Combining career and family

It is possible to balance career and family life – given the right conditions. Munich Re has concluded agreements on flexible working conditions, with attractive working-hours models and appropriate support.

More and more employees are seeking to start a family without having to give up their careers. Others have to care for family members. At Munich Re, a variety of flexible working-hours models accommodate staff and their different needs. These include part-time and flexitime agreements and assistance with childcare. The broad offering is rounded off by arrangements that help employees when they resume work.

Uniform rules thanks to the Family and Career internal company agreement

Since 2002, the measures set out in Munich Re’s Family and Career agreement have made it easier for reinsurance staff to reconcile their personal and career aspirations. In this agreement, we undertake to assist in particular those parents who are the primary childraisers, for instance by giving them priority when part-time positions are available. The internal company agreement also includes benefits in respect of essential special expenses and a childcare allowance paid to parents returning to work following parental leave. They also have the assurance that their original jobs will be kept open for them.

Better support for parents needing childcare facilities

Munich Re works with a number of service providers that help staff find the best childcare. A key feature of the latest agreement is the provision of an additional 30 external childcare places. Alternatively, up to €400 per month will be paid towards childcare costs. Some childcare centres reserve a certain number of places for the children of staff members, a measure that helps women in particular return to qualified positions. Competent contact persons are available at Munich Re’s main office sites in Germany to give staff information on the different ways of achieving an optimum balance between career and family. Reinsurance employees in Munich can obtain additional support from the Staff Council committee on equal opportunities, family and career.

“Combining career and family poses a major challenge to both parties – the employee and the company. This challenge can be overcome with commitment and consistency, likewise on both sides.”

Katja Bucher, Group HR

ERGO makes a strong case for families

In June 2010, the “audit berufundfamilie®” (family and career audit) certificate was won by ERGO’s administrative centres in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Mannheim, and Munich. This certificate is awarded by the non-profit Hertie Foundation, which is committed to promoting the balance between career and family. Together with the head office in Düsseldorf, first awarded the certificate in 2002, all the main German ERGO administrative centres have now earned this accolade. ERGO uses the audit berufundfamilie® as a valuable strategic management tool to promote a family-friendly HR policy.

The many measures agreed for reconciling work and family have long been available not only to staff with children but also to staff who need to care for other family members. ERGO also offers a service unique in Germany: qualifying staff can take up to twelve months’ parental leave on half pay, (payable during their absence and in the subsequent “active phase”). They also have the option of converting special payments such as holiday pay and the Christmas bonus into an additional maximum 42 days’ leave. More and more male employees are taking advantage of this. “It means they can work a four-day week or a 30-hour week without losing their full-time status,” says Katrin Peplinski, ERGO's Equal Opportunities Officer.

Facilitating the return to work

Munich Re makes every effort to encourage its female staff to return to work following maternity leave. To ensure that young mothers do not lose touch with their employer, ERGO has established a parents’ network. In addition, parents are offered the opportunity under certain circumstances to work from home or convert special payments into leave.

Munich Re (Group) staff by type of employment

Data relate to Germany and Munich Re’s main offices in North America – these figures cover 57% of Munich Re’s total workforce.

We regard giving our employees the freedom to determine their own working hours as an investment in the future. In 2010, 15% of Munich Re employees worked part-time.