At a ceremony held yesterday, the Ministry of Defence thanked 527 Estonian companies and organizations by bestowing the Supporter of National Defence decoration. The employers who received the award have taken steps to support the participation of their employees in reservist training, allowing them to retain their income during the training and support Estonia’s national defence in other ways, such as through the Reserve Force Fund.
This year, 10 gold-, 100 silver- and 417 bronze-level decorations were bestowed. Merko had previously received the silver level of the decoration on two occasions.
The aim of the Supporter of National Defence award is to recognize employers who allow their employees to fulfil their duties to the national defence system without significantly reducing income and who contribute broadly to strengthening national resolve and defence capability. The recipients included major employers as well as smaller businesses and organizations for helping ensure that reservists can focus on their refresher training and performing their national defence duties. This year, the fourth that the decorations have been bestowed, a record number of businesses and organizations were nominated.
“It’s a pleasure to see the number of nominees grow every year and that this year almost 700 were nominated, a number of them for a second or third time. That shows that Ęstonian employers value their role in national defence and increasingly support their employees’ participation in the reserves. A well-defended country is the product of joint contributions from state, individuals and employers,” said the secretary general of the Ministry of Defence, Kaimo Kuusk.
To be eligible for the Supporter of National Defence award, candidates must be a legal person such as a company or organization and have a friendly policy in regard to its staff participating in reservist training, thus having a broader impact on national defence and serving as a role model for other organizations. The gold level is for exceptionally longstanding and exceptional contribution to supporting Estonian national defenders and requires the following:
- serving as an outstanding role model for others in their market sector, supporting the raising of issues concerning reservists with partners, clients and other parties;
- offering diverse benefits to reservists and the Defence Forces, including incentives, equipment rental opportunities, free transport, etc;
- compensating those participating in training for the difference between earnings and the reservist training allowance during the training (maintaining the full monthly salary);
- continuing to pay wages in full during reservist training;
- paying a bonus or enabling additional paid leave for the duration of the reservist training.
At Merko, employees who are reservists retain their ordinary income while they are participating in reservist training. We encourage our people to take part and maintain all benefits and incentives while they are out in the field. We also contribute to Estonia’s national defence by constructing buildings and infrastructure that allow Defence Forces service members to do their everyday work. For reservists buying a home from Merko in the Lahekalda development, we offer special terms – notary fees and real estate appraisal fees are waived, and there is a discount of 5% off the price of an apartment.
