Human
Resources

HR
Policy

The human resources of KEGOC are the most important strategic factor for the Company’s development success. KEGOC manages its human resources based on the principles of the Corporate Governance Code, Code of Conduct (Business Ethics Code), the integrated management system, HR Policy and internal documents relating to KEGOC’s HR motivation.

Personnel Structure

Recruitment
Policy

KEGOC ensures equal opportunities for all candidates irrespective of their ethnic origin or race, gender, age, social and family status or other distinctive characteristics.

HR
Development

KEGOC attaches great importance to the process of training and development of personnel.

In the reporting year, 2,113 employees were trained, which is 54.18% of the headcount. KEGOC’s actual training costs in 2021 amounted to KZT 116.8 million or 35.9 % of the plan, which is 21.1 % lower than in 2020.

Average training hours for one employee was 22.3 hours, including AMP – 21.5 hours, and OP – 22.4 hours per year.

Average training hours for one male employee – 21.9, one female employee – 25.5 hours.

The total training hours came to 94,198.0 including 82,879.0 hours for male employees, 11,319.0 hours for female employees; 12,526.0 hours for AMP and 81,672.0 hours for OP.

To increase the level of professional knowledge and skills of young operating specialists, assist in their professional development, preserve competence of experienced operating employees, adapt to corporate culture, traditions and rules of conduct, the coaching system is introduced and functions at KEGOC.

KEGOC systematically develops its talent pool: functional and management successors pools amounting to 255 people are approved.

The Collective
Bargaining Agreement
and the EnergoTekhProfSoyuz
activity

KEGOC supports freedom of association and recognizes the right of employees to conclude collective bargaining agreements.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement developed through participation of all the Company employees and concluded between KEGOC and its employees for 2021–2025 provides for the agreement joining procedures, issues of regulating labour order, including social leaves, labour payment, ensuring personnel safety and occupational health, granting social guarantees and compensations; it specifies measures on support of employees and development of human resources, health insurance and entertainment and leisure events for the employees. It was amended in terms of supply of coveralls, safety boots and other personal protective equipment at the Company’s expense.

Also, it reflects the issues of social support for the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and equated persons and long-service power engineers registered in the Company.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement covers all employees of KEGOC (100 %) regardless of the type of employment.

In 2003, the Sectoral Trade Union of energy industry employee public association, EnergoTekhProfSoyuz, was established, with its main functions to:

• represent and protect labour and social rights and interests of its members and member organizations;
• assist in the social partnership system development at the sectoral level;
• act as social partnership party when concluding the sectoral agreement and collective bargaining agreement.

The Trade Union influences the labour payment conditions, bonus payments to employees and discipline including disciplinary penalties.

The Trade Union is intended to control the compliance with labour legislation, maintenance and implementation of guarantees and compensations, allowances, etc.

In 2020 and 2021, the EnergoTekhProfSoyuz took an active part in social initiatives and events aimed at supporting employees, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it purchased protective equipment (antiseptics, protective masks), carried out treatment of premises, paid for testing of shift workers. During the year, the trade union members and pensioners received financial aid at their request for medical treatment, purchase of medicines, and compensation for sanatorium-resort vouchers and recreation at holiday homes.

The EnergoTekhProfSoyuz being a member of Kazakhstan trade unions federation Kazakhstan Confederation of Labour took active part in working groups on development of drafts of the General Agreement for 2021–2023, the Sectoral Agreement for 2022–2024, amendments and addenda to the Kazakhstan Labour Code, the Kazakhstan Trade Union Law.

Volunteering

KEGOC volunteers continue to participate in various volunteer activities across the country.

Taking into account the quarantine restrictions in 2021, a number of circumstances, such as high inflation rate, loss of relatives and friends due to illnesses in post-COVID period, the number of attended volunteer activities was reduced. However, the Company’s employees always give a helping hand in difficult situations to the country citizens, whenever possible. Meanwhile, all volunteer activities are held at the expense of raising own funds and funds of the EnergoTekhProfSoyuz.

KEGOC volunteers took part in an environmental urban greening programme together with the public utility ZelenStroy of the Rudny Akimat.

On the Victory Day (9 May), together with the EnergoTekhProfSoyuz, the volunteers provided 56 veterans of the Great Patriotic War and equated persons with food aid at locations of intersystem electric networks branches throughout all the cities of the country.

The Company’s employees provided charitable assistance to the Sudba family club for disabled children in Almaty presenting gifts for the Nauryz Meyramy holiday. In addition, they took part in the Donor Day capital campaign, which was held as part of the nationwide project Marathon of Good Deeds. This campaign was supported by the company employees across country regions. It should be noted that the Company has been regularly participating in the donor events since 2007.

On the eve of the Children Protection Day, at the competition titled Kazakhstan, My Beautiful Motherland, the employees gave presents in the form of school essentials to 47 children and participated in organizing and conducting the Saturday clean-up voluntary day as part of the Taza Kala campaign with 30 trees planted in Atyrau.

As part of the annual Run for Charity marathon the Ekibastuz children’s fund received material assistance.

The Company participated in the Samruk-Kazyna AYALA campaign on formation and delivery of food to 200 low-income families of Karaganda.

The Company’s employees supported by EnergoTekhProfSoyuz took part in the Road to School campaign under the Happy Childhood programme of the Zhurek Nury public fund, which covered children from low-income families in Shymkent, Almaty and Aktobe. The collected funds allowed buying basic necessities, as well as school goods such as stationery, uniform and shoes.

KEGOC volunteers traditionally participated in the implementation of the Bakytty Otbasy project and assisted in implementing the Let’s Help Children Prepare for School campaign by buying 10 certificates for the purchase of necessities for children from low-income, large families, troubled families, orphans and children deprived of parental care in Nur-Sultan. Volunteers from the company’s branches took part in a similar campaign, which covered more than 100 large and low-income families.

The Kurban Ait celebration provided annual charitable assistance to the women’s madrasah in Nur-Sultan in the amount of KZT 300,000 and about 30 needy families of the employees of the Company’s branch in Atyrau.

In addition, KEGOC’s staff once again took part in the campaign dedicated to the Day of Older Persons, including the Care and Attention campaign visiting a nursing home in Aktobe. Samruk-Kazyna’s Centre for Social Interaction and Communications together with portfolio companies held a campaign of assistance to veterans and war workers, timed to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons in Nur-Sultan. In total, volunteers formed and delivered 43 grocery bags to the addresses of residence.

As part of the Good Deeds Marathon, the Company’s volunteers were engaged in landscaping the fences of houses, planting trees on garden plots and clearing snow from the yards of pensioners and veterans registered with KEGOC.

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan Independence, an Open Day was held at the Company’s branch substation for students of higher educational institutions in Ust-Kamenogorsk along with a big charitable event to raise funds for buying outerwear for 21 children in Nur-Sultan from large and troubled families having disabled children and orphans, deprived of parental care.

Occupational
Health and
Safety

The Company’s absolute priority is to ensure occupational health and safety. Safe labour conditions, low-level of operational injuries, improved operational and sanitary-household and labour conditions of the employees, as well as low level impact of harmful and adverse factors are the constant work carried out at the Company.

The Company has the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, which covers the activities of all the Company’s structural divisions and subsidiaries and ensures the effectiveness and improvement of occupational health and safety performance and managing the relevant risks related to the specific nature of the Company’s business. The annually formed occupational health and safety programme defines the necessary activities, costs and deadlines for their implementation. The Company has successfully implemented and passed certification for compliance with the international standard ISO 45001:2018.

In accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, KEGOC provides its employees with compulsory occupational injury insurance. In addition, life and health insurance for the Company’s employees against accidents and non-occupational accidents (24/7), including the consequences of COVID-19, has been implemented.

In accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan the employees at least once every three years, undergo all types of compulsory training on occupational health and safety and qualification tests of knowledge of regulatory power industry acts. In 2021, additional training was held on international standard ISO 45001:2018 “Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. Requirement and Guidance for Use”, “Occupational Health and Safety”.

Mandatory pre-shift medical examinations of employees engaged in heavy work and work in harmful and/or hazardous conditions, as well as pre- and post-shift medical examinations of drivers are carried out. There is also an annual periodic medical examination of personnel.

In accordance with the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in 2021 KEGOC provided its employees with compulsory occupational injury insurance and compulsory third-party liability insurance for owners of facilities, activity of which is associated with risk of causing damage to third parties.

KEGOC uses Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which includes work-related fatal accidents, to assess the safe working conditions. The LTIFR is the world’s main indicator of companies’ occupational safety and health performance. The indicator refers to the number of lost-time injuries (LTI) relative to the total number of hours worked for the Company (Work Hours, WH) for 1 million man-hours.

In 2021, the LTIFR made 0.15 (0 – in 2020).