"Veterans as shining examples" or "Don't treat veterans like fools!" The consequences of benefits and the misuse of veteran status can be concerning.

Currently, discussions at all levels revolve around the significance of reintegration, various benefits, employment for veterans, and incentives for employers. This is indeed crucial. However, (as it turns out) it is equally important not to overdo it in the desire to do good. Because if you dig a little deeper, you may uncover the darker side of this narrative. This can lead to unfortunate consequences and noticeable risks known as "status abuse."

Why is it essential not to overindulge in benefits? How can treating veterans as heroes and "sunshine" make their situation worse? Why do veterans themselves ask not to be treated as "imbeciles"? And how can a privileged status instead of a competitive hiring process yield entirely opposite results — as highlighted in the hromadske material.

“Everyone is afraid to talk about this because they understand the reputational risks,” says my interlocutor, who also wishes to remain anonymous. “But the fact that you’re starting to discuss it is already a positive step. We shouldn’t as a society get accustomed to: ‘You’re a veteran — everyone owes you.’ Ultimately, what I need as a veteran is respect and honor. In all other respects, I am just an ordinary person.”

The only way to dismiss a veteran is to change the "staffing" structure

“Let’s take a person. A veteran. He has the Order of ‘For Courage.’ And experience in public service positions no lower than the head of a specific structural unit. About a year ago, he was employed in one of the ministries. His salary is 50,000 hryvnias. However, the person hardly appeared at his workplace,” my interlocutor recounts.

It turns out this refers to the former director of the Department of Civil Identity in the Ministry of Veterans, Andrei Kisera. According to the documentation provided upon hromadske's request, the number of continuous sick leave days approached 140.

What could the ministry do? You cannot dismiss a veteran, you see?hromadske interlocutor in one of the central executive authorities

“In essence, the only way to dismiss a veteran who is not fulfilling his duties is to change the staffing structure so that the position no longer exists. Or to liquidate the structure entirely. Although veterans are usually the last to be let go.

But then what happens? When a person eventually resigns, he takes away two salaries — two of 50. Great? This is how much such a veteran, who was conditionally at work for 2 days throughout the entire time, cost. Changing the ‘staffing’ structure is not just a matter of renaming. Positions, functions change, and new special checks for other people must be done... This drags on for months. And there’s no other way out.”

“Society itself makes veterans seem like imbeciles”

Legislation does not separately regulate the employment of veterans. Generally, they may not have priority when being hired, says lawyer and labor law expert Victoria Polishchuk. However, if a military person became disabled during the war, then he is entitled to the guarantees and rights of people with disabilities.

On the other hand, social responsibility in business is currently developing: employing war veterans is sensible and right.

Veterans' labor rights are also on their side: for the most part, their positions are preserved after demobilization, they are granted additional leave, and they have preferential rights to retain their positions (for instance, during layoffs). Grounds for dismissal can only be continuous sick leave exceeding 4 months.

“According to the Labor Code, if a person has been absent from work for 4 consecutive months due to illness, the employer has the right to dismiss him (unless there is a medical conclusion about the need for further treatment),” notes Victoria Polishchuk.

There are no other safeguards, if a veteran is objectively not fulfilling his duties in public service, says hromadske military personnel Yevhen, who worked in one of the regional state administrations and knows the inner workings of the veteran policy management.

“After ATO, as now, there was such hype about needing to involve veterans in public service. And so the management was headed by a veteran. He seemed like a decent guy. But everything went haywire. The budget was simply consumed, and some issues were 'resolved' in a makeshift manner. Management changed, but it was impossible to dismiss him. The story only concluded years later when he resigned after the start of the full-scale war,” Yevhen shares.

Having experience in both public service and the military, he states: “I understand this sensitive issue from both worlds.” However, he himself opposes the narrative that “veterans are the key to success.”

These discussions that if you’re a veteran, you should be hired without a competition — that’s incorrect. Being a good guy isn’t a profession. We have ‘veterans in need,’ ‘veteran-sunshines,’ let’s give them a separate queue in public service centers, a separate one in eateries, and so on. Society, in trying to offer something, turns them into some kind of imbeciles. They are ordinary people. Just give them the chance to return to normal life as soon as possible.Yevhen, military personnel

“Thus, the main thing is not the status, but professional skills. Among veterans, there are indeed many individuals who meet these requirements. But if they are placed...

Sometimes you interact with someone and think: ‘God, if only these people were in public service.’ I served with such a guy. I realized that I really wanted to lure him and ‘head-hunt’ him into public service. Because he is truly a professional, a broad-minded person, qualified, and pleasant to work with. I understand that he is indeed better than those who remained in public service. But this person, unfortunately, perished...”

“I wouldn’t hire a veteran either. I would hire a person.”

“I would never hire a veteran,” picks up the phrase with which it all began, says veteran Gleb Strizhko. But he continues: “I would hire a person. Ultimately, this question conceals many problems. Quite often, employers try to hire based on social status out of gratitude or ignorance rather than professional qualifications.

Well, we don’t say that we hire future parents. They are all men and women. Accordingly, if we think in such categories, it becomes ridiculous. But very often, this is indeed the case.”

After conversations with the veterans themselves, the thesis that initially scared about “not hiring veterans” gained depth. For indulging and elevating only social status can have unfortunate consequences.

I was not hired as the defender of Mariupol. We primarily hire professionals. We must understand that. So that we do not create this caste while trying to do good, as in the long-term perspective, it may have negative effects.Gleb Strizhko, veteran, consultant at robota.ua

Gleb Strizhko, who currently works, among other things, as a consultant at a job search company, urges looking at the employment of veterans not from a social but a pragmatic perspective. After all, this is likely to be an employee with high discipline. Who wants to realize himself in a new sphere of life and is, therefore, more motivated. And he is also automatically reserved.

There are, he says, generally enough jobs. However, there is indeed a lack of qualified personnel.

In cases of status abuse, everything depends on the individual, Gleb adds. After all, Ukrainian legislation generally favors the employee, not the employer.

“Statuses can layer. For example, like me: at my age, I am already a military pensioner, a person with a disability of the II group, and a combatant. So when I can be dismissed for my incompetence, I might say: ‘Aha, you’re dismissing a veteran, is that your gratitude? Is that your respect?!’ But this is very manipulative and immature.”

Veteran business and strict selection

Artem Voytyuk is 30. He has spent almost half of his life in the army. He was the acting commander of an engineering sapper battalion. When he was discharged from the army in 2023 after being wounded, he didn’t know what to do in civilian life.

He decided to establish a coffee company with his comrades. He completed a master’s degree in Finance and Banking, began studying management, marketing, and SMM. Now, while his comrades are in the army, everything is on him