Quality of Life and Wellness
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), quality of life is an individual’s perception of his or her position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which he or she lives and in relation to his or her goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. Thus, work is an essential part of this context, since it is capable of establishing identity and offering meaning and significance to life.
Considering that people spend a large part of their days in the work environment, much of what happens inside and outside work life influences the professional’s behavior, as well as his or her performance and, especially, his or her physical and mental health.
Aware of its commitment to offer a healthy and safe work environment, besides physical and psycho-emotional health care, Copel maintains several programs aimed at quality of life and wellness in the workplace.
Quality of Life and Wellness Program
Copel’s Quality of Life and Wellbeing Program was established in 1998, with its main objective being “to awaken people’s constant interest in the search for continuous improvements in quality of life” and having the following pillars: 1. Health Promotion; 2. Psychosocial-functional relationships at work; and 3. Personal and Family Lifestyle.
Over time, several actions and practices have become an integral part of organizational culture, including specific benefits for people with disabilities and pre-retirement programs. Some of these actions have been adjusted to reflect new interpretations of the concept, while new benefits have been added to meet new demands.
Copel’s quality of life and well-being program is based on the concept of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to which “quality of life is the individual’s perception of their position in life, in the context of culture and value systems in which he lives and in relation to his goals, expectations, standards and concerns”.
Copel’s Quality of Life and Wellbeing program seeks to promote a healthy and safe work environment for all employees and their families and is structured around 4 pillars: physical health, psycho-emotional health, social well-being and financial well-being . In this way, the Quality of Life and Wellbeing Program seeks to promote a healthy and safe work environment for all employees and their families.
The program’s actions are also aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3 and SDG 8, targets 3.4 and 8.8, which advocate health and emotional well-being, as well as the promotion of a working environment healthy for all people.
Considering that people spend a large part of their days in the workplace, much of what happens inside and outside of work life influences the professional’s behavior, in addition to their performance and, mainly, their physical and mental health.
Physical Health
At Copel, people’s health and safety is a fundamental factor for success and organizational longevity and, for this reason, it is considered by the top leadership as a Company strategy. The main performance goal of the objective of caring for people’s health, safety and quality of life is the severity rate of accidents involving employees and contractors. This goal is unfolded and monitored in the management commitment of all areas of the Company.
Psycho-emotional Health
A person’s mental health is related to the way they react to the demands of everyday life and the way they harmonize their desires, abilities, ideas and emotions. Enjoying mental health is knowing how to deal with different emotions (good or bad), managing stress and emotions, being at ease with yourself and others, and knowing how to recognize your limits – including seeking specialized help when necessary.
Social Well-Being
Social well-being is based on our ability to form and maintain strong, meaningful relationships with other people. Strong relationships are linked to lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy, a stronger immune system and longer lifespans.
Therefore, Copel, in addition to providing a safe and healthy work environment, seeks to encourage social interaction and promote an open and supportive culture.
As a way to provide the integration of accident prevention and health promotion, Copel maintains several programs aimed at the employees’ social well-being. Among the Company’s main social welfare programs, the following stand out: Family Day Program, Home Office Program, Combating Domestic Violence, Bem Gestar Program, Assistance Program for People with Disabilities and Pre-Retirement and Post-Employment Program.
Family Day Program
The integration between the family and the company is configured as an important tool to value the workforce, as it stimulates the recognition of the importance of the employee’s work by their families, providing conditions to strengthen the bond between the workforce and the company, by allowing family members to get to know better their work reality, their daily routine and the relevance of their labor activities in the development of the company as a whole.
The Family Day meeting takes place annually and allows the family members of our workforce to visit the company’s units, get to know the work routine and the importance of the activities developed by Copel, which have a direct impact on the state’s economic and social areas.
The program provides the opportunity for a moment of integration and relaxation in the Company, also bringing safety content, educational lectures and health care, becoming an allied action in accident prevention and promotion of integral health of Copel’s family. It also includes presentations on the Company’s business and ludic and practical activities adapted to everyday work tools, such as trucks with baskets, zip-lines on the transmission training towers, and guided tours in areas of restricted access and control.
The program is carried out in a hybrid format: with face-to-face activities, such as visits to workplaces; and virtual activities, with educational lectures aimed at adult audiences, that is, fathers and mothers and other family members.
Home Office Program
The remote work program favors the well-being and life balance of employees and is available in two forms:
- Hybrid home office: the model combines characteristics of face-to-face activity and remote work, enabling employees to fulfill their weekly work day in person and remotely (at home).
- Punctual Home Office: aims to meet a specific situation with a defined duration, at the request of the employee and agreed with his/her immediate manager.
The established journey is 4 days with in-person activities and 1 day remotely. Adhesion is voluntary by the employee and the definition of the day/period in which the work will be carried out remotely will be agreed between the immediate manager and employee, according to the specificities of each area and work activity. Currently, 75% of roles are eligible for the Program.
Combating Domestic Violence
Copel recognizes that the fight against domestic violence involves society as a whole and assumes its social responsibility in this matter, conducting permanent campaigns to combat and overcome domestic violence, be it against women, children or elderly people.
The company develops support actions for employees who are victims of violence, ranging from release for absence from work to transferring their place of work as part of protective measures, if the employee so wishes.
The actions are also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN), especially in items that advocate gender equality, emotional health and well-being, and the promotion of a healthy working environment for all people.
Wellbeing in Pregnancy Program
The Bem-Gestar Program aims to provide special attention and support to mothers and fathers during the pregnancy process and after the birth of the child, having as main objectives
welcome the employees in this unique moment;
provide psychosocial well-being to pregnant and parenting women in the workplace, providing support and information;
encourage the practice of breastfeeding after returning to work, with the breastfeeding support rooms; and
promote an active and conscious paternity, which is an important foundation for the growth and development of the children and the family.
The actions developed include registration of pregnant women and parents, encouragement of responsible parenthood, virtual group of pregnant women and parents, registration in Fundação Copel’s healthy pregnancy with telemonitoring of pregnant women and breastfeeding support rooms at the company’s centers, in addition to incorporating practices and benefits existing ones, such as extended maternity and paternity leaves and reduced working hours to encourage breastfeeding for 60 days after returning to work.
Pregnant Women Group
It is aimed at employees, wives of employees, and contractors, in order to promote the dissemination and discussion of contents about pregnancy, legislation, childbirth, postpartum, care with the newborn, and breastfeeding.
Healthy pregnancy
It aims to promote the health of pregnant women, offering support and care during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum focusing on health promotion and the importance of prenatal exams and the first care with the baby, available to beneficiaries of Fundação Copel’s health plan at no additional cost to the plan.
Breastfeeding Support Rooms
Copel maintains breastfeeding rooms in some of its units so that employees returning from maternity leave have an appropriate environment for the removal and storage of milk to be offered to the infant.
The environments are part of the Working Mother who Breastfeeds strategy and are certified by the Ministry of Health, in recognition of the support for the women who make up the Company’s workforce.
Pre-retirement Program (PPA)
The dedication to working life by the worker tends to reduce the time of attention to the transition moments experienced by retirement and/or career transition, in addition to this, the changes in the social security system, motivated the institution of a program to prepare for retirement and for the future.
The Pre-Retirement and Post-Employment Program (PAPE) is a practice is a practice of people management at Copel that aims to provide guidance on choices that provide tranquility and quality of life, having as assumption education, providing access to information and relevant knowledge in order to promote the autonomy to plan the worker’s future.
In this sense, Copel’s Pre-Retirement and Post-Employment Program foresees educational actions, by means of internal seminars on subjects that are relevant for the future, such as the preservation of physical and emotional health, the importance of building healthy relationships and financial education, as well as self-development actions, making content and tools available so that each employee can elaborate his/her “life project”, thus establishing a better connection with his/her future.
The action is also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN), especially those that advocate emotional health and well-being and quality education, as well as the promotion of a healthy working environment for all people.
Financial Well-Being
Far from what many think, financial well-being is not simply synonymous with earning the monthly income we desire. Behind this concept there are several elements that need to be up to date to guarantee a healthy financial life.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a government agency in the United States and referenced by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), financial well-being is the condition in which a person sees themselves capable to meet her recurring financial obligations, feeling secure and confident about her future and empowered to make choices that allow her to enjoy life.
Redefining Value$
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a US government agency, and referenced by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), financial well-being is the condition in which a person is able to meet his or her recurring financial obligations, feels secure and confident about his or her future, and is able to make choices that allow him or her to enjoy life.
The Redefinindo Valores Program proposes to work with financial education as a way to promote employees’ financial well-being and economic sustainability.
Financial education aims to encourage and promote the search for knowledge that allows financial planning and management in a conscious and intelligent way. Planning and financial organization allow you to learn how to manage your money, developing autonomy over decisions.
Together with the partnership with Fundação Copel for issues related to complementary pension plans, the program’s actions involve:
- Learning trail with tracks such as: basic concepts, getting out of the red, taking care of money, planning the future and my pension plan;
- Lecture on financial education;
- Workshop on complementary pension plans; and
- Mentoring groups with specific themes.
Benefits
The benefits package offered by Copel to its employees exceeds that defined by law, and is compatible with that of companies that are a reference in people management. This package is granted to all employees, regardless of their workload.
