Support for defenders, veterans and their families is one of the important areas of DTEK Energy's work. The company accompanies employees from the moment of mobilisation and throughout their service, helps their families, and after their return creates conditions for adapting to work and civilian life.
“We are grateful to every employee who stepped up to defend Ukraine, which is why we stay in touch with them and their families throughout their entire period of service. It is also important to us that, upon returning, a person feels that they are awaited, respected and will be supported. Our task is to create conditions in which a veteran can safely return to work, restore their strength and professional skills, be close to their family and have a worthy place in the team,” noted Oleksandr Fomenko, CEO of DTEK Energy.
DTEK Energy's veteran support programme includes medical and psychological support, legal assistance, family support, training, retraining and help with returning to professional life. If their health allows, veterans return to their previous positions after completing the service. If this is impossible due to injury, disability or other circumstances, the company helps to find other work or to master a new profession.
Special attention is paid to veterans with disabilities. To this end, DTEK Energy has conducted accessibility audits at its production sites, including the surface areas of mines, thermal power plants and machine-building plants. The company is implementing changes in stages that are intended to make workplaces, welfare facilities and movement routes more convenient and safer for people with disabilities. This includes, in particular, adapting spaces, installing handrails, providing more accessible toilets and showers, and marking hazardous zones where necessary.
The company is also developing the “MOZHU” (“I CAN”) tool — a solution for matching job vacancies to people with disabilities, including veterans. It helps to align a medical opinion, a person's functional capabilities, experience, knowledge and skills with the working conditions of a specific workplace. This approach makes it possible not simply to look for an existing vacancy, but to select work in which a veteran can safely and fully apply their professional experience.
An important area is support for defenders' families. On request, the company helps to resolve social, legal and everyday matters, and in the event of an injury during service it supports treatment, rehabilitation and the subsequent return to work.
A separate part of veterans' social recovery consists of sport, team events and joint activities with their families. These help veterans gradually return to active life, strengthen their physical and psychological condition, feel the support of colleagues and maintain a connection with the team. DTEK Energy involves veterans in sports tournaments, rehabilitation programmes, meetings and community events that help to combine rehabilitation, communication and a sense of belonging.
A veteran support system is in place at DTEK Energy enterprises. At each enterprise, a dedicated person is assigned — an assistant for supporting mobilised employees and veterans (a coordinator). The support system also involves managers, HR specialists, psychologists, lawyers, medical staff and colleagues. Their task is to make a defender's return to civilian work clear, safe and less stressful.
“For us, veteran-centricity is daily work. We want every defender on the DTEK Energy team to know that the company is by their side — during their service, after their return and at every stage of adaptation,” added Oleksandr Fomenko.
In total, since the start of the war in 2014, 5,028 DTEK Energy employees have stepped up to defend Ukraine.