Thomas celebrated being awarded the “berufundfamilie” certificate for a healthy work/life balance for the third time in a row at a presentation ceremony held in Berlin on June 13, 2023. The certificate serves as a seal of quality for firms and organizations committed to an HR policy that takes account of employees’ family circumstances and what stage they are at in their lives. It is awarded by the company berufundfamilie Service GmbH and is valid for three years.
Taking responsibility
With most people expected to be working for over 40 years of their lives, two things are key for employees and, particularly, for business owners: good health and work/life balance – first, to retain valuable employees and earn their loyalty for the long term and, second, to be an attractive employer. The fact that Thomas embraces this responsibility to society is demonstrated by another seal of quality that it has obtained alongside its “Healthy Company” certificate: Having been awarded the “berufundfamilie” certificate for the first time in 2017, it has now repeated the feat for the third time in 2023.
The “berufundfamilie” certificate
To qualify for the certificate, firms have to undertake a comprehensive stocktake of their HR policy and devise measures to improve employees’ work/life balance that make it easier for them to juggle their career and their commitments at home. Flexible working time arrangements, welfare benefits to mark births, marriages, and other life events, and support if employees’ children are ill are just a few of the specific measures that Thomas has in place to relieve the day-to-day burden on parents in particular. berufundfamilie Service GmbH has now recognized this as well, awarding the company its seal of quality once again. The nonprofit Hertie Foundation launched the audits conducted by berufundfamilie Service GmbH as a management tool for promoting beneficial solutions that improve people’s work/life balance in companies. The re-audit involved an auditor investigating how well existing measures had been integrated. Among other things, she conducted interviews with a random sample of staff and managers about the general working conditions and corporate culture at Thomas, and its certificate has now been renewed by the advisory board of berufundfamilie Service GmbH based on her findings.
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