Caring for ageing parents, looking after a newborn child or meeting the demands of elite-level athletic training: there are many reasons why ZHAW staff and students find themselves navigating the balance between work or study and their personal lives. The following three different perspectives illustrate just how varied these experiences can be:
Konrad Rietmann
Some 600,000 people in Switzerland provide care for relatives. One of them is Konrad Rietmann. The 53-year-old is a lecturer in human capital at the School of Management and Law and spends his free time looking after his parents, both of whom require support. Although they receive professional care, there is still a great deal for relatives to manage: replacing hearing-aid batteries, buying new shoes and attending doctor’s appointments meant that Rietmann spent two weeks of his annual leave last year looking after his parents.
Of course, he would have preferred to use this time to relax. Nevertheless, Rietmann understands the reasoning behind this legal framework: “I am a taxpayer too, and I completely understand that you cannot be granted time off for everything. “I am grateful that the ZHAW gives me the flexibility to organise my working hours relatively freely, meaning that I am able to attend such appointments in the first place.”
Konrad Rietmann
Lecturer at the School of Management and Law
“I am grateful that the ZHAW gives me the flexibility to organise my working hours relatively freely.”
Leonie Wieland
As well as studying to become a midwife, Leonie Wieland is a member of the Swiss national floorball team. The gold medallist from last year’s World Championships combines elite sport with academic studies. Training alone takes around twelve hours a week, not to mention the club matches at the weekend. How does she manage both? For Wieland, aligning her training schedule with regular classes works remarkably well. A greater challenge, however, was organising her placement semester:
“I was also able to complete my work placement on an 80% basis – naturally over a longer period of time. What is more, I was able to do it during the summer rather than in the autumn, as is usually the case. The ZHAW really did go out of its way to accommodate me. On my side, I gave up part of my semester break for it. In my opinion, that’s the key to a successful work–life balance: both sides need to be willing to make compromises.”
Leonie Wieland
BSc student in Midwifery
“In my opinion, that’s the key to a successful work–life balance: both sides need to be willing to make compromises.”
Regi Kolar
As a member of the Diversity Unit, Regi Kolar is well aware of the issues that concern ZHAW staff and students when it comes to work-life balance. While students are usually most concerned with pregnancy and childbirth, the range of issues is much broader for staff members. Some seek support in discussing a reduction in working hours with their line manager. Others may be the only person with children in their team and find themselves repeatedly having to justify leaving work at a certain time in the evening, for example.
As a public institution, the ZHAW must align its policies on work–life balance with the existing legal framework. Does this mean the issue receives too little attention? “Of course, the ZHAW can still improve. Compared with other universities, however, we perform very well – in fact we often go further: for example, in addition to financial support for childcare, the ZHAW also offers flexible, short-notice childcare services that can be utilised by all university staff and students. We even offer psychosocial counselling on the topic of work-life balance. Overall, we see ourselves as a university that supports work-life balance, with this not only applying to parents.
Regi Kolar
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at the Diversity Unit
“We see ourselves as a university that supports work-life balance, with this not only applying to parents.”
