TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Work-life Integration – A New Trend Among Employers
- New Regulations, Modern Employers
- Pomeranian Companies Ready for Change – Latest Job Offers
Pomerania offers much more than just tourist-oriented entertainment. The region is also an attractive place for families with children to settle, as confirmed by numerous reports, including “Happy Home. A Good City to Live In” (PL: Szczęśliwy dom. Miasto dobre do życia) (with Gdynia and Gdańsk taking the first two places). The quality of life is improved not only by beaches, forests, year-round and versatile access to culture and recreation, or very good air quality but also by employers who adapt their employment offers to the needs of parents.
Work-life Integration – A New Trend Among Employers
Many people have heard about the concept of work-life balance, but as the perception of employees and their needs evolves towards a more sustainable lifestyle, it is gradually being replaced by the so-called work-life integration. What is it, and why can it be very beneficial for employees? This trend emphasizes the fact that during working hours, we don’t forget about our personal lives and don’t become solely defined by what we do. Employers welcome employees with all the benefits of their experiences but also their non-work obligations, without forcing them to neglect them. Instead, they create a space for skillful integration of these aspects with work.
“As part of the Parent-Friendly Pomerania program, we pursue various goals that align with the idea of work-life integration, which views people in a more holistic way. Among other things, we provide easy access to information about various offers directed to the youngest residents of Pomerania. We familiarize them with basic legal issues and working conditions. We also present employers whose organizational culture is tailored to the needs of parent employees, through amenities such as flexible working hours, remote work, or support in childcare.” – Paweł Nowakowski, Labor Market Associate at Invest in Pomerania
New Regulations, Modern Employers
The latest amendment to the Labor Code implementing EU directives on the balance between work and private life for parents and caregivers has introduced some novelties:
- Parents of children up to 8 years old or with disabilities can request remote work (if the nature of the work allows it).
- New types of days off and exemptions from work: 2 days (paid at 50%) in case of unforeseen life situations or unpaid care leave of up to 5 days per family member or household to provide care or support for a close person due to medical reasons.
- Fathers are granted an inalienable and individual right to parental leave for four months.
The aim of these new regulations is to actively increase women’s participation in the labor market, reduce wage inequalities, and enable fathers to assume a more complete parenting role in the first months of a child’s life.
Pomeranian employers have often implemented similar solutions earlier, making the region not only a tourist destination but also an important and parent-friendly business center. While many companies (often against employees’ will) abandoned remote work, previously imposed by the pandemic, some companies stood out positively, seeing opportunities to meet employees’ needs and permanently introducing this form of work arrangement. Some companies (especially in the IT industry but not only) have been disclosing salary ranges and offering additional days off for quite some time. As time has shown, employers who chose not to observe and implement socially important trends are now compelled by new legal regulations to catch up with the competition and adapt to the increasingly aware expectations of their employees.
Pomeranian Companies Ready for Change – Latest Job Offers
Without a doubt, many parents appreciate flexible working hours for the opportunity to plan their day freely for themselves and their families. Thanks to remote work, transportation costs and commuting time are saved. It is much easier to find a moment during a break for other responsibilities or to pick up a child from kindergarten at a time chosen by oneself.
Among the Pomeranian companies that facilitate the combination of the roles of an employee and a parent through the option of remote work, we can mention:
- Acxiom GSC – check job offers
- Amazon – check job offers
- Armatis Polska – check job offers here, here and here
- Avenga – check job offers here, here and here
- Boeing – check job offers here and here
- Ciklum – check job offers here, here and here
- Ensono – check job offers here, here and here
- EPAM Polska – check job offers here and here
- Future Processing S.A. – check job offers
- GlobalLogic – check job offers here and here
- Hand2band – check job offers here, here and here
- S&P Global – check job offers here, here and here
- Scalac – check job offers here and here
- Schibsted – check hybrid jobs
- Sii – check job offers
- Speednet – check job offers
- Thyssenkrupp – check job offers
- Transcom – check job offers here, here and here
Employers who, for various reasons, cannot offer full-time remote work have prepared an alternative in the form of childcare support.
- In business centers such as Olivia Centre or Alchemia, kindergartens are available, which eliminates (often burdensome logistically) the morning commute of children to another part of the city.
- ERGO Hestia company can boast its own company kindergarten.
- Future Processing S.A. offers a 50% subsidy for the tuition fees of employees’ children, who can attend a facility located near the office.
- In Acxiom, the annual subsidy for kindergarten is 1,500 PLN.
Taking care of these needs is not exclusive to employers; the largest Pomeranian universities also recognize and respond to them. The University of Gdańsk has transformed its private kindergarten into a public one, and the Gdańsk University of Technology has launched the MegaMocni PG facility starting from September.
Pomeranian entrepreneurs recognize the benefits of implementing regulations tailored to parents and adhere to the principle that if they expect flexibility from their employees, they should demonstrate it themselves. Soon, we will present profiles of several companies that can boast good practices in this area.
For more information, we invite you to follow Live more. Pomerania‘s social media, where additional articles from the Pomorskie Przyjazne Rodzicom (Parent-Friendly Pomerania) series will be published.
