We would like to enable our employees to strike a balance between their professional challenges and private life and therefore attach considerable importance to offering a range of opportunities that promote a healthy work-life balance.

Our measures encompass part-time and teleworking models that can be individually structured and flexible working-time arrangements without core hours. In addition, our Human Resources Management division advises employees who are interested in the opportunities for greater employment flexibility. This flexibility at the workplace can make it easier to organise everyday life in phases such as starting a family, caring for relatives or preparing for the end of one's professional career, e.g. through partial retirement arrangements. At the Hannover location 320 members of staff are working part-time according to around 70 different, very individual part-time models. In addition, 463 employees have a teleworking position. A variety of part-time working models are also offered at our locations abroad, and teleworking opportunities are available.

We attach special importance to a family-friendly approach. Among other measures, we operate our own company daycare centre at the Hannover location, offering altogether a good 30 places for all-day care of infants (up to the age of three). As part of our Sustainability Strategy we regularly review the need to expand the care made available to employees' children at the kindergarten. No additional places were needed in 2017.

With a view to facilitating re-entry for employees who are currently on or are just returning from parental leave, we encourage our executives to actively maintain contacts with our staff members on parental leave, e.g. by inviting them to attend further training activities, in-house events and parties. On a Group-wide basis, 216 employees of our company were on parental leave in the year under review, thereof 74 men and 142 women. 95 employees returned to work from their parental leave in 2017, thereof 35 men and 60 women. 83 employees who returned from their parental leave in 2016 were still with our company twelve months later (32 men, 51 women).