Sustainability

Landschaft: Berge und See

Introduction

Our natural environment is facing an unprecedented threat. It's important for businesses to recognise their role in this too. We need to get involved and become part of the solution. For our employees, our customers and our partners.

Protection via insurance cover is our product - but it’s just as important to protect and preserve our environment and its resources. We take this responsibility seriously as a business in any way we can. This means we can offer our employees an environmentally and socially sustainable workplace.

We want to do our part to solve this global issue by reducing our material usage, energy consumption and CO2 emissions within our business, as well as raising awareness among our employees of environmentally friendly practice. As well as the environment, it's also important to protect our human resources. As an employer, we are very aware of this. This is why the balance between work and family life, social engagement and social attitudes are of such high importance to us.

We take care to orient all of our business decisions in accordance with the principle of sustainability. We will also continue to develop and improve this in the future. We regularly review the goals we set ourselves. Thanks to our company's short communication routes, we can quickly implement changes, expansions and improvements.

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What are we already doing?

Interior climate

  • Office plants – In every office, there is a large hydroculture plant for improved air quality.

Paper reduction

  • Paper-free office - For many years we have been reducing the amount of printed documents using continuous digital archiving.
  • Events – In order to save paper at events, we only send digital invitations to our guests.

Food & drink

  • Reusable bottles - The drinking water provided by the company is provided in refillable glass bottles.
  • Lunch - For many years we have offered a freshly cooked lunch made from regional ingredients. Employees like to make use of this offering and it saves them purchasing meals elsewhere and the waste that this would cause.
  • Alternative to coffee capsules – We offer our employees the chance to enjoy regional and fairly produced coffee from the filter and machine.

 

Commuting routes

  • Zuschuss Abo-Ticket - We offer our employees a subsidy for a subscription ticket for public transport.
  • JobRad - Thanks to our collaboration with JobRad, we can offer our employees another alternative to travelling by car.
  • Flexible working hours - With flexible working hours, our employees can avoid rush hour.
  • Home office - To play our part in reducing traffic, we offer our employees the opportunity to work partly from home.

 

Business travel

  • Video technology - We use video technology to hold meetings with colleagues and business partners.
  • In-house training - With in-house training we also reduce the need for travel.
  • Knowledge exchange - By interacting with other branches.

 

Supplier routes

  • Regional ingredients – Our freshly prepared lunch, which we've been offering for many years, is prepared using regional ingredients.
  • Indoor gardening - Some of the herbs used for our lunch are grown by us in our indoor planters.
  • Regional coffee – We offer our employees the chance to enjoy regional and fairly produced coffee from the filter and machine.
  • Regional mineral water – The water provided by the company at our Cologne headquarters comes from the Bergische Waldquelle source.

Sustainability in the office

  • Re-purposing – Out-of-date letterhead paper is re-purposed into pads we use for handwritten notes. We also have a scrap paper box for misprints next to our printers.
  • Waste – We ensure that our employees separate and recycle all waste.
  • Book-swap library – With our book-swap library, we offer our employees the chance to exchange their finished books instead of throwing them out.
  • Hessian bags to borrow - Our employees can borrow hessian bags for their spontaneous shopping trip after work.
  • Multiple-use masks - We provide multiple-use masks for protection against coronavirus for all employees.
  • Sustainability box - Our sustainability box is where we collect concerns and ideas about how we can be more sustainable in our daily business. 

Charity

  • Regional charity partners – When selecting our partners for charity campaigns, we primarily ensure that the proceeds are donated to regional organisations (close to our locations).
  • Wishing tree – During the Christmas period, we support disadvantaged young people in the region around our headquarters with our wishing tree campaign.
  • B2Run – Every year we take part in the B2Run company run. For each participant, we donate a set amount to a charitable organisation.

Location - The bright and modern offices at our headquarters are centrally located in Cologne's Mülheim district, and are easily accessible via all means of transport.

Parking - Free parking is available on the office premises.

WiFi - All employees can use free WiFi in our offices.

Information - All colleagues are kept up to date on the latest developments and DUAL's reactions to them with regular emails from the management.

Workplace safety - Of course, employee safety is our highest priority, especially during the corona pandemic. In addition to providing masks and disinfectant, a hygiene concept was developed before the gradual reopening of the offices.

Sustainability box - Our sustainability box is where we collect concerns and ideas about how we can be more sustainable in our daily business.

Employee survey - We consult our employees on their satisfaction with our company in regular surveys. We keep our employees up to date on the results of the survey, and try to react to criticism and suggested changes. 

Suggestion box - Our employees can find a outlet in the suggestion box run by one of the team when they wish to express frustration or talk about a problem.

Social responsibility – Our employees regularly get the chance to do something for a good cause with various charity activities.

Amazon Smile – If we order from Amazon, we use the Amazon Smile tool. Amazon then makes a donation for each order.

 Logo DGVH

DGVH - DUAL Deutschland is a supporting member of the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Vermögensschadenhaftpflicht e.V. - the German Society for Financial Loss Liability Insurance, abbr. DGVH. DGVH is a non-profit organisation for the promotion of interests and education relating to financial loss liability insurance. As part of a broad range of educational activities, some DUALers work as volunteer teachers and panel members. Our managing director Annett Marschollek is also a board member. 

 

Logo ivw Köln

ivwKöln - ivwKöln (institute for insurance) is the biggest university institute in Germany specialising in the insurance industry. The institute has strong industry contacts, has excellent research expertise and provides its students with all of the knowledge they need to succeed in their profession in this day and age. DUAL Deutschland is a member of the institute's friends association. The friends association includes around 170 companies in the insurance sector and other industries.

Our Charity Partners

Logo Wir für Pänz e.V.

wir für Pänz e.V. - wir für pänz e.V. is a care service for children and recognised provider of independent youth welfare, which provides families with a broad range of services: Advice centre (children, health, illness, disability) | Children's domestic nursing care | Outpatient paediatric palliative care "sternenpänz" | School and nursery support | Outpatient child and youth welfare | Family respite services | Children's day care and inclusive playgroups | NRW Familienzentrum (North Rhine-Westphalia Family Centre) | Kontaktstelle Kindertagespflege Köln (Kindertagespflege Köln contact point) | Parent-child groups for disadvantaged families | "KinderWillkommen" home visits | Family midwives/family children's nurses from "Frühe Hilfen" early-years care services

 

 Logo Frankfurter Tafel e.V.

 

Frankfurter Tafel e.V. - Frankfurter Tafel e.V. is a private charitable organisation which has taken on the task of helping people in need who hold a "Frankfurt-Pass" with good food. Frankfurter Tafel collects this food according to its logistics plans in agreement with all Frankfurt supermarkets and transports it to the food distribution points across the city to give out to those in need.

 

Logo Harburger Bündnis gegen Depression e.V.

Harburger Bündnis gegen Depression e.V. - The Harburger Bündnis gegen Depression e.V. (Harburg Association against Depression) is a competent and important point of contact when it comes to depression. This association is an important central point of integration in the health care system, because different professional groups and representatives from different levels of the health care system come together to specifically discuss and make decisions on various issues. In this way, the association can prevent fragmentation of the different focus areas and help create an overarching coherence, which then contributes to better connections in efforts to prevent, educate and diagnose.

 

Foreign language classes - We offer our employees in-person and online language classes (German and English) for free.

Language exchange partners – There is also the opportunity to get together with colleagues from other branches as language exchange partners, in order to develop your language skills.

Individual development opportunities - Depending on the department, our employees have the opportunity to further develop in their relevant area.

 

Long-term contracts - Our employees are employed on an unlimited contract. It's also possible to choose between full-time and part-time hours.

Flexible hours - Our employees can enjoy a better work-life balance with flexible work schedules.

Home office option – Our employees always have the possibility of working from home at any time.

Holiday - We give our employees 30 days of holiday based on a five-day week. In addition, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Shrove Monday are holiday days additional to the regular holiday allowance.

Catering – As part of the shared lunch break, we offer our employees a daily free, freshly prepared meal, including dessert. Since late September 2020, we have also been using the herbs and vegetables we have grown ourselves. In addition, water, tea and coffee are available for all employees. For an immune system vitamin boost, there is freshly-squeezed orange juice or a seasonal fruit bowl for everyone.

Social benefits - In addition to accident insurance, which is provided as standard for all employees, there is also the option to join the company pension scheme. We also offer in-house flu vaccination appointments for our employees.

Subsidies and discounts - Thanks to a cooperation with Fleetpool, our employees have the chance to lease a car at discounted rates. With a subsidy for the ABO ticket subscription for public transport and the collaboration with JobRad bikes, we also offer our employees environmentally friendly alternatives to cars. There are further discounts for our employees at mitarbeitervorteile.de.

 

Events - In addition to various celebrations (depending on the occasion), our regular yearly highlights include our company trip, the summer party, family & friends day and a group visit to the Cologne Stunksitzung carnival cabaret.

B2Run – Anyone who wishes can take part in the annual company run in Cologne, the B2Run.

AckerPause – Since September 2020, our headquarters in Cologne have been home to five indoor planters with fresh herbs and vegetables, which are cultivated by our employees.

Alternatives - Even during the corona pandemic when events had to be cancelled, we looked for alternative ways of team building to increase team spirit.

Events calendar - At the start of the corona crisis and during lockdown, in particular, employees were provided with a weekly overview of virtual events or sport and exercise activities, as well as opportunities to entertain children while working from home.