Ensuring Decent Labour Conditions

Business development depends entirely on the professionalism, high responsibility and good faith conduct of the employees, therefore, the human capital is the most important factor in the success of the Unipro activities.

The Company power facilities employ professionals with vast production experience and extensive engineering expertise. The Unipro management is focused on continuous improvement of labour relations and social development, creating conditions for efficient and safe work, ensuring career progress, a decent standard of living and well-being of the employees of all branches.

The Company’s staff management system covers a set of HR issues concerning all categories of employees — from workers and specialists to managers. The Company’s activities in this area are governed by a set of bylaws that ensure the transparency and impartiality of HR decisions.

Unipro has the staff that is well-balanced in terms of structure, experience and professional competencies, which contributes to the efficient solution of strategic tasks. The stability of operating activities allows keeping the headcount at the same level: 4,607 persons as of 31 December 2020, which is by 0.5% higher than the last year. The headcount increased largely due to the employment of workers who were the staff of a liquidated contractor that was engaged in the reconstruction of power unit 3 of Berezovskaya GRES.

The structure of the Unipro staff broken down by gender, age and category of the employees is determined by specific features of the industry. Thus, the majority are men (71.0%): men are more than women by 4.2 times among managers and by 4.5 times among workers.

At the same time, 54.8% of specialists and employees are women. The share of young employees (under the age of 35) is 24.2% of the headcount. One of the Unipro priority tasks in the staff management is to involve young specialists.

An important priority of the Unipro staff management is the process of maintaining the quantitative and qualitative composition of the staff required to ensure the reliable functioning and development of the Company

Recruitment at the Company is mostly effected by the HR Unit on a on-going basis without engagement of recruitment agencies. In 2020, almost half (45.7%) of vacancies were filled by internal transfer.

When hiring its staff, the Company provides in full and in accordance with the law for an approach that excludes any discrimination or harassment on any other grounds, including nationality, gender, age.

Despite the difficult epidemiological situation, the involvement of dedicated young specialists was kept at the same level. The Company hired 45 young specialists being graduates of dedicated universities (25 persons) and secondary specialized colleges (20 persons), most of whom were relocated to the Unipro branches from other regions. The Company offers a competitive relocation package for young specialists, which includes: payment for tickets to the branch, relocation allowance and residential lease for a period of 3 years.

Efficient human resources management and various methods of staff selection that are traditionally applied by Unipro PJSC allow to keep a high staffing level. In 2020, the number of employees quitting their jobs varied from 3.9% at Shaturskaya GRES to 14.6% at Smolenskaya GRES, the average for Unipro was 8.1%.

The professional development of Unipro PJSC employees is based on high-quality and timely training for employees.

The system of continuous staff training allows to develop the employees competencies in accordance with the requirements for the positions held by them and for the purpose of their transfer within the Company.

In 2020, the priority area of training was compulsory training which allows to improve the qualification and to gain knowledge required by the employees to perform their employment duties. The main types of compulsory training are:

• knowledge assessment of Electrical Facility Installation Rules, labour safety, industrial and fire safety, and staff’s working instructions;
• pre-certification training and accrediting on industrial safety;
• compulsory education in accordance with the requirements of the state rules and regulations (-35% against 2019);
• short-term training for no more than 2 weeks (+ 69% against 2019);
• advanced training (-48% against 2019);
• training for the second job (+ 9% against 2019).

In 2020, the employees of Unipro PJSC completed 3,958 different types of training, which is by 18% less than in 2019 (in average).

In 2020, the main focus was on online training of the Unipro PJSC employees due to their transfer to teleworking. The basic online training programs are:

• Teleworking Team Management, 60 managers of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Employee Performance Management within the Manager’s Core Functions, 16 managers of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Staff Incentives, 87 line managers of the branches and the talent pool;
• Time Management, 268 line managers of the branches and the talent pool;
• Mentoring and Feedback, 68 line managers of the branches and the talent pool;
• Communication. Conflict Management, 29 heads of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Project Management, 19 heads of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Systematic Approach to Achieving Results, 16 heads of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Self-Regulation under Pressure, 150 employees of Moscow Representative Office and the branches.

Alongside with the programmes above, other training projects for various subdivisions of the Company were implemented in the reporting year:

• Culture of Ethical Business and Combating Fraud and Corruption, 90 managers of Moscow Representative Office and the branches; 205-2
• Qualities of an Instructor/Expert, 43 employees of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Practical Issues of Testing Laboratories (Centres) Activities. Criteria for Accreditation in the National Accreditation System. General Requirements for the Competence of Testing Laboratories, 9 employees of the Production Unit of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Normative, Technical and Legal Regulation of Safety. State Fire Supervision. Assessment of Protected Objects (Products) Conformity to Fire Safety Requirements. Fire Protection Projects for Building Structures. Fire Fighting Equipment. Fire Alarm and Protection Systems. Fire Safety at Fuel and Energy Facilities. Fighting Fires and Rescue Operations, 18 employees of the Production Unit of Moscow Representative Office and the branches;
• Theory and Practice of Calculating Short-Circuit Currents and Protection Installations, 10 employees of the Production Unit of Moscow Representative Office and the branches.

360 Degrees Feedback Programme

The 360 Degrees Feedback programme plays an important role in maintaining the corporate culture of the Company.

The primary objectives of the programme are to:

• assess how the employees’ competencies are manifested in actual working conditions;
• take into account different points of view: the information is received from the employees who regularly interact with the persons being assessed at different levels;
• compare the employee’s self-esteem with the assessment of his/her workmates;
• analyse variations in the perception of the employee behaviour by various groups of persons;
• collect data for providing developmental feedback by results of the assessment.

The target audience of the programme is:

• Heads of the Headquarters;
• Heads of subdivisions: shops and departments;
• Heads of the Production Unit participating in the Talent Pool Management programme.

By results of the 360 degrees assessment, streamlined feedback is provided regarding the assessment of the employee’s competencies.

Talent Pool Management Programme

This programme includes a number of assessment procedures:

• personality questionnaire;
• ability tests;
• competency interviews;
• feedback to participants;
• the Assessment and Development Centre (for candidates for the positions of branch heads).

By assessment results, the programme participants draw up an individual development plan.

In 2020, the percentage of programme participants appointed to key positions in the Company amounted to 73% at the target value of 70%. Rating “High Potential” was assigned to 79% of submitted personal development plans at the target value of 80%.

The youth association of Unipro PJSC includes 6 youth organizations of each of the five branches of the Company and the Headquarters, that are aimed at achieving professional and innovative potential, career and professional growth, solving social issues, promoting health and developing healthy leisure activities for the company’s youth, cooperation with city organizations, busy participation in pursuing the city and district youth policy.

In 2020, the activities of youth organizations of the branches were partially carried out in the online format:

• more than 60 projects were developed and implemented by members of the youth associations of the branches;
• more than 2,000 employees took part in the activities carried out by the youth associations;
• a team of 10 young specialists of Unipro PJSC took part in the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship, the Energy special shift league in October;
• 25 young specialists took part in an online forum arranged by the All-Russian Industry Union of Employers of Enegry Suppliers (Union AEES).

Transparent and honest relations with employees lay at the basis of Unipro PJSC HR policy. Fair remuneration, growth and development opportunities, and social partnership require mutual respect and consideration of the interests of the Company’s employees and management, as well as compliance with the laws and other regulations by the parties.

In Unipro PJSC, the main regulatory documents governing the relations among the employer and employees are the Collective Bargain Agreements of the Company’s branches and the Regulations on Labour Remuneration. 102-41 Those documents were developed on the basis of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation on the principles of regulation of social and labour relations and regional specific features of the Company’s branches.

Unipro PJSC employees’ salary comprises a fixed and a variable part. The fixed part is set depending on the employee’s qualification and position, while bonuses and incentives are paid depending on performance.

The Unipro incentive system is based on the pay for performance principle. The amount of the employee’s bonus is subject to the Company’s KPIs and the employee’s individual KPIs. When setting the Company’s KPIs and the individual KPIs of the employees, the strategic goals of the Company are taken into account.

Overall, the employees’ average salary is similar to salaries paid by companies of the same sector in respective regions of the branches. Subject to the region of presence, the wages of entry-level employees correspond to the minimum wage rate (MWR) or exceed it by more than 4.5 times.

Unipro observes the principle of equality and nondiscrimination based on gender: the ratio of salaries for men and women is 1/1 for all categories of employees.

Payroll expenses account for 77.0% of the total HR costs. Payroll expenses include all expenses associated with the payment of salaries, with due regard to estimated liabilities. At year-end 2020, the Unipro expenses associated with the payment of salaries dropped by 4.1% as compared to 2019 and amounted to RUB 5,498 mln (58.0% of the Company’s controlled expenses).

Employees’ official salaries are subject to indexation and may also be revised depending on the employee’s KPI in the relevant period within the limits of the payroll budget.

This approach to measuring salaries provides each individual employee with a clear idea of the matters within his/her responsibility area and of the things he/she needs to do to secure a high evaluation of his/ her performance and, consequently, a higher salary and enables Unipro to recruit and retain top-end professionals.

Unipro PJSC provides its employees with a full social package, guarantees and compensations stipulated by the law (e.g., increased salary for employees working in harmful and/or hazardous work environment, working at night, etc.), as well as additional benefits, guaranties and compensations, such as: 401-2

• voluntary health insurance (VHI);
• personal accident and sickness insurance;
• non-state pension scheme;
• various types of financial assistance;
• corporate support for housing improvements;
• holiday packages for employees and children;
• funds for cultural and recreational events;
• others.

Unipro strives both to provide its employees with stability and development at present, and to ensure a comparable quality of life in the future after they retire.

The Company’ non-state pension system (NPS) was implemented in 2005 and comprises two basic pension schemes: corporate and parity.

The corporate scheme extends to the employees of the Company branches and represents a variation of the non-state pension scheme when the employee retiring due to old age receives money transferred by the Company to such employee’s account with a non-state pension fund (NPF) from this NPF. The amount transferred to the NPF depends on the employee’s official salary and length of service with the Company. The liabilities under the corporate non-state pension scheme covered from the general resources of Unipro PJSC and calculated in accordance with IFRS (IAS) 19 amount to RUB 752 mln. The amount of funds deposited with Otkritie (NPF) is about RUB 40 mln. 201-3

Participation in the parity scheme enables the employees to have a major influence on their future pension amount. The programme is based on the joint involvement of the Company and its employees (co-financing in equal shares on a monthly basis) in money savings for the payment of a supplementary non-state pension benefit.

In an effort to ensure stability of its employees, Unipro annually allocates funds to the employees of the branches for corporate support in improving their housing conditions. In 2020, 47 employees of the branches who do not own any housing or are recognized as in need to improve their housing conditions were granted interest-free loans under that programme.

The priority is annually placed on highly qualified specialists, employees invited from other localities and young specialists. The loans granted are applied by the employees to purchase and construct their housing and to repay mortgage loans.

This benefit allows the employees to purchase their own housing and to get rid of the need to pay huge interest to banks, which undoubtedly increases the quality of living of the employees and results in high value for the Company

The branches of Unipro PJSC implement social partnership in the field of labour in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

The Unipro employees are able to fully exercise their right to freedom of association. Trade union cells carry out their work at 5 branches of the Company, the number of their members varies in the different branches and is: 6% at Berezovskaya GRES, 42% at Smolenskaya GRES, 55% at Yaivinskaya GRES, 58% at Surgutskaya GRES-2 and 62% at Shaturskaya GRES.407-1

The employees’ rights are determined by the current legislation, employment contracts, collective bargain agreements and other local normative acts of the Company and are observed by the employer in full.

The Company has a friendly corporate culture and an atmosphere of appreciation, care and recognition of everyone’s achievements. The Company’s corporate culture is based on the “Unipro Path” concept geared towards staff capacity building and support and motivation of employees. The Company continues to promote the healthy lifestyle culture among employees thorough implementation of various sport and development programmes.