At a time when the German Minister for Families is working on a “draft law aimed at better reconciling family life, care for a dependent parent, and ones professional career”, several large German business have gone ahead, in concert with their works councils, to develop work time models aimed at supporting employees who care for dependent loved ones. One such example is the distribution company, REWE Group. REWE Group allows its German employees either to take a 6-month leave of absence or to reduce their working time for 12 months in order to care for a dependent parent. The company gives these employees an advance payment and guarantees them their jobs upon return. The German bank DZ Bank offers its employees free seminars on this formerly taboo subject.
Caring for loved ones – a new challenge for businesses. According to the German Minister for Families, for years the debate over work-life balance has primarily focused on childcare. With an aging population the reality of caring for loved ones who are ill, disabled or dependent has become a major challenge for German businesses. The number of people in Germany needing care is rising quickly. According to data from the Federal Office of Statistics, presently about 2.4 million are in this category (versus 2 million young children) and this number is expected to reach 3.4 million by 2030.
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