Venipak, one of the largest fast parcel delivery service providers in the Baltics, announced that it has insured its employees in Lithuania and Latvia against coronavirus. Seeking to ensure financial security and quality care in case of infection with COVID-19, the insurance arranged by VENIPAK guarantees fixed benefits of up to 2,000 EUR in case of illness.
Venipak CEO, Justas Šablinskas, recalls that the company started thinking about insurance from the very outbreak of the pandemic: ‘’This period is very challenging for our couriers as they deliver thousands of parcels throughout the world every day. We have been looking for a solution since the introduction of quarantine, and now we have an opportunity to make it a reality. Because none of us is immune to the disease‘’, says the CEO.
According to the Venipak manager the insurance is being offered through the broker Aon Baltic: ‘’In Lithuania such insurance is offered by Lietuvos draudimas and we are working with them through our partner Aon Baltic‘’.
Žilvinas Petrauskas, the manager of the Aon Baltic broker company, mentioned that the idea to create a COVID insurance for employees was prompted by this highly concerning situation. ‘’We could see that our employees were under constant stress because of the fear of losing their jobs and regular earnings should they be hospitalised as a result of being infected with the COVID-19 virus, and then need to stay in a lengthy isolation. We also saw that the employers were concerned for the motivation and the safety of their staff,‘’ says Petrauskas.
According to Aon Baltic, in the first two weeks companies insured more than 30,000 employees against COVID 19.
The insurance package acquired by Venipak provides for the payment of a lump sum benefit should an employee contract COVID and be hospitalised; the support in Lithuania will be up to EUR 2,000 and EUR 1,300 in Latvia.
Globally, such insurance to employees is paid to just a small share of companies, and some of them pay compensations to the infected.
For example, because of COVID-19, the American company UBER paid its drivers and food delivery couriers some EUR 3 million.
Feels responsible towards the employees
The Venipak manager claims that so far none of its employees has been infected or diagnosed with COVID-19, but the decision to insure the employees will ensure that each of them will be protected from emerging health threats.
‘’As soon as the quarantine measures were declared we took special measures to protect the health of our staff; our employees are required to wear masks and disposable gloves, disinfect their hands, have their temperature checked before starting work and at the end of the working day. Our couriers, employees at the logistics centres, and the entire service staff work under enhanced risk conditions, so we feel a high degree of responsibility towards our employees and their families. Our duty is to ensure that each Venipak employee feels safe and protected and does not have to worry about their future,‘’ says Šablinskas.
According to Šablinskas, Venipak has put in place all possible security measures when delivering and collecting parcels from senders. ‘’Our couriers deliver the parcels directly to the door, and stick to extremely strict rules; they deliver and collect parcels only to the entry or at the door of the house, they cannot enter the properties of senders or recipients.
We are unique in providing ‘’contactless‘’ delivery – with a PIN code; having arrived to the delivery address the courier sends the PIN code to the recipient’s mobile phone. The recipient then dictates the PIN code to the courier, which the courier then enters in the scanner to check it for correctness. We also ask our customers to pay by card, thus avoiding cash,‘’ says Šablinskas.
Invests in employees
The Venipak manager mentioned that the insurance is only a small share of what the courier service offers its employees. ‘’While this insurance is a response to the current situation, we also want to show our current and future employees that we care about each of them and we are ready to invest in both their skills and health,‘’ says J. Šablinskas.
At the close of 2019, Venipak presented the Venipak Academy project in all three Baltic states.
During this week-long training, new couriers are trained in various new skills – proper communication with customers, safe driving, crisis management.
“The Academy is designed both for new employees, as well as existing ones, because we support personal development on an ongoing basis. New employees are trained in initial skills, and those already working are tested, they are enrolled for re-training or new training courses, so that they can constantly improve,‘’ says Šablinskas.
According to the manager the company offers training courses in leadership, communication or team-building to its salaried employees. “One of the most important objectives is to retain our employees, facilitate their personal development ambitions and be a good employer. We want to retain our best employees, therefore every year we introduce innovations that in our opinion have proven to bear fruit,” says the manager.