It's all a question of time - Being flexible in the public sector

In this edition of our column Fristgerecht, Tarek Mazrouh, an employee specializing in land management, location and business consulting in the economic development department, describes how he uses the city administration's flexible working hours to experience the time during and after the birth of his child.

"Men can also take parental leave," wrote the first female columnist in her article about becoming a mother in the public sector - that's true, but it's normal. Isn't it? It seems to be the case at the City of Offenbach, because my request for time off to have a baby and then reduce my working hours was granted without any problems (without me receiving any extra applause). It was clear to me that I wanted to be there for the family for at least two, more likely three months after the birth - a lot happens during this time and the new role needs to be learned. So the planning began.

Things were looking good at work at the time: The real estate breakfast would already have been held by the due date and the resulting follow-up work completed. The slightly more relaxed summer period was just around the corner, which meant that covering my duties wouldn't have been quite as stressful for my colleagues.

But as is so often the case, things turned out differently: the date of the real estate breakfast had to be moved back (very, very close to the expected date of birth) and a colleague left the team. So a lot of things came together on my desk, but everything worked out well in the end. Only the anticipation phase for the child was a little shorter than planned ...

Parallel to the final spurt at work, I had to deal with the question of how to finance the three-month sabbatical and the subsequent loss of earnings due to part-time work. During this time, there should be some more or less sensible purchases.

Of course, as a father I am entitled to parental allowance. In principle, this support can be combined in almost every conceivable variant of Basic Parental Allowance, Parental Allowance Plus and Partnership Bonus. However, we found the path to this so full of hurdles (there is definitely room for improvement in terms of official advice) that an alternative became increasingly attractive:

Why not take advantage of the various flexible work and vacation options that the city of Offenbach offers me as an employer?

Over time, I had accumulated a few surplus hours as well as some (remaining) vacation, which was now worth money. In addition, there is an instrument in which Hessian civil servants accumulate time credits in a so-called lifetime working time account (LAK for short) parallel to their period of service. For every week of full-time service, one hour is credited to the LAK. This offer is intended to reduce the difference in weekly working hours between civil servants and employees (civil servants work 41 hours full-time, employees usually work 39 hours). This credit is usually used before retirement. However, it is also possible to deduct time before then, for whatever purpose. And civil servants also have a little more time to take their remaining vacation at the end of September, if there is any left.

When I added everything up, with vacation days, surplus working hours and credit from the LAK, I ended up with three duty-free months with full pay. So far, so relaxed. But, as we all know, time flies, so even three months off was a nice but short stopover in the end. I therefore decided to reduce my working hours from 41 hours a week to 32 hours - which was no problem.

What sounds like a great plan honestly takes some time to adjust in the real world - as with all changes. Because back at my desk, routine (very) quickly returned. Conversations, inquiries, appointments, information and research requests had piled up during my absence and needed to be dealt with. And the day's current events were in no way inferior. Welcome to the VUCA world of business development in Offenbach, with its diverse and increasingly complex challenges!

It is challenging when the normal workload meets less available time. But here too, agreeing on flexible working hours makes things easier. Working hours and time off can thus be aligned with personal needs. However, it is also true that there are times when deadline pressure, wishes and habits, and in particular your own expectations of the quality of your work, set limits. In addition, private life now takes on a much greater significance - for example, when you want to be part of the first mash spectacle. Time will certainly help you to get used to the new "normal" and sort out the processes. It was definitely worth taking these steps!

By the way: despite a tight schedule at work and at home, this column was delivered on time, albeit on the last possible day - thanks to a flexible evening.