Work-(Self-)Care Reconciliation

Members of the university of Vienna have to juggle different areas of life on a daily basis – they are not only scientists, lecturers, general university staff or students, they are parents, caring relatives, and socially and politically engaged citizens. And we are all humans that need time and space for rest, recovery and further development. The University of Vienna aims to support this balancing act.

Supporting reconciliation at the University of Vienna as a workplace means to take into account and attempt to lighten care work and self-care. The University of Vienna’s model (developed by the Culture and Equality unit) shows that society (legal framework, family models, gender roles, etc.) and the scientific context (specific requirement regarding mobility, high visibility in scientific communities, etc.) heavily influence how reconciliation is and can be lived specifically.

Reconciliation-friendly leadership in a hybrid work environment

The Culture and Equality unit is currently carrying out focus groups on the topic of "Reconciliation-friendly leadership in a hybrid work environment". 

Whether you have children or not, whether you are caring for relatives or not - everyone has experiences with caring for themselves and others and is looking for a good balance between work and private life. Every perspective on the topic of compatibility is important and welcome in the focus groups!

All information can be found on the focus group's website.

 

 

 

The University of Vienna wants to help ease reconciliation at the intersection of gainful employment – care work and gainful employment – self-care.

More information about the model can be found at gleichstellung.univie.ac.at

Image by Marion Wortruba: www.m-wortruba.at

The Culture and Equality Unit is the contact partner for the topic of reconciliation. You can find current events by clicking this link.

Employees can find more information in the reconciliation section on the university’s intranet.

 

Here you can find the University of Vienna’s offers and services concerning reconciliation:

Reconciliation with care work

The University of Vienna’s employees are confronted with different care work duties in different phases of their lives. They have to care for children and relatives and manage the household. Diverse family models and shifting gender roles ensure that the balance of gainful employment and care work are constantly renegotiated. Care work also includes volunteer and community work.

The University of Vienna offers its employees a selection of measures to better reconcile gainful employment and care work:

Organisation of working time and management culture

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  • Company-level agreement on working from home

    The company-level agreement on working from home (internal Wiki) provides the possibility for employees at the University of Vienna to work outside of the university grounds for up to 50% of their working hours. Work from home is mutually agreed between the employee and their direct superior.

  • Company-level agreement on flexible working time/flexitime

    The company-level agreement on flexible working time (internal Wiki) applies to all general university staff and grants employees more flexibility in defining their working hours.

  • Recommendations for executive staff and decision-makers in order to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family

    The recommendations for executive staff and decision-makers in order to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family (internal Wiki) include concrete recommended courses of action for a reconciliation-based treatment of employees with care responsibilities. It includes the areas communication & working hours (for example reconciliation-friendly scheduling of appointments), dealing with expecting parents as employees (for example the organization of necessary laboratory work for pregnant people) and organizing re-entry after maternity protection/parental leave (for example changing of work organization during absence).

Offers and legal framework for (expecting) parents

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  • Info point Pregnancy/Parenthood and Academia

    Employees can find an overview over the central legal and administrative proceedings, counselling and coaching services as well as workshops on the topic in the intranet.

  • Leave of absence for (expecting) parents

    Maternity protection: To ensure the expecting mother’s health, the Maternity Protection Act stipulates a ban on employment (=protection period) to protect the health of an expectant mother. The protection period spans a total of 16 weeks and starts 8 weeks before the expected due date. In case of premature delivers, multiple births or Caesarean section, the protection period spans up to 12 weeks after birth.

    Early parental leave: The so-called “Papamonat” (German only) permits fathers/other parents one month off after the birth of their child (=unpaid leave, financial aid „family time bonus“ =(“Familienzeitbonus“) via health insurance).

    Parental leave: After the birth of a child, mothers and fathers/other parents have the right to parental leave (=release from work duties in return for the suspension of salary). Parents have a legal claim to parental leave during their child’s first 2 years of life. You can find details about the parental leave regulations (German only) here. Adoptive and foster parents (German only) also have a legal claim to parental leave.

  • Parental part-time work

    Parental part-time work (German only) makes it possible for mothers and fathers/other parents to reduce the work hours temporarily and/or to change the work schedule. It aims to make the reconciliation between child care and wage labor easier.

  • Handbook Managing Parental Leave for (Future) Parents and their Superiors

    In the handbook Managing Parental Leave, employees and superiors can find concise, University of Vienna-specific information (contact points, notification procedures, checklists, guidelines for the parental leave meeting and re-entry meeting). 

  • Vienna University Children’s office

    The Vienna University Children’s office runs five children's groups at three different locations. They accept children whose parents are part of the University of Vienna. They offer half day and full day care for children from 0 to 6 years (until school starts).

  • Flexible Short Term Child Care (FleKuKi)

    FleKuKi (internal Wiki) offers employees of the University of Vienna the possibility to get free child care for their children for a short time. In cases of an acute lack of care due to work responsibilities, FleKuKi is used to bridge the gap of a few hours. 

  • Holiday and bridge day child care

    The Vienna University Children’s office and the Works Council for Academic and Non-Academic staff offer child care during holidays and bridge days for employees of the University of Vienna. More information can be found via Science Holidays, Vienna Children’s University and Child Care and Services (German only).

  • Child care during participation of the HR development courses

    HR development (internal Wiki) in cooperation with Vienna University Children's Office offers child care during seminars and coachings. For employees of the University of Vienna, this offer is free.

  • Accessibility, changing tables and parent-child-rooms

    Floor plans and elevator information should make orientation and accessible entrances (also for push chairs) at the main building of the University of Vienna visible. Here you can find a complete list of all available changing tables at all locations of the University of Vienna. There are parent-child-rooms at some locations of the University of Vienna: Djerassiplatz 1 (UBB), main building, Josef-Holaubek-Platz (UZA II)

  • Mobility & Care Fund

    Female academic university staff (pre-docs and post-docs) at the University of Vienna can apply for a fund to cover additional childcare costs incurred during a mobility period. Further information can be found on the Intranet.

Offers for caring relatives

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  • Dependent care leave for sick relatives

    Employees of the University of Vienna are entitled to dependent care leave (German only) for sick relatives (do not have to live in the same household) or sick people who live in the same household (also if they are not close relatives). Dependent care leave also includes also includes the care for children if the permanent carer is absent due to illness.

  • Family hospice leave/part-time family hospice leave and dependent care leave/dependent care part-time

    Family hospice leave/part-time family hospice leave and dependent care leave/dependent care part-time (German only) is a form of leave or a reduction of working hour schedule to accompany dying relatives or to care for relatives. This includes either unpaid leave or prorated reduction of salary.

  • Rehabilitation leave of absence

    Parents of children under the age of 14 who are undergoing rehabilitation are entitled to leave of absence (German only) for a maximum of four weeks per calendar year. The leave of absence is granted with loss of pay; carers' leave benefits can be obtained for the duration of the leave of absence.

Reconciliation with self-care

Academics invest a high degree of time and commitment into their academic career and frequently do not differentiate between “work” and “life”. While this kind of commitment can be very enriching, it can also have considerable mental and physical impacts, especially when other areas of life like care work are added to the mix. Unbounded work also increasingly affects general university staff: digitalization and increased flexibility can bring about more freedoms for improved reconciliation but they can also have negative effects on physical and mental health due to the possibility of permanent availability and an increased work speed.

The University of Vienna wants to add to its employees’ successful self-care practices with the following offers and frameworks:

Work organisation and management culture

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  • Company-level agreement on working from home

    The company-level agreement on working from home (internal Wiki) provides the possibility for employees at the University of Vienna to work outside of the university grounds for up to 50% of their working hours. Work from home is mutually agreed between the employee and their direct superior.

  • Company-level agreement on flexible working time/flexitime

    The company-level agreement on flexible working time (internal Wiki) applies to all general university staff and grants employees more flexibility in defining their working hours.

  • Recommendations for executive staff and decision-makers in order to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family

    The recommendations for executive staff and decision-makers in order to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family (internal Wiki) include concrete recommended courses of action for a reconciliation-based treatment of employees with care responsibilities. It includes the areas communication & working hours (for example reconciliation-friendly scheduling of appointments), dealing with expecting parents as employees (for example the organization of necessary laboratory work for pregnant people) and organizing re-entry after maternity protection/parental leave (for example changing of work organization during absence).

Health at the workplace

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  • Workplace health promotion

    Workplace health promotion (internal Wiki) is a part of occupational health and safety. It comprises all measures taken by employers, employees and society to improve health and well-being at the workplace. 

  • Occupational health and safety/occupational psychology

    The Health, Safety and Security team (internal Wiki) is responsible for guaranteeing and coordinating the occupational health and psychological counselling services. The occupational psychology service includes counselling for employees about psychological stress at the workplace. 

  • Phased return to work

    Employees are legally entitled to gradually return to work following long-term sickness absence. Phased return to work has to be negotiated between employer and employee. The Works Council has to be present at negotiation meetings about phased return to work.

Work time reduction for further education or for other reasons

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  • Educational leave/part-time educational leave

    University employees may, under certain conditions, agree with their employer on educational leave/part-time educational leave (internal Wiki) for the purpose of further education against loss of pay. 

  • Educational holiday

    Educational holiday (internal Wiki) allows university staff, the employment of whom is covered by the collective bargaining agreement, to be released from work for the purpose of further education measures.

  • Sabbatical

    The sabbatical (internal Wiki) enables personal time off to be obtained, in addition to holiday leave, through a pro-rata reduction in pay. The sabbatical is divided into an accumulation period and a time-off period, which together consist of a maximum of five years.

  • Partial early retirement

    Partial early retirement (internal Wiki) allows older staff to reduce their working hours for a certain period before they start retirement.

Conflicts at the workplace

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  • Employee representatives

    There are two interest groups at the university of Vienna for employees – the works council for scientific staff (German only) and the works council for general staff (German only). 

  • Sexual harassment & bullying counselling office

    The counselling office provides an official institution in the Counselling Office that offers psychological counselling in cases of sexual harassment and bullying. The Counselling Office offers psychological counselling. No information is shared with anyone, not even within the university.

  • Conflict resolution counselling services

    The office for conflict resolution counselling services (German only) aims to help settle and negotiate conflicts and complicated situations with individual or team counselling and mediation to find solutions.

  • Equal opportunities working party

    The Equal Opportunities Working Party provides support and counselling in cases of incidents. For example, if you experienced discrimination by university members (e.g. on the basis of gender, race, religion or world view), bullying or sexual harassment. Another important task is the participation in job application and selection processes to ensure a non-discriminatory selection.