Zoom Image

SAP headquarters in Walldorf: "Family compatibility and career development are not contradictory"

Photo: Robert Schmiegelt / Future Image / IMAGO

The software company SAP is going on the offensive when it comes to reconciling family and career. The Dax-listed company from Walldorf informed the workforce that from next year fathers and other partners will be given six weeks off on paid leave after the birth of their child. "We want to show that family compatibility and career development are not contradictory," said Cawa Younosi, head of human resources at SAP in Germany. He expects 700 to 800 fathers per year if more than 90 percent of those eligible accept the offer. This is expected to incur costs of several million euros per year.

In the coalition agreement, the governing parties SPD, Greens and FDP had announced that they would introduce a two-week paid leave of absence for the partner after the birth of a child. Different terms are circulating for the project, sometimes there is talk of paternity leave, sometimes of paternity leave – as it would usually benefit fathers. SAP calls its program "Partner Time."

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) spoke on Tuesday about the project and called it "family start time". This is intended to give the partner or – in the case of lesbian couples – the partner time to take care of the mother and support her in regeneration. The bill is currently being discussed within the federal government. In November of last year, Paus had announced an implementation for 2024. When asked, the ministry did not want to make an official statement at a specific point in time.

Almost half of all companies do not have special leave for fathers

SAP is one of the pioneers with its program, according to inquiries from several DAX companies. For example, Siemens welcomed the approach of paternity leave, but said: "From Siemens' point of view, as with parental allowance, the leave of absence should be financed from tax revenues and not burdened on employers." The automotive supplier and tire manufacturer Continental says that it does not consider additional paternity leave "necessary against the background of our existing offerings and the flexibility that is possible with them." Similar statements came from DHL Group, Porsche and Merck.

According to a recent survey by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research, 44 percent of companies do not offer special leave for fathers after the birth of a child. According to the survey, 26 percent of the companies surveyed grant one day, while a further 26 percent grant two days. For only four percent, it was more than two days.

The fact that almost half of the companies do not even pay a single day of special leave to their employees' offspring speaks volumes about their perception of the compatibility of work and family life, said Elke Hannack, deputy chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation. It is good and right that the family start time should finally come. "We are counting on the coalition to quickly bring them into the law gazette."

The Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) said it welcomed the fact that many partners want to take on more responsibility with the birth of their children. However, there is no need for new legal claims for this. Parental leave and parental allowance have long given families the opportunity to take a break from work from birth. "Politicians have to decide whether they want to implement new leave entitlements – or whether they want to alleviate the labour shortage," says the BDA. You can't do both together.

hej/dpa