Equal opportunities and the reconciliation of work and family life

An increasing number of employees are performing a balancing act between work and providing long-term care for family members. KfW wants to provide competent and individual support to employees in these difficult life situations in order to develop a secure and stable supply structure and create relief for all involved.

Information: Extensive information material is available for employees on the Intranet, including a practical guide, customised to meet KfW’s needs, for employees with relatives in need of care and disabled children, entitled “Pflegefall - Was nun?” (In need of care - what happens next?) and an emergency folder that can be used to record all of the relevant personal details that might be needed in an emergency.

Training: We continued the lecture series entitled “HR informiert” (information from the HR department) in 2017, with the topic “Is it just forgetfulness or actually dementia?” Over 700 employees attended.

Advice: Six company care guides have now been trained and are available in KfW’s various locations as the first port of call at work for employees on matters relating to long-term care. They guide staff through the services that KfW offers and provide support in the form of information on statutory programmes and KfW-specific services, as well as other helpful tips. But they also offer a sympathetic ear for employees who want to open up about the challenges facing them in day-to-day life as they care for their relatives.

Charter of care: Joining the charter of care is another important step for us as an employer to further establish the reconciliation of work and long-term care at KfW.

KfW and its subsidiary KfW IPEX-Bank were honoured in 2017 for the sixth time for their strategically designed, family-friendly personnel policy with the “Career and family audit” certificate– an initiative of the non-profit Hertie Foundation.

KfW was one of the first companies to receive the certificate in 2001 and has been certified repeatedly since then. The great importance of reconciling work and family life is reflected in the large number of offers that we regularly adapt to new needs.

The HR departments of KfW and KfW IPEX-Bank, together with their co-determination bodies, have agreed on the following action areas for the next three years:

1. Designing a responsible approach to flexible forms of work

2. Establishing dialogue with men on the reconciliation of work and private life

3. Expanding occupational health management offers

KfW and the parents' organisation Elternverein am Palmengarten (eap) have opened a new chapter in their successful cooperation in place since 2003 with the joint allocation of ten places at the Erasmus Kindergarten Frankfurt. The cooperation has arisen as a result of the persistently high demand for additional kindergarten care, and is providing clear relief.