Compatibility in every situation

How do you reconcile childcare and a career? This question pops straight into many people's heads when they think about the topic of reconciliation. But depending on the phase of life, very different factors can play a role. One person does voluntary work, another has a time-consuming hobby. A life-phase-oriented HR policy takes such individual needs into account. We asked three employees how they benefit from this policy, regardless of whether they have children or dependents in need of care

"As a nurse, I work in shifts. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I also volunteer to coach a children's soccer team. That's great fun for me. But that also means I can't work late afternoons on those days. Fortunately, our employer gives us the freedom to coordinate our duty schedules ourselves as a team. This means that I can explain to my colleagues myself why I can't take on a shift during this time. They have a great deal of understanding for this if you then also fill in for them at another point. That only has advantages for everyone."

"My job is mentally quite demanding. The weekend is often not enough time to relax - especially since there are also errands to do, such as shopping, cleaning or doing the tax return. That's why I reduced my weekly working hours from 40 to 32 for a period of three months. Fortunately, my employer is very flexible. It's relatively easy for us to reduce working hours by up to one day per week. All I had to do was fill out a form and discuss with my employer which tasks I would not be able to perform during this time. I use my extra day off to go shopping in a relaxed way, enjoy the nice weather or just read again."

"I often go surfing on my vacations. The best destinations for this require long journeys. In addition, I hardly have any opportunities to train in Germany. That means I need a certain amount of time each time to build up the strength again. Real progress then only occurs after three to four weeks. My employer usually limits the length of a vacation to a maximum of four weeks. Unfortunately, that's not enough for my hobby. Since I don't have children and therefore only take vacation outside of school vacations - also at the request of my employer - we have made the agreement that I can take my entire annual vacation in one piece. Another advantage for both me and my employer is that I can really switch off on a longer vacation and come back to work with completely new energy."