentage of the employees’ gross salary.

Of the non-EU based members of the Group, the North Macedonian insurers Sava Osiguruvanje and Sava Penzisko pay into the voluntary pension scheme on behalf of their employees. Both companies pay insurance premiums for their employees as part of the second-pillar pension scheme. In addition, the pension company also pays its employees’ voluntary health insurance.

Pension funds that are based on collective or individual voluntary pension insurance constitute the core activity of some members of the Sava Re Group. Therefore, we can say that we also contribute to greater awareness of the public good regarding the importance of such insurance.

Sava Re also pays collective accident insurance premiums for its employees, who are also protected through an additional business travel accident insurance scheme.

Sava Re and Zavarovalnica Sava employees and their family members can take out health insurance on particularly favourable terms.

Sava Re promotes the health and wellbeing of its employees by promoting regular health routines and activities at the workplace, and through measures designed to facilitate reconciliation of work and personal life. Paid absence from work for parents accompanying their first-graders on the first day of school, volunteerism, mentorship and gift sets for newborns are some of the better-known measures.

Zavarovalnica Sava, holder of a full family-friendly company certificate, carries out other selected measures that help employees improve their work-life balance. Zavarovalnica Sava also offers paid absence from work for employees introducing their children into kindergarten or accompanying their child on the first day of school (from the 1st to the 3rd year of elementary school), and employees returning to work after a prolonged absence are offered assistance through interviews and a work reintegration plan.

At the end of 2017, Zavarovalnica Sava started to market a supplementary health insurance plan. With the due diligence, they also took care of the health of the company’s employees, who received an additional day off in 2018 – Day for Health. It is aimed at preventive health care and the wellbeing of employees.

Zavarovalnica Sava established a special association for its agents called Zavarovalnica Sava Top Team, and agents are invited to join it based on their fulfilling the set criteria. In 2018, the ZS Top Team had 47 members who were invited to three gala cultural events and two major sporting events that we organised for our business partners. They also attended two sales conferences last year and received some valuable business gifts. A total of 22 members managed to meet the particularly high criteria required to win a trip.

Sava Re and Zavarovalnica Sava offer company-owned holiday facilities where the employees and their families can spend holidays on favourable terms. Every year, the company organises excursions for employees, and a special party in the run-up to Christmas. In the summer, employees compete in various sports events. And little children get a visit from Santa Claus at companies. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, our female colleagues receive a symbolic gift.

Employees of Zavarovalnica Sava can benefit from sponsorships and become members of the newly established Zavarovalnica Sava Sport and Culture Society, which promotes active free time schemes for its members.

Best practices are shared with other Group companies. Non-EU based Group companies provide employees with various activities and benefits, including special discounts when taking out insurance, teambuilding activities, financial assistance for employees in case of an emergency, etc.

With its sports society Sava Sport Plus, Sava Osiguranje from North Macedonia raises awareness on the importance of an active lifestyle, and attracts also external members.
96: GRI 103-1 103-2, 201-3
Sustainable development at the Sava Re Group
(*.pdf 1.76 MB)
Responsibility to consumers97
Trust is the foundation of any quality long-term relationship. All Sava Re Group companies work to ensure that the “Nikoli sami” (Never alone) promise, the commitment made in 2016 and honoured ever since, is not mere words but a philosophy embedded in all our work and activities. In our communication with consumers we want to be honest, accurate and understandable.
Access to services is essential for users, so most of our insurance companies also offer online user support. Zavarovalnica Sava offers policyholders the option to report their claims online, to take out insurance, and to chat with an online consultant. The website also provides users the opportunity to share their opinions, proposals, commendations and complaints. The assistance centre provides assistance to policyholders who are travelling. Detailed information is always available online at info@zav-sava.si and from our toll-free phone helpline, at 080 19 20.98
97: GRI 103-1, 103-2, 103-3
98: GRI 417-1
Client communication and information99
As regards their relationships with the insured, Group members follow the rules and procedures on complaints, which are compliant with the guidance issued by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

As the largest insurer in the Sava Re Group, Zavarovalnica Sava complies with all provisions of the Consumer Protection Act and other acts governing communication of information to clients entering into investment (insurance) contracts. Applicable legal provisions and regulatory frameworks are observed also when pursuing development activities.

We also fully comply with the Slovenian Personal Data Protection Act (ZVOP) and the regulations that require responsible handling of personal data of customers.

On 1 October 2018, the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) entered into force in all EU Member States. With the aim of ensuring greater transparency and comparability of insurance, enhancing consumer protection and increasing confidence in the insurance market, the directive provided for greater transparency in the development and sale of insurance and information to customers. The fundamental principles of the directive are the transparent operation of insurance companies and other sellers of insurance products in accordance with the best interests of policyholders, and the provision of fair, clear and non-misleading information about insurance products. One of the requirements of the directive is the insurance product information document (IPID). It is a short and stand-alone form with all key information about the product (insurance cover, excluded risks, restrictions, etc.). A customer is provided with better transparency and easier comparability of products. Prior to the conclusion of the contract, the agent must also determine the suitability of the insurance product for the client, and each policyholder must sign that they are acquainted with the content of the insurance product information document and the insurance product has been fully and accurately presented.

Therefore, every effort is made to ensure transparency, clarity and access to information both in developing new products and in client notification. Zavarovalnica Sava does not make use of fine print.Communication takes place via various channels adapted to different target groups.

Customers are placed at the centre in order to build partnerships with them that will permeate all aspects of their lives. This can only be ensured through a wide range of insurance products and with services that are readily available at any time.

Insurance companies also avoid the fine print in advertising, offering their clients adequate information on the advertised product. Product information is always available on official websites together with statutory notifications and related news. In the event of mass losses, we publish a notice and give instructions, setting out for our policyholders the right course of action.

In reinsurance underwriting business, we pay due regard to internal underwriting regulations, risk taking and claims processing, and internal underwriting policy. We maintain relationships with our business partners. Meetings are arranged during international conferences and individual meetings all over the world. From time to time, we organise the Sava Summer Seminar, a training programme in reinsurance-related areas, in an effort to provide our business partners with an insight into our activities and the characteristics of our business. Participants attend from across the world, including Asia, Africa and a number of European countries. At the seminar, participants deal with topics related to reinsurance, actuarial science, modelling and solvency-related issues, also through practical examples and a closing workshop.

The Sava Pokojninska pension company reports on all regulated information on supplementary pension insurance of all of the bodies (Information Commissioner of the RS, Insurance Supervision Agency, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities) that appear on its website (pension scheme, rules on pension fund management, appendix to the management rules, investment policy statement) or on the websites of national bodies.

In most countries outside the EU where some of the Sava Re Group companies are based, labelling and product or service information is governed by the law with minimum requirements. All these companies have websites that provide all information regarding their services. They also have channels established to communicate with different target groups (phone, email, social networks, etc.).
99: GRI 103-1, 103-2, 417-1
Sustainable development at the Sava Re Group
(*.pdf 1.76 MB)
Responsibility to the community
Sava Re Group companies are aware of the importance of involvement in the environment in which we operate, and therefore we behave responsibly and beyond the formal boundaries of our core business. We firmly believe in cooperation, and therefore support projects that help institutions financially or through volunteering, and that allow us to become part of social development.
Having already developed an extensive business network, Group companies can more easily recognise the needs and potentials of local communities in their respective countries. Certain members of our Group are among the co-founders of the Network for Social Responsibility of Slovenia, and members of the Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility and of the Partnership for National Strategy and Social Responsibility.105
105: GRI 102-13
Sponsorships and donations by substance106
In 2018, Sava Re adopted the “Rules on sponsorships and donations”, which replaced its “Sponsorship and donations policy”. The rules upgraded the procedure dealing with the applications received and the method of allocating funds. A committee was also set up to handle applications, oversee and allocate the funds planned for donations and sponsorships.

The Company promotes social responsibility in the process of sustainable development, and strengthens its visibility, acts ethically and restores the environment, in particular by supporting and investing in education, development (emphasis on socially disadvantaged groups and individuals), humanitarian activities, health and social care (emphasis on socially vulnerable groups and individuals), ecology, and in areas that promote the development and growth of the economy, with an emphasis on start-up companies that develop innovative solutions.

At the end of the year, Sava Re intends to make a major donation to a selected charity using the funds planned for donations or the funds planned for business gifts. Employees give proposals for such a donation and vote on it.

As the largest member of the Group, present in direct business and active in two EU markets, Zavarovalnica Sava has a long-standing reputation and tradition as a socially responsible activist – also through its predecessors Zavarovalnica Maribor, Zavarovalnica Tilia, Velebit Osiguranje and Velebit Životno Osiguranje. Decisions on sponsorships and donations are dictated by the adopted “Rules on sponsorship and donations”.

The goals and criteria measuring sponsorship performance are clearly defined. Sponsorship is viewed as a partnership that benefits both sides. Sponsorship activities constitute one of the pillars of the company’s activity and are also integral to its traditional market presence. They are therefore closely connected to the company’s operations and market presence, enhancing the brand in the environment in which it operates.

In 2018, Zavarovalnica Sava allocated EUR 2.2 million for sponsorships, with investment into sports activities declining by almost 7% compared to 2017. Sports activities were allocated 76% of the funds, with the remaining 24% going to other fields.

Donations form an integral part of the commitment to the wider community in which Zavarovalnica Sava operates. In 2018, donations increased by 13.8% compared to the previous year.
Zavarovalnica Sava donations by substance
2018
2017
Charity
2.1 %
1.6 %
Arts
15.1 %
11.3 %
Science
0.4 %
n/a
Education
3.7 %
3.0 %
Sports
70.7 %
70.4 %
Social security
0.8 %
0.3 %
Disability
0.3 %
0.3 %
Healthcare
1.7 %
3.1 %
Protection against disasters
0.4 %
1.6 %
Other
4.8 %
8.3 %
Other
100,0 %
100,0 %
106: GRI 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 203-2
Sustainable development at the Sava Re Group
(*.pdf 1.76 MB)