Nowadays it is not always easy to reconcile work, family and one’s private life. However, employers have a variety of solutions at their disposal to improve work-life balance. There are a lot of adjustments which can be made to ensure individually tailored, family-friendly offerings – from part-time work, parental leave, health-promoting measures such as sports facilities to flexible working hours. The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) supports its employees with a broad spectrum of offerings and has now received the berufundfamilie certificate for the third time in a row. 

With the berufundfamilie audit, the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) has set itself the goal of sustainably increasing its attractiveness as an employer. For example, the DDZ executive board, the works council, the equal opportunities officer and employees cooperate in seeking flexible solutions when, for example, flexible working time models are needed for the care of family members and for structured reintegration after family leave. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Discussions with the people involved and individual approaches are essential,” said Andreas Fidelak, commercial director and member of the executive board of the German Diabetes Center (DDZ). Dr. Birgit Knebel, equal opportunities officer at the DDZ, added: “Offerings such as the use of our sports room, the parent-child room and the family service have been very well received. In this way, our employees can flexibly reconcile their work processes with their family and private life.”  

A requirement for being awarded the certificate, which is valid for three years, is a successful review in the berufundfamilie audit, which is offered by berufundfamilie Service GmbH (formerly part of the non-profit Hertie Foundation). The management instrument ensures that a family- and life-phase-conscious personnel policy and family-friendly working conditions are offered and implemented in a sustainable manner. The DDZ is among the 123 employers who have successfully passed the audit procedure of berufundfamilie or a family-friendly university for the third time. The audit is carried out under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy.


The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) is the German reference center for diabetes. The goal is to contribute to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the research center aims at improving the epidemiological data situation in Germany. DDZ is in charge of the multi-center German Diabetes Study. It is the point of contact for all players in the health sector. In addition, it prepares scientific information on diabetes mellitus and makes it available to the public. DDZ is part of “Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz” (WGL) and is a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.).

Recent press releases of the DDZ are available at www.ddz.uni-duesseldorf.de 


DDZ'S press photos may only be used for editorial purposes and must be credited to us with the statement: "Source: DDZ e.V." There is no charge for the use of photos, but please send us a copy or reference to the place of publication. 


For more information, please contact:
Christina A. Becker
Head, Press and Public Relations
German Diabetes Center (DDZ)
Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research
at the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf
Phone: +49 (0)211-3382-450
email: Christina.BeckernoSp@m@ddz.uni-duesseldorf.de