Support employees and their families

In the main countries where we do business (Portugal, Poland, Colombia, Slovakia and Czechia), all employees are covered by social protection through mandatory public schemes against loss of income, and in which casualties such as sickness, unemployment, employment injury, acquired disability, parental leave, and retirement are included.

As a Group, we have a permanent commitment to making a difference in the lives of our employees and their families, and to supporting them in situations of vulnerability and/or social emergency, as well as in priority support areas such as health and education, through internal social responsibility (ISR) programmes that complement existing community responses. In 2024, we invested more than 48.4 million euros (a 33.5% increase in comparison to the previous year, mainly due to the reinforcement of prepaid cards that are allocated in Hebe and Biedronka).

Health

In Portugal, the Mais Vida (More Life)¹ programme (destined to support employees with cancer and their families) provides second opinion consultations and multidisciplinary support, which includes transportation, home care services and psychological support. In Poland, Biedronka supports employees with serious, life-threatening illnesses or disabilities by funding treatment and rehabilitation. In the year, a total of 237 employees received support under these two programmes, representing an investment of 180,000 euros.

In 2024, Biedronka created the Z troską o partnera (Taking Care of a Partner) programme, offering financial support to cover urgent expenses related to medical treatment for the spouses of employees. Hebe launched the Wracaj do zdrowia z Hebe (Return to Health with Hebe) programme, covering co-pay for treatment for employees and close family members involved in accidents with implications for their health or affected by an illness. In this launch year, 131 people (60 employees and 71 family members) benefited from the two programmes.

We support families with children suffering from rare diseases or those with special needs through the Famílias Especiais (Special Families)¹ programme in Portugal and Mali Bohaterowie (Little Heroes) programme in Poland. The investment of 378,000 euros in these programmes gave 494 employees’ children access to treatment and medical equipment, among other forms of support.

The SOS Dentist programme in Portugal offers dental treatments to employees who are unable to afford them, and in 2024 it enabled the continuation of 321 oral health treatments, in an investment of 91,000 euros.

Education

In Portugal, the Online Study Hall² programme continued to improve the school performance of employees’ children attending Years 1 through 9. This free programme offers group and individual tutoring, depending on students’ needs. The programme includes support in core subjects such as Portuguese, maths and English, and in any subject they are struggling with. In 2024, besides helping prepare students for the Year 9 national exams, we launched a pilot programme to prepare students to their Year 12 exams, in an effort to help employees and children of employees qualify for higher education. In total, the programme supported 1,789 students in the year, representing an investment of 196,000 euros.

The Aprender e Evoluir (Learn and Grow) programme, held in partnership with the Qualifica network of centres (specialising in the professional qualification of adults seeking education or vocational training certification), enables our employees to complete compulsory education during working hours. In 2024, a total of 323 people participated in the programme. We have also continued to help cover the costs of access to higher education (bachelor’s or master’s degrees) for our employees and their children through our scholarship programme, which includes funding for tuition fees and travel support. In 2024, 161 people received scholarships (30 employees and 131 children), corresponding to an investment of over 177,000 euros.

The start of the school year can be a challenge for many families when it comes to managing their budgets. With this in mind, in 2024 we continued to support the children of our employees in Portugal and Poland, particularly in the purchase of school supplies. In Portugal, we continued the Regresso às Aulas (Back to School) initiative, offering three types of support: a voucher for the purchase of school supplies at the start of the school year, support in ordering textbooks, and special support for the purchase of textbooks for large families. In Poland, school kits were distributed to the children of employees starting Year 1. Under these two initiatives, 23,416 vouchers and kits were distributed in the two countries, corresponding to an investment of over 405,000 euros.

In 2024, the Group invested more than 1.2 million euros in organising summer camps for employees’ children, with educational and leisure activities. In Portugal, the summer camps were attended by 2,151 children and teenagers, and in Poland the summer camps organised by Biedronka welcomed 1,000 children of employees, aged between 8 and 13. As in previous years, Ara organised recreational activities that brought together 266 employees and 465 children during the school holidays, aimed at building children’s artistic, communication, social and cognitive skills, as well as nurturing the relationship between parents and children through educational activities¹.

Family support

The Social Emergency Fund (FES – Fundo de Emergência Social)³ is an initiative created more than a decade ago in Portugal to support employees and families in times of greater vulnerability, ensuring a response to urgent situations of food shortage, domestic violence, the need for legal support, healthcare, and financial organisation, among other support, complementing the social response provided by specific government support mechanisms. We have an in-house team of social workers who carry out an individual assessment of each situation and then create personalised response plans for each employee and their family, aimed at empowering them and strengthening their autonomy. In 2024 the Jerónimo Martins Group supported 1,457 employees in Portugal through FES.

Biedronka allocates funds to respond to social requests to employees in difficult life situations, assessed by a committee responsible for managing the Social Fund, which is mandatory under Polish law. Through this programme, 4,044 social allowances were granted in 2024. The Company also granted 6,633 loans with special conditions to employees with housing-related needs (the two Social Fund mechanisms together replace Możesz Liczyć – You Can Count on Biedronka).

In 2024, the two programs represented an investment of 7.9 million euros⁴ in supporting employees in situations of vulnerability and social emergencies.

In addition, and to support its employees at different times throughout the year (Easter, summer holidays, the start of school, and Christmas), Biedronka distributed 25.7 million euros in electronic cards for employees to use in stores (50.1% more than the previous year).

In Colombia, Ara has three social support programmes: Fiado, Payflow and the Fondo de Empleados programme: ATulado (Employee Fund: By Your Side). Fiado allows employees to buy products at Ara stores on credit, deducting the amount from employee’s salary at the end of the month. Payflow allows employees to receive advances on part of their salary, depending on the number of days worked in the month, to gradually cover their expenses. In 2024, a total of 546 employees used this programme. Fondo de Empleados: ATulado is an existing mechanism for large companies in Colombia, providing access to loans with lower interest rates than those charged by banks and informal markets. In 2024, the Fund financed loans granted to 3,880 employees, mainly for the purchase of motorcycles, education needs, and financial consolidation. Access to this social support programme requires employees to be members of the Fund and undergo training that gives them the knowledge they need for the sustainable use of credit. Ara also continues to provide one-off support to employees in emergency situations, whenever necessary.

We also want to be present for special moments, such as the birth of a child. To this end, the Group invested in offering welcome kits for the newborn babies of employees in Poland and Portugal, as a way of supporting 4,019 employees at this special time. This investment exceeded 407,000 euros. In Poland, the welcome kit includes essential items for the first days of a baby’s life and, in Portugal, it consists in a digital gift card worth 175 euros, for use in Pingo Doce stores. In Portugal we also offer a course for expecting employees and/or their partners during pregnancy, in which 81 people took part, along 32 sessions.

Also on Children’s Day, both in Poland and Portugal, we offer a gift to all our employees’ children under the age of 12, which in 2024 were given to 59,975 children, corresponding to an investment of 436,000 euros.

At Christmas, Biedronka again offered gifts to all employees and their children up to the age of 18, customised for each age, with food and non-food products. A total of 165,330 gifts were distributed, in an investment of 8.8 million de euros (25.4% more than in the previous year). In Portugal, vouchers were offered to 13,718 of our employees’ children to use in Pingo Doce stores, and all employees received a bottle of sparkling wine and bolo-rei (traditional Portuguese Christmas cake), corresponding to a total investment of over 498,000 euros.

We continue to encourage financial literacy through the Contas Certas (Good Money Management) programme to strengthen the financial autonomy and family management of our employees, providing access to related digital content, face-to-face training in the workplace, financial consulting and other support. In 2024, we also launched a pilot programme aimed at helping employees prepare their personal income tax returns, assisting 699 employees under the programme.

¹ In order to expand its reach and social impact, the programme was transferred to the Jerónimo Martins Foundation throughout 2024.

² The investment in this initiative is supported by Caja de Compensacion Familiar.

³ The programme was transferred to the Jerónimo Martins Foundation throughout 2024. It includes 66,907€ reported under the Mais Vida programme.

⁴ 6,044,378 granted in loans to employees which are repaid to the Company.