These are the most family-friendly German start-ups

Start-ups are also on a new list from the Kununu rating platform and Freundin magazine. We took a look: What makes them so family-friendly?

Family-friendliness is becoming increasingly important for German employees: In the 2019 "Unternehmensmonitor Familienfreundlichkeit" (Company Monitor Family-Friendliness) by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (Institute for the German Economy), 96.1 percent of employees with children said that family-friendly measures in the company are important to them. These include, for example, flexible working hours, parental leave, time off when children are sick, company childcare and advisory services. However, the range of family-friendly measures on offer only met the actual needs of 63.5 percent of respondents.

The corona pandemic also showed that there is still a lot to be done in terms of reconciling family and career. To attract talent, it's worthwhile for startups to look at how they can become more family-friendly. But how can this be done? Kununu and Freundin checked 1400 companies from 30 industries for their family-friendliness, we scoured the list for startups and present the most family-friendly ones to you here. The higher current and former employees rated the work atmosphere, benefits, work-life balance, salary, equality and family-friendly offerings on Kununu, the higher the ranking.

On the list despite criticism of work-life balance: Emma

Emma is a household name to many people. After all, the Frankfurt-based start-up sold more than four million mattresses worldwide last year. Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Müller founded the start-up in 2015 and now employ over 850 people. With an overall rating of 4.48 out of five stars, Emma achieved second place in the "Retail" category of the Kununu ranking. Startbase asked what Emma does for employees with children - unfortunately, the inquiry went unanswered. On the Kununu page, however, many employees confirmed that there were flexible working hours and the option for home office.

Nevertheless, the overall rating is somewhat deceptive. Many employees gave five stars without any further comments. It is striking that no comment mentions the family-friendly measures. Instead, the detailed evaluations heap criticism on the lack of work-life balance at the mattress start-up - a topic that is essential for a family-friendly company. In this regard, a former employee wrote in November 2021: "Trust working hours means 13h days and weekend work for some colleagues, many colleagues also work on vacation and when they are sick, because otherwise topics simply don't get done." Nevertheless, there are also employees who rate the work-life balance at Emma well. "Strong development opportunities demand a corresponding commitment; nevertheless, attention is paid to a balance, or the arrangement of working hours is largely up to you," says a PR employee in September 2020. One of the most recent evaluations from January of this year also speaks rather positively: "In the current situation, I can say that my balance fits," the person writes. "The Covid situation skews the assessment at this point, as currently a great many are increasingly working from home offices, which of course improves the work-life balance." How it would be after Covid, however, he could not evaluate. But it's not really clear why Emma made it onto the list of the most family-friendly companies.

Staffbase: flexible working and a 4-day week in August.

With an overall rating of 4.57 out of five, Staffbase is in third place in the "Internet" category. The software startup already ranked sixth in the Kununu ranking in 2020. The Chemnitz-based company offers apps and platforms that enable companies to better communicate with their employees. Recently, the startup founded by Frank Wolf, Lutz Gerlach and Martin Böhringer even cracked the one-billion-euro mark, making it one of Germany's Unicorns. Since its founding in 2014, the company has expanded rapidly and, in addition to Chemnitz, is also represented in Cologne, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Munich, New York, Amsterdam and London.

But what makes Staffbase so family-friendly? In their reviews, current employees and former employees repeatedly highlight one point: the opportunity to flexibly arrange their working hours and also work in a home office. One employee, who rated the company 4.9 out of five stars, praises the "flexible work schedule for parents" and the "great equipment for home office." Another employee writes, "I can take breaks whenever I want, start and stop as it suits me and my teammates, and important appointments like doctor's appointments or family matters actually always find a place on the calendar." There are few critical voices on the review portal. On the topic of work-life balance, one ex-employee commented, "As a family man, you had to fight for it, even though the bosses have kids of their own, oddly enough." Overall, the startup scores very well in the work-life balance category with 4.6 out of five stars.

And what other benefits does Staffbase offer its employees? On its website, the start-up advertises various options for parental leave. For example, mothers and fathers can continue to work part-time at Staffbase during parental leave and flexibly schedule their parental leave. At all locations, the duration is based on the statutory regulations, but the company pays for up to twelve weeks everywhere. The start-up is also offering "Feel Good Fridays" across all locations in August. Throughout the month, employees have Fridays off - Staffbase pays full wages. "With this permanent benefit for all locations, we want to offer a balance to the daily work routine and create more time for family and leisure," writes Staffbase HR Manager Marie Friedrich.

Subsidies for childcare costs and trust-based working hours at Kinexon

Kinexon is already beyond its start-up phase: founded in Munich in 2012, the company is currently scaling and now employs more than 250 people. Founders Maximilian Schmidt and Oliver Trinchera got their start with a technology that can capture movement data from athletes. Now Kinexon is venturing into the industry, as the scale-up told us. here told us. On the Kununu ranking, Kinexon comes in sixth in the "Internet" category. The overall rating is 4.5 out of five stars.

The company grants employees subsidies for childcare costs. Working hours are also family-friendly: employees can work from home and start and stop when they want. The keyword that keeps coming up in the evaluations and divides opinion is trust-based working hours. "Absolutely flexible working hours and home office make for a very good work-life balance," wrote one employee in February of this year, awarding four out of five stars for work-life balance. "Of course, there are periods when there is more work, however, this is rewarded and compensated for during quieter periods." The next evaluation from an employee with a small child also speaks positively for the trust-based working hours: "Taking a day off when needed and getting the time back in at a different time is no problem at all. The way the last year went with daycare, etc., I'm really glad to have been at Kinexon and enjoyed the flexibility." She also said that vacation could be submitted a day or two in advance, and that no one would even be forced to work overtime.

In other reviews, workers complain that they don't get enough time off and have to work too much overtime. "You are expected to work 10 hours or more straight through. Work on Saturdays and Sundays is assumed," reads one of the latest reviews. In response to the comment, Kinexon said, "We rely very much on the personal responsibility of each employee here, who can arrange his or her own workday, rather than on control mechanisms or hard working time requirements."

Flexible working hours, overtime in sales: Audibene

Also on the list is Audibene. The start-up takes seventh place in the "Medical Technology" category and has a Kununu score of 4.0. Founded in 2012 by Marco Vietor and Paul Crusius, the Berlin-based company operates a platform for hearing acoustics. Audibene employees inform and advise customers over the phone on choosing a hearing aid and help with health insurance processing. Audibene's partner companies then fit the devices for the customers on site. Under the name "hear.com," Audibene is now active worldwide and says it employs 1,500 people.

"Through flexible working hours, home office options, paid sick days for children and individual parental leave models with flexible re-entry, we want to make our contribution and make it as easy as possible for employees to combine work and family," says Audibene founder and CEO Marco Vietor. Many of the evaluations speak positively about the work-life balance. Like this comment from a sales employee in April of this year: "I can take care of the family and at the same time provide great services because of the flexible system and home office." Other reviews sound more critical. For example, this one from February 2022: "There is the possibility to work flexibly and also stay within the contracted hours. However, it is important to know that there is basically pressure to do more to 'not leave the family hanging'." By family, we mean the Audibene family - because employees repeatedly describe their cohesion as that of a family.

It is striking that the criticism about a lack of work-life balance comes primarily from the sales department. "You have to be present from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the very least. And even then you're looked at askance if you leave on time - you could go the extra mile for the family. It doesn't matter that there's another family waiting at home, especially in sales," reads one of the negative reviews.

Take-home message: Allow your employees flexibility and enough time for the family!

As our analysis shows, there is still something to be done even at the most family-friendly start-ups. One striking finding was that employees with children often criticized the lack of work-life balance, particularly in the case of trust-based working time models. Startups should therefore not only trust their talents to fulfill their hours, but also ensure that employees do not work much more than agreed. After all, spending time with family is just as important.