Building a family-friendly future: University of Basel earns recertification

The Vice President for People & Culture, Professor Nadja Braun Binder, is also convinced of the benefits of recertification: “We look forward to continuing along this path together with all university members and establishing the University of Basel as a role model for other higher education institutions.”

Achievements in the last three years

Over the past three years, the University of Basel has done a lot to become more family-friendly. The complete revision of the Staff Regulations and the Regulation on Working Hours and Absences in 2022 laid a solid foundation. Since then, working conditions have become more flexible and family-friendly. Of particular note here are the extension of paternity leave to four weeks, as well as the abolition of core hours and other measures for extensive flexibility in the recording of working hours.

Other important projects include the redesign of the parent-child room in the University Library, the publication of the Support Services Guide and the inclusion of family issues in the toolbox for employee performance reviews. The modern parent-child room makes it easier for parents to bring their children to university and make productive use of waiting times and plan handovers. The Advice Guide helps employees quickly find the right advisory services and contacts. With the revision of the toolbox for employee performance appraisals, issues around family and work-life balance are now explicitly mentioned in the appraisal template, so they can be addressed more openly and earlier on.

Another important milestone is the equal treatment of all female doctoral students in the extension of contracts in the event of pregnancy. Since the beginning of 2023, all female doctoral students who have a child during their doctorate have been able to extend their employment relationship by 16 weeks at full pay on application. This time corresponds to the 16 weeks of paid absence that University of Basel staff are entitled to in the event of maternity leave. This applies to all types of employment, regardless of the source of funding.

Dr. Stefanie Hof-Seiler, Head of the Graduate Center, was responsible for implementing the project. She says: “This is a really big step forward. This new regulation creates transparent, equal conditions for all doctoral students.”

“Sometimes you benefit from developments you didn’t expect,” says Dr. Simone Lazarus, Head of Organizational Culture. Working from home is a good example of this. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in greater flexibility. In some areas working from home is now standard practice at our university, which benefits parents and caregivers, among others. Families benefit from time otherwise used for commuting. “A significant cultural shift is noticeable in this area.”

This also applies to other topics. Over the past three years, programs have developed that were not originally planned, but can be interpreted as a sign of the university’s increasing family-friendliness. The travel fund, for example, has expanded its offering: since 2022, PhD students and postdocs who are breastfeeding and attending conferences have been able to claim the travel costs for an accompanying person via the travel fund. Recently, the offer has been extended to single parents so that they can be reimbursed for individual care options.

“Such offers and the corresponding transformation are only possible if lots of different people work on them. We at the Diversity & Inclusion Office could never do this alone,” emphasizes Nicole Kälin. We would like to thank all our colleagues at central and decentralized offices, as well as the supervisors and lecturers, who decide every day to act in a family-friendly way and support their students and staff in this regard.

Alongside staff and researchers, the students are a group for which family-friendliness is an important topic. “In percentage terms, the proportion of people affected is small: the Federal Statistical Office estimates it to be 3 to 4 percent. However, the support is hugely important for these individuals to make good progress in their studies,” says Kälin. A workshop held by the office with student parents showed that the multiple burdens of a family, a part-time job and studying shouldn’t be underestimated. “Over the next three years, we want to do more to network the group in order to enable support from students in similar situations,” says Kälin.

Objectives for the future

The University of Basel is committed to maintaining the level achieved over the next three years. New needs should be identified at an early stage and, where possible, appropriate services should be provided. In addition, managers should continue to be supported and empowered to adopt a family-friendly approach. Developing a culture of respect and appreciation for family-friendliness remains key.

Specifically, for example, the aim is to raise awareness of the fact that family does not only mean children, but – due to demographic change – also includes the care of relatives, which is increasingly being taken over by students and staff. The University of Basel offers its staff ten days of paid absence per year to meet these obligations.

However, this regulation is not well known. Reto Jeker, Head of Human Resources, says: “This option has existed since the revision of the Staff Regulations and the implementation of the new Regulation on Working Hours. However, simply providing information about the offer is not enough. It’s also a question of culture whether this service is used at all.” This is precisely where the package of measures for the next three years comes in.

The President, Professor Andrea Schenker-Wicki, is also very positive about the confirmation of family-friendliness: “I am delighted about the recertification and would like to thank everyone who contributed to this successful process. We will continue to work to remain the most family-friendly university in Switzerland!”