Flexible working hours permit our employees to have greater scope in adapting their daily routine to their individual living situations. Our payscale employees can structure their daily and weekly working hours in a flexible way within a specified timeframe. They also have the option of saving up hours they have already worked in a long-term working time account and using the accumulated hours to take a sabbatical.

Non-payscale employees have responsibility for structuring their own working hours and can also work from home as necessary. All other employees can also make use of this option if they get the agreement of their supervisor. Since 2008, we have been providing employees working on a full contract with a laptop. In 2010, we are planning to provide alternative working arrangements such as telecommuting for as many employees as possible.

Mothers and fathers who work at O₂ in Munich started the "Working Moms & Dads" initiative in April 2009. There are now 360 members who get together for a discussion forum at a monthly lunch where they exchange views on issues that concern young parents. These cover a wide range of topics from getting back to work to organisational matters like baby-sitting service, and career training. O₂ provides financial and organisational support for this initiative. During the course of 2010, we want to extend the "Working Moms & Dads" initiative to our locations in Nuremberg, Bremen, Berlin, Cologne and Verl.

In November 2009, the "Working Moms & Dads" initiative in Munich issued their first invitation to a "Children's day" so that children could get to know the environment where their parents work. They enjoyed a lunch together, joined in children's games and also enjoyed lots of other events. More than 100 employees' children came along and took part. The children's day was so successful that plans are already being made to hold it again in 2010.

We have joined forces with the German nationwide childcare provider "Familienservice" to offer our employees support for identifying childcare and finding care options for looking after members of their family. O₂ pays the costs for advice and agency involvement, as well as ten days of emergency support. In 2009 for the first time we worked together with the family service to provide a holiday camp for the children of employees free of charge. In 2009, 61 girls and boys between two and twelve years of age were looked after at the camp every day from 8.30 until 17.00. We will be offering another holiday programme in 2010.

The child daycare centre opened at the Munich site in 2008 and last year seven qualified nursery assistants looked after 45 girls and boys aged between four months and three years. O₂ financed the purchase of the land and the construction of the building. The running costs are partly financed with parental fees and partly with subsidies from the government of Bavaria. The level of the fees paid by parents depends on the length of time children stay at the nursery and is given in the provider's schedule of fees.

In 2009 we established our children's offices as a new feature. They give short-term help to parents if they find themselves in unexpected situations. All the major sites (Munich, Teltow, Bremen, Nuremberg, Cologne) have offices with their own play areas and reading corners. This facility allows parents to work and keep an eye on their children at the same time - for example, if there is no school. Parents are able to continue working in these offices while caring for their children.