Balancing Work and Family Life at Umicore
- Umicore Awarded the berufundfamilie Certificate for the Fourth Consecutive Year
- Goals for work-life balance developed during the audit are being integrated into daily work routines
"As a mother of two young children, it is important to me to balance professional success with enough time and leisure for my family. My daily work routine proves that a healthy balance between family and career can be achieved. What matters is that it works out for me, my family, and the company. A weekday off with my two children has a completely different quality than a day on the weekend,” says Dr. Jessica Gomes-Jelonek, Technical Marketing Manager in the Precious Metals Chemistry division at Umicore.
Gomes-Jelonek’s personal experience demonstrates that family and career can be reconciled at the materials technology and recycling group Umicore. A wide range of offerings designed to help employees balance their personal and professional lives has led the company to receive the certificate from the audit initiated by the non-profit Hertie Foundation for the fourth consecutive year. The certificate was presented by, among others, Federal Minister for Family Affairs Manuela Schwesig.
Work-life balance is a key priority for Umicore. Family-friendly values are firmly anchored in the company’s philosophy, as reflected by the renewed certification with the berufundfamilie seal. As early as 2007, the Hanau and Rheinfelden sites were awarded the basic certificate for the berufundfamilie audit for the first time. The efforts of the following years built on this success, so that Umicore is now among the 45 employers that have successfully and thus sustainably completed the berufundfamilie audit for the fourth time.
Carsten Neumann, Head of Human Resources at Umicore, expresses his pride: "We are delighted to have been awarded the berufundfamilie seal for the fourth time. Our goal is to raise awareness of work-life balance at all levels of the company, develop new approaches, and consistently implement existing measures. Efforts to achieve a healthy balance between family and work benefit everyone. As employee satisfaction and motivation increase, work performance also improves. The ability to balance career and personal life helps attract potential new employees to Umicore and enhances the company’s appeal, including for the existing workforce.”
The measures developed as part of the audit since 2007 are now standard practice, as Dr. Gomes-Jelonek demonstrates: The chemist, who holds a Ph.D., has taken advantage of various family-related programs at Umicore since the birth of her two children. In each case, Dr. Gomes-Jelonek returned to work just eight months after giving birth. Thanks to flexible working hours and the option to work from home, the transition back to work was seamless. Additionally, her children are cared for at the company’s in-house daycare center, “umikids world.” “Of course, I had concerns about whether family and career could be reconciled; that depends both on the employer and the child’s personality. Furthermore, you have to be able to organize yourself well and learn to set priorities. But the various options for flexible working hours and locations made it easier for me to get started. And my two children always look forward to their day at umikids in the morning.“
Caption:
Dr. Jessica Gomes-Jelonek picks up her two children from the company-run daycare center ”umikids world."
Royalty-free photo material for journalists:
Current press photos of Umicore are available in the dpa image database. The press photos can be accessed free of charge in the following image databases and photo marketplaces:
http://www.picture-alliance.com
http://www.presseportal.de/nr/60256
About the berufundfamilie audit:
berufundfamilie gGmbH was founded in 1998 by the non-profit Hertie Foundation to consolidate all of the foundation’s activities in this area. It has established itself nationwide as a leading expert on issues related to work-life balance. Approximately 40% of berufundfamilie Service GmbH is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs. Its core offerings to all private companies and public institutions are the berufundfamilie and family-friendly university audits. Both are designed as strategic management tools that provide tailored, beneficial solutions for better work-life balance.
In recent years, both certifications have evolved into recognized seals of quality for family-friendly HR policies. Companies, institutions, and universities that receive such a certification have demonstrated that they pursue a sustainable, family-friendly HR policy.
Recommended by the leading business associations BDA, BDI, DIHK, and ZDH, the berufundfamilie audit is also under the patronage of the Federal Minister for Family Affairs and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs.
Currently, around 1,000 employers in Germany are certified, including numerous companies, public institutions, and universities.