Flexible work arrangements help achieve work-life balance

                                                                                                                                                 

Czech parents would appreciate a broader offer of alternative work arrangements, which would help them achieve a better work-life balance. This was revealed by the results of the “Employment and Family Life: How to Make it Work?” survey, which was conducted by the organisers of the MÁMY s ručením omezeným (“MOMS Limited”) project supported by a grant provided within the T-Mobile Fund’s Mluvme spolu (“Let’s Talk to Each Other”) grant programme.

The results of the survey show that adjustments to setting the work process would help parents in balancing work and taking care of the children the most. A total of 33% of respondents said that having a part-time job would be the most beneficial, while the possibility of working from home (home office) would help 31% of respondents. The flexitime scheme was mentioned by 25% of respondents. Similar figures are confirmed also by T-Mobile – of the flexible work arrangements, employees are most interested in the home-office option: in 2015, this benefit was used by 32% of the operator’s employees. Approximately 11% of employees now work as part-timers or use the staggered scheduling. Where their position permits, T-Mobile employees can also use the flexitime scheme based on an agreement with their manager: they have to be at their workplace between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., whereas the decision on how they schedule their remaining working hours is up to them.

“We have gathered from the answers that if an employer decides to support its employees so that they are able to be full members of a working team and, at the same time, parents with enough time for their kids, it will acquire an employee who will come to work with a smile on their face, happy, not stressed and fully motivated to work at a high level”, says Lenka Bukačová, coordinator of the MÁMY s ručením omezeným project.

“By offering various flexible work arrangements, we have endeavoured to help our employees find balance between their work and private lives. We consider this benefit as not only important at present but also a matter of course. For the current generation of candidates who are now graduating from schools, the possibility of working at any time and from anywhere is one of the key criteria for selecting their future employer. Given the current situation on the labour market, companies must take this fact into account and many of them, including our company, have been machining changes internally by offering different working possibilities but also by physically creating a new working environment,” adds Uršula Kráľová, Human Resources Director at T-Mobile.                                                                                                                                                

According to the survey organised by MÁMY s ručením omezeným, the least sought-after employee benefits include a contribution to babysitting or to kindergarten, the possibility of taking children to work and the compressed hours scheme, when employees work, for example, ten hours a day over four days, thus securing one extra day off. This trend is also confirmed by the operator – within the Cafeterie benefit system, the contribution to kindergarten or to summer day camps is used very little: last year, this possibility was used by only 40 employees. Very popular, however, are family events such as Children’s Day, when employees can bring their children to work and enjoy one fun-filled day featuring a programme prepared for them.  

About the MÁMY s ručením omezeným project (VIVAjump z. s.)

This project aims to raise single mothers’ awareness of their employment-related rights, get them involved in the community of parents with children, allow them to expand their personal development by means of educational events and seminars and help them with babysitting, as these are important issues for single moms. www.vivajump.com

About the Let’s Talk to Each Other grant programme within the T-Mobile Fund

The Let’s Talk to Each Other grant programme within the T-Mobile Fund helps people and community initiatives that make ordinary streets, city districts, communities and cities good places to live. It supports projects in which people get together to jointly do some work, start talking to each other and contribute towards the integration of disadvantaged groups.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.