Health and Well-Being

Sampo Group has high standards for health and safety. The group-level guidance document on health and well-being is the Sampo Group Code of Conduct.

It is important for the Sampo Group companies to have healthy and happy employees. Emphasising employee health and well-being can improve general employee engagement and motivation, result in less absence due to illness, and eventually contribute to the bottom line.

At Sampo Group, the mental and physical well-being of employees is managed, for example, by implementing preventative measures (e.g., stress counselling, preventative occupational healthcare, good design of offices), focusing on work-life balance (e.g., workplace flexibility, working time reduction, dependent care, and special leave), offering employees meaningful work assignments, education, and organising team activities and sports programmes (e.g., yoga, sports clubs). In addition, focus is placed on employment security, and responsible workforce restructuring according to local legal and factual standards.

In the Nordic countries, maternity, paternity and parental leave are stipulated by law and all children under school age are entitled to day care in the municipality where they live. This promotes gender equality, as both parents can stay at home to care for their children for a certain period and the availability of affordable day care enables both parents to work.

In Sampo Group, health and well-being is measured by absence due to illness. The total absence due to illness in Sampo Group is on a reasonable level and in line with the industry averages.

* Excluding Hastings

Group-level calculation principles have been applied. Statistics may deviate from locally published company-specific statistics due to different definitions.

If

Governance

If’s Ethics Policy states that If seeks to ensure a healthy and safe work environment for all its employees. Furthermore, the Leader in If Business Instruction states that creating and sustaining a healthy workplace requires a shared approach involving employees, leaders, HR, and union representatives. As an employer, If has overall responsibility for health and well-being. In addition, If has national work environment councils and local work environment committees. The safety representatives are, depending on the local legislation, either appointed by the labour union or elected by the employees to be members of the committees. The work environment councils and committees have statutory responsibilities, including monitoring the work environment, developing health and safety, and ensuring the quality of physical and psychosocial well-being at If.

The mission and mandate of local health and safety committees differ from those of the national committee, and the tasks are of a more practical nature, such as the performance of regular safety inspections. If provides the committees with a standardised checklist for the safety inspections. If any immediate danger is detected during a safety inspection, the safety representative has the authority to suspend work until the employer has resolved the situation.

To strengthen the focus and effort concerning the promotion of health and well-being, If has health partners in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The health partners’ role is to focus on improving the work environment, including both physical and psychosocial well-being. Risk identification is also part of the health partners’ responsibilities, and both work-related and non-work-related health risks are considered. They also systematically develop and maintain tools related to well-being at work for both employees and leaders. One example is a well-being toolkit for the new flexible way of working.

If follows up on absence due to illness monthly in all operating countries, and trends and possible actions are discussed in management teams and with leaders. To reduce absence due to illness, the ambition is to change the health culture from reactive to proactive. As part of the process, people analytics have been improved, and If can now more closely monitor and analyse illness statistics. Based on this information, If can take measures to support the healthy workplace goals.

Employee training

If also ensures that the employees receive adequate instruction and training regarding health and safety, policies, and procedures. Awareness among the employees is, for example, created by using the intranet as a communication channel. Education is offered through the Workday Learning platform. Leaders are also offered more extensive training. On the intranet, there are also links to If’s incident and accident reporting system “Oops!”. The compliance function monitors the incident system, ensuring that any breaches within health and safety are followed up and action is taken.

Healthcare services

If offers employees comprehensive health insurance that covers both illness and accidents. In addition, employees have the possibility to contact the occupational healthcare provider or other vendors and suppliers for work-related medical, psychological, and ergonomic advice. The service offering varies depending on the country and local legislation. If uses the intranet and other internal channels to share information about health-related benefits and services.

Work-life balance

Many employees at If have the opportunity to work flexible hours and, in addition, in most countries, If offers possibilities for part-time arrangements for employees with young children, employees close to pension age, or based on individual social or health reasons. Employees are also entitled to take leave to care for sick children; the required circumstances and the number of days offered vary from country to country. If also offers financial support beyond legal requirements for maternity and paternity leave. Moreover, employees can also request short-term or long-term leave for studies, and some countries offer leave for elderly care. Shorter periods of leave are offered for removals, marriage, and family reasons, for example.

Topdanmark

Governance

Topdanmark wants to give its employees the opportunity of a healthier working life both during the working day and at leisure. With its Health Policy, Topdanmark wants to inspire employees to healthy habits that can prevent lifestyle diseases and stress, as well as to provide a working day and leisure time with more energy.

At Topdanmark, attention is given to the fact that a fast-changing business environment can cause stress, decrease job-satisfaction and well-being, and create a lack of motivation among employees. Therefore, Topdanmark has developed a number of initiatives to avoid these effects. Topdanmark provides many health-related initiatives, including, for example, anonymous stress counselling, educational videos providing an insight into and tools to both prevent and work with stress, a massage scheme, office bikes, and sports activities (e.g., online exercise programmes, breathing exercise, and yoga). Topdanmark also offers help on larger lifestyle changes.

One of the most important tools to work with employees’ mental and physical health is health screenings. Every other year, Topdanmark offers employees a health screening (a physical health check and/or a digital health screening) during working hours. The objective of the screening is that both the individual employee and Topdanmark as a company find out what actions are needed.

Topdanmark continuously evaluates, for example in the Well-being Committee, the many initiatives and their contribution to a healthier working day and a high level of well-being.

Work-life balance

Topdanmark attaches great importance to employees having a good work-life balance. In different phases of life, the needs can vary, and Topdanmark aims to support the need for flexibility for the individual employee in the form of flexible working hours, pregnancy leave/parental leave/maternity leave, part-time work, the possibility to take care of a sick child, and leave to care for a critically ill child, a terminally ill person at home, or a close relative with a disability or critical illness.

Hastings

Governance

Hastings has a well-being programme in place, set out at the beginning of each year. The programme includes a variety of well-being activities to support employees’ mental, physical, financial, and social health both inside and outside work. Examples of activities are various awareness and educational wellness initiatives, and access to a vast library of wellness support. Hastings also hosts an annual well-being event, with external speakers and well-being providers attending to present workshops on a variety of topics. In addition, seasonal well-being campaigns are run throughout the year.

Hastings focuses on its Well-Being Champions and Mental Health First Aiders as the first point of contact for employees who have questions around health and well-being. They are trained to support colleagues and leaders in health matters. The company provides the champions and first aiders with relevant tools and techniques to support them within their roles.

In addition, Hastings recognises that support from all levels of leadership is required for the well-being programme to succeed. Leaders play a key role in creating a safe environment for employees, providing them with opportunities to talk openly about how they are feeling, and supporting them with self-management of their well-being.

Mandatum

Governance

At Mandatum, the focus in managing employees’ mental and physical health is on preventative measures. The company invests in a motivating work environment and preventative occupational healthcare. A preventative early intervention model is used to guide employees and especially managers to notice and identify situations where preventative measures are needed.

Mandatum identifies and measures risks related to mental and physical health in close cooperation with the occupational healthcare service provider, the pension company, and the insurance company. It has been noticed that the longest periods of sick leave tend to be caused by mental health issues, and the risks regarding early retirement are related mostly to mental health issues.

Mandatum offers employees and managers information and support on how to take care of their own physical and mental health. The company trains managers individually and in groups on health-related topics.

Healthcare services

Mandatum offers comprehensive occupational healthcare services to its employees, including consultations with a work psychologist. It is also considered important to have regular follow-ups with HR during the recovery process.

Physical health

Physical health is supported by various forms of physical exercise, different work patterns, and practices that facilitate daily work. Employee benefits include discounts for various exercise and sports facilities and services. In addition, two free yoga classes are offered weekly in virtual format. The gym at the office also offers a place to take care of physical health.

Normally, Mandatum offers regular ergonomic assessments at the workplace, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and personnel working remotely, more ergonomic working tools have been made available for everyone to use in home offices, such as monitors, online cameras, docks, electronic tables, and keyboards.

Mental health

At Mandatum, mental health is maintained by reducing work-related risk factors. Whenever necessary, Mandatum adjusts the workload and/or the content of work and/or other factors causing even a small degree of mental health issues. Good practices that protect and promote mental health in the workplace include, for example, awareness raising, and implementation and enforcement of health and safety policies and practices.

Mental health interventions are part of an integrated health and well-being programme that covers prevention, early identification, support, and rehabilitation. The key to success has been involving people at all levels when providing protection, promotion, and support for interventions. For example, if an employee returns to work from a long period of sick leave, negotiations are held with occupational healthcare, and it is considered carefully whether the employee can start to work full time or whether they should start to work part time until they have recovered completely. Occupational health services support Mandatum in the implementation.

Mandatum’s HR addresses long periods of sick leave caused by mental health issues immediately and offers support and access to professional help to avoid prolonged sick leave.

Work-life balance

Mandatum supports its employees in combining their work life and private life. The company provides possibilities for remote work and offers paid study leave, moving days, certain personal celebrations, and paid leave in cases of a family member’s sudden illness or a funeral. Parents are also able to stay at home or have a professional childcare provider for three days when a child under 10 years old falls ill. In addition, parents returning to work from parental leave have the possibility to work flexible hours. It is also possible to have reduced working hours to take care of elderly parents.

In addition, Mandatum promotes organisational practices that support a healthy work–life balance. Employees are offered programmes, for example, for career development, and self-leadership focusing on self-control, self-management, and reflecting on oneself and one’s well-being.

More information in Sampo Group’s Sustainability Report.