Staff skills, expertise, and professionalism are the key ingredients of Energoatom’s leadership in the energy sector. The Company employs more than 34,000 people and provides comfortable and safe working conditions, as well as fair and competitive remuneration. We take a careful approach to staff recruitment, training, and motivation, as we are aware of our responsibility for the country’s energy security. We provide staff training and development to build and maintain the required skills and qualifications of managers, specialists, and experts, taking into account modern requirements and prospects for the development of the nuclear industry.
We work with young people to build a motivated and skilled talent pool. Energoatom has 21.5% of young specialists under the age of 35. The Company creates all the necessary conditions and opportunities for their successful and effective self-realisation, development of their professional potential, and career growth. The effectiveness of our youth policy was highly praised: Energoatom entered the Top 25 Employers of Choice for Young People in 2019.
It is important for us to ensure long-term professional development of employees, protect their health, and promote a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, we launched a pilot project for voluntary health insurance in 2019.
Energoatom pays special attention to the interests and needs of employees, as well as provides social support. Every year, the Company’s medical and health facilities help the employees restore the work-rest balance. As a result, 18,077 employees of the Company could improve their health in health centres and resorts.
Energoatom is a socially responsible company, so we take care of the regions of our presence, help communities in the satellite towns of NPPs, maintain an active dialogue with local communities, and implement a number of social projects that contribute to sustainable development of the regions.
НАЕК «Енергоатом» є соціально відповідальною компанією, тому ми дбаємо про життя міст, де розташовані наші підприємства, опікуємося громадами у містах-супутниках АЕС, підтримуємо активний діалог з місцевими громадами та реалізуємо низку соціальних проєктів, що всебічно сприяють сталому розвитку регіонів присутності.
OLEH BOYARYNTSEV,
Energoatom’s Executive Director for HR
The Company offers equal employment opportunities and pays competitive salaries to its employees. Energoatom seeks to create a safe and comfortable working environment, attract the most talented professionals, and enhance their professional and personal growth. Highly skilled staff is key to Energoatom’s efficient operation, and social policy is one of our priorities.
HR management policy of the Company is in line with the national regulations and internal regulations, as well as with the world’s best practices.
In 2019, Energoatom worked to improve its HR management system. In particular, in a move to build a chain of command, the Company set up the Executive Directorate for Staff in August 2019. The Executive Directorate includes the Directorate for HR Management,
the Directorate for Staff Training, and the Department for Work Management and Remuneration.
In 2019, Energoatom continued implementing a uniform organisational structure system at NPPs in the HR Management area and harmonising the existing organisational structures of NPPs in line with the new structure.
To evaluate the efficiency of HR management system, Energoatom holds meetings with its employees. The Company has developed mechanisms to receive feedback from staff. In particular, we conduct regular surveys and polls and handle employee queries filed via special sections of the websites of the Company and its separate subdivisions.
Energoatom remains one of the most reliable and responsible employers, as it contributes to a successful career start, excellent training and dynamic growth of young professionals. In 2019, the staff structure of Energoatom saw almost no changes. As of the end of 2019, there were 34,736 employees in the Company.
For more information about the number and composition of Energoatom’s employees in 2017–2019, please see Annex “Key Performance Indicators 2017–2019”.
Respect for human rights is one of Energoatom’s main principles, which plays an important role in the sustainable development of the Company. As a responsible employer, we fully share and promote the generally accepted global approaches.
Energoatom’s human rights values
Employment agreements are concluded only with persons who meet the age requirements established by the applicable laws of Ukraine. Employee relations are based on the principles of social partnership, which imply a continuous dialogue and feedback. We respect the right of employees to establish or join civil-society organisations. There are no reprimands or negative consequences for this activity. Approaches to employee relations comply with Ukrainian and international labour law, as well as Energoatom’s Code of Corporate Ethics.
In the reporting period, the Company did not receive any reports or complaints related to discrimination or human rights violations.
The Company has created the environment with equal rights and opportunities for women and men. In the recruitment process, Energoatom adheres to the principle of equal opportunities. We guarantee that all candidates are evaluated equally regardless of their gender.
Energoatom ensures that men and women equally participate in the decision-making (production, economic, social, and managerial decisions) and can obtain additional qualifications and skills to be further promoted within the Company. In addition, the Company ensures that women can pursue their career aspirations and participate in leadership development initiatives. The Company guarantees the equal right to parental leave to both women and men (until the child turns three) and offers opportunities to combine work with family responsibilities.
The purpose of the contest was to recognise the contribution of women to the development of domestic energy sector, as well as provide support and encourage them for further achievements in the energy and energy-related sectors. In 2019,
more than 80 professional women working in the energy and energy-related industries, as well as energy companies implementing the gender policy took part in the contest.
The Company also pays due attention to the employment of people with special needs and the creation of comfortable conditions for them both in the workplace and in the satellite towns. In 2019, we installed the following devices facilities to make it easy for people with disabilities to access administrative buildings and social infrastructure facilities owned by Energoatom’s separate subdivisions:
The Company is a local economic mainstay in the areas of its presence: it creates a significant number of skilled jobs, provides employment, and pays decent salaries. We apply transparent approaches to the systems of staff remuneration, evaluation, and motivation. The Company adheres to the principle of non-discrimination when it decides what benefits and pays the workers will receive. When hiring new people, Energoatom does not take into account gender, age or ethnic aspects and relies exclusively on employee skills, abilities, and experience. In case of promotion of employees, the focus is on career achievements.
In addition to the basic salary, Energoatom employees received one-time financial assistance for healthcare purposes, an annual bonus based on their performance results in 2018, and a bonus on the Power Engineer’s Day in 2019.
One of the main ways to create a productive work environment in the Company is to conduct staff performance appraisals. In 2019, Energoatom continued introducing the staff performance appraisal as part of its SAP ERP-based HR management subsystem.
Procedures and tools for the appraisal of the management are defined and approved by the Company’s internal documents and administrative orders.
Energoatom has an effective system of internal communications in place that helps maintain a dialogue between employees at all levels.
Feedback channels:
All queries filed through feedback channels have to be documented and immediately considered. The Company prevents troubles by analysing the main causes and nature of reports, queries, and complaints, as well as by taking timely preventive measures.
For more information about requests, reports, and complaints from Energoatom employees in 2017–2019, please see Annex “Key Performance Indicators 2017–2019”.
Energoatom seeks to improve employees’ working conditions and quality of life. In addition to opportunities for professional development, the Company also provides social support to all employees in a move to build their long-term motivation.
Energoatom does not only pay salaries, but also provides financial assistance, helps resolve housing and accommodation issues, and provides one-time retiring allowances. In 2019, 653 retirees received end-of-job payment.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement outlines the policy and develops the mechanisms to motivate staff, encourage high performance and productivity, ensure the proper level of safety culture, and provide social protection for staff. The document establishes the basic norms, principles, and mutual obligations of the parties that regulate social, economic, and employment relations in accordance with the laws of Ukraine at a company level. Implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is financed with funds earmarked in the effective tariffs for the supply of electricity and thermal power, as well as with revenues received from other operations of the Company.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement applies to all Energoatom employees, regardless of whether they are members of a trade union. Under the Collective Agreement, the Company shall inform of any changes in its operations at least two months before the changes take place.
Energoatom’s trade union is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Thanks to the coordinated work of Energoatom’s management and the trade union committee, the Company took all the necessary measures to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2019. In particular, housing commissions monitored the registration of employees in the housing waiting list (for those who needed to improve housing conditions), annual re-registration in the housing waiting lists, and housing allocation (apartments and family hostels), as well as provided financial assistance. In addition, the Company took care of the healthcare and recovery of its employees and their family members and ensured improvement in the health treatment efficiency. In addition, the trade union committees exercised public control over the use of social insurance funds, timely payment of temporary disability allowances, and other types of allowances in accordance with applicable laws.
The Company cares about the life and health of its employees. The implementation of Energoatom’s healthcare policy relies on the principles that take into account the specifics of production and seek to create proper safe working conditions and prevent accidents and occupational diseases. Energoatom
guarantees annual financial assistance for its employees, conducts medical check-ups, promotes a healthy lifestyle, and takes steps to improve disease prevention and care. In 2019, the Company continued to implement all the measures to protect and improve staff health and wellbeing.
Evaluation of the Company’s performance in this area is presented annually in the reports issued by the divisions of Energoatom on the performance of the healthcare departments.
Goal: Ensure professional development and health of employees in the long-term, help employees stay healthy, and encourage them to have a healthy lifestyle.
Highlights: The project was open to all employees of the Company who worked under employment contracts. Everyone who concluded a health insurance contract with an insurance company was provided with financial assistance that was equal to the amount of an annual insurance premium, but did not exceed UAH 7,000 a year. The excess amount (the amount which exceeded the annual fixed financial assistance), as well as taxes and fees were paid by employees from their salaries.
The Executive Directorate for HR was selected as a unit responsible for the implementation of the pilot project in the Company’s Head Office, and each separate subdivision also had its own responsible persons.
The insurance programme included basic and additional medical insurance. Basic medical insurance guaranteed emergency medical, outpatient, inpatient, and dental (non-urgent and urgent) care. Additional medical insurance included provision of vitamins, diagnostics, one inpatient treatment, pregnancy care, insurance of relatives on corporate terms, etc.
Results: With this voluntary health insurance programme in place, 19,528 employees, or 56% of the Company’s staff, concluded health insurance contracts with 11 insurance companies.
Benefits of the voluntary health insurance for the Company:
Benefits of the voluntary health insurance for employees:
For many years, Energoatom has been implementing the programme for health improvement at health resorts for employees and their family members. In 2019, 18,077 employees participated in the programme. In addition, 7,170 children of Energoatom’s employees could receive treatment at the health resorts at the expense of the Company
Number of Energoatom employees who received healthcare and recreation services
Number of children who attended recreation
facilities
The Company has a network of social infrastructure facilities for health improvement and recreation of employees.
For the list of the social infrastructure facilities, please see Energoatom Non-Financial Report 2018.
By ensuring continuous development and training of its employees, the Company maintains a high level of staff professionalism and motivation. Energoatom seeks to create the conditions that best contribute to the growth and self-realisation of employees at work and ensure continuous
improvement of their professional competencies. Staff training is line with the applicable laws of Ukraine and the IAEA requirements.The Directorate for Staff Training is responsible for personnel training and development in the Company.
Energoatom’s training centres
Structural divisions of the NPPs and AtomRemontService
Third-party
providers
The main purpose of the staff training is to increase and improve professional competencies of employees and thus ensure safe, reliable and efficient operation of the Company. Energoatom’s
employees are assigned for training according to the annual plans developed by the Company. In 2019, the staff training made 96,833 mancourses.
For more information about the staff training at Energoatom in 2017–2019, please see Annex “Key Performance Indicators 2017–2019”.
The training was conducted by leading educational institutions, in particular the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Odessa National Polytechnic University, George Kuzmycz Training Center for Physical Protection, Control and Accounting of Nuclear Materials, Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, etc.
In addition, to meet the urgent needs and ensure that the Company has the necessary expertise to deal with the changes in the Ukrainian regulations in 2019, the Head Office employees took part in the workshops on the fight against corruption, tender procedures, staffing issues, accounting, etc.
Energoatom’s staff training expenditure pattern, 2017–2019, UA
The Company has the procedures for the evaluation of the staff training efficiency system in place. As practice has shown, there are very few violations, and the employees undertaking upskilling courses keep improving their knowledge and sharpening their technical skills and proficiency.
| Indicators | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of violations* | 16 | 21 | 13 |
| Number of root causes of the violations, in particular: | 32 | 31 | 20 |
|
3 | 3 | 2 |
|
3 | 1 | 0 |
|
0 | 1 | 0 |
|
2 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 |
Goal: Enhance skills and proficiency of young specialists.
Highlights: In 2019, the contest covered two areas: production (12 papers) and social area (7 papers). The authors of the research papers demonstrated knowledge of the material and the desire to learn more about nuclear energy, as well as about the production and social aspects of NPP operations. The papers were selected in two stages: at a separate subdivision level and then at a company level.
Results: The finalists presented their developments and approaches that they planned to implement in the Company. The winners received cash prizes and diplomas. Their papers were also presented at the R&D conferences organised by Energoatom and the Ukrainian Nuclear Society, as well as at the Summer Nuclear School.
Selection and adaptation of young specialists is one of the key areas of Energoatom’s staff policy. In the reporting period, the share of young professionals under 35 years old was 21.5% of the total headcount. Over the last two years, the number of young workers has decreased by 12%. Thus, the motivation of young people to engage with nuclear energy sector remains an issue. Every year the Company conducts training for young specialists and organises skills competitions.
The employees could learn about the achievements of the leading nuclear centres and exchange knowledge and experience with their foreign colleagues. The training participants discussed issues relating to safe, stable, and reliable operation of nuclear reactors, accelerators, and installations, radioactive waste treatment, as well as operating documents.
The Company held the 15th sectoral contest of professional skills among young specialists of the separate subdivisions, which took place on the industrial site of Zaporizhzhya NPP. For the first time, the contest covered nine professions: special water treatment operator, manual electric and gas welder, lathe operator, electrician for instrumentation and measurement equipment, shift RP technician, crane operator and turbine engineer inspector, as well as an instructor of the training centre.
By attracting promising young people to work for Energoatom, the Company satisfies its long-term need for specialists. To this end, we consider it necessary to increase the interest of young people in the nuclear industry, cooperate with schools, vocational schools, colleges and universities.
Energoatom annually offers industrial placements and internships for students with the possibility of further employment.
As part of cooperation with schools, Energoatom implements a wide range of informational, outreach, and awareness raising campaigns, as well as competitions. We conduct industrial tours, contests, and quizzes on nuclear issues and support the best students and their teachers.
The Company has set an objective to ensure that graduates have the required qualifications and their knowledge and skills meet the requirements of Energoatom and the industry in general.
To this end, the Company cooperates with the leading higher education institutions. A detailed list can be found in Energoatom Non-Financial Report 2018. In 2019, we signed a cooperation agreement with Rivne-based National University of Water and Nature Resources Management.
Key areas of cooperation:
Educational tours for students of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Lviv Polytechnic National University to Emergency and Technical Centre, AtomRemontService, and South-Ukraine Electric Power Producing Complex
Lectures that raise the profile of the nuclear power engineer profession among students of Odessa National Polytechnic University
An educational journey for students of the leading Kyiv universities into the world of nuclear power at the 18th International Forum «Fuel and Energy Complex of Ukraine: the Present and the Future”
Goal: Build a positive image of the Company, promote nuclear energy, provide career guidance for students of Ukrainian colleges and universities, and strengthen the relations between national higher education institutions.
Implementation period: 01 – 12 July 2019.
Highlights: The two-week project included reports and lectures delivered by academicians and representatives of Rivne NPP, as well as excursions and bright cultural evening parties. The project participants were 27 students from the universities training staff for the nuclear energy sector: Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Vinnytsia National Technical University, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Odessa National Polytechnic University, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and the University of West Bohemia (Czech Republic). The youth was accompanied by the faculty staff, who delivered informative lectures on electricity production, nuclear technology, reactor operation, etc.
These events gave an opportunity for students and young professionals to gain maximum information and thus make an informed choice of future profession or career path. The initiatives improved our image in the employment market and helped train competent young professionals and create a young team.
Results: All participants of the 8th International Summer Nuclear School received certificates of completion, and the winners were presented with valuable gifts.
Energoatom is interested in the motivation and development of talented young people, as it allows the Company to train and hire the best specialists. That is why we have been paying scholarships for the most promising students since 2008. In 2019, 72 students received the scholarship.
Energoatom has established The Best Teacher of the Year Award for academicians of higher education institutions, which recognises the outstanding professionalism and teaching performance. In 2019, the Company recognised the excellence of four teachers.
In 2019, 92 graduates were employed by the Company as a result of systemwide relations with educational institutions.
The attractiveness of Energoatom as an employer was assessed by analysing the completed questionnaires, corporate website, and students’ feedback. The key questions in the questionnaire covered, among others issues, the tools for communication with young people, internship and employment programmes, training and other activities for students.
Energoatom joins efforts with higher education institutions to provide annual opportunities for industrial placements and pre-graduate internships where the students can learn more about production.
During the internships, the students visited the production shops and departments of a nuclear power plant where they would be able to work as certified specialists in the future. The training is line with the approved internship programmes of the higher education institutions. Each student must take a compulsory knowledge test at the end of the internship.
For more information on the number of students who completed internships at Energoatom in 2017–2019, please see Annex “Key Performance Indicators 2017–2019”.
A contest of innovative ideas among university students and young professionals was held as part of the Energoatom Spring School 2019 educational project. Their task was to study the feasibility of application of the low-power modular reactor technology in Ukraine through the example of one such reactor of their choice. The participants assessed the reactors against a number of
criteria, including operational safety, technical and economic indicators, standardization and licensing, potential participation of Ukrainian companies and scientists in production of reactor equipment, as well as the environmental impact on the area of location, etc.
Ukraine is among countries with the developed nuclear energy sector, ranking second globally by the share of nuclear power generation in total energy mix and seventh by the output of electricity produced by NPPs. However, given that the lifecycle of most power units will expire after 2030, Ukrainian nuclear energy is facing pressing challenges:
Necessity to ensure the energy security and independence of the country
Climate action
Need to keep the electricity market share
Prevention of brain drain
Thanks to powerful nuclear generation, Ukraine can feel quite confident in the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, because electricity generated at nuclear power plants is a low-carbon technology. During the entire period of operation, Ukrainian NPPs helped reduce emissions of more than 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. If Ukraine’s nuclear power plants were shut down, additional emissions would amount to 70 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
Project awards: Best Corporate Contribution to Sustainable Development Goal No. 9 “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” within the 9th National CSR Business Case Competition.
The Company’s social policy focuses on improvements of the standards of living for employees, members of their families, and the residents of the regions of operations. As the biggest energy generating company in Ukraine, Energoatom has an impact on the life of local communities. We make a significant contribution to the economy and sustainable development of the areas where we operate by paying taxes to local budgets and employing local residents. This helps improve the living conditions of the local population and contributes to the local economic growth. Energoatom takes an active role in solving social issues, helps preserve cultural heritage, and supports education, culture, and sports. The Company adopts the best CSR practices, national and international initiatives.
Energoatom does not have any divisions that have a significant negative impact on local communities. The Company monitors and assesses the environmental footprint of separate subdivisions on an ongoing basis. The results of environmental and social impact assessments are published on the websites of the NPPs and Energoatom.
The Company works with local communities to minimise communication risks, as well as develop and implement joint initiatives. In 2019, there were no protests of citizens and/or nongovernmental organisations related to the Company’s operations.
Energoatom will continue to implement its social policy and programmes for HR management and development of young professionals, as well as to engage schoolchildren and students and take care of local communities. The key priorities will be:
