A high standard and a high degree of employee satisfaction

Supporting employees – promoting their own personal financial security efforts

Employee benefits not only increase Merck’s attractiveness as an employer. They also help the company to motivate employees and to retain them. Apart from government social security systems, Merck therefore offers its employees additional benefits. The aim is to adequately support our employees while encouraging them to take on more responsibility for their financial security. Secure longterm financing of the additional company benefits is a prerequisite here. The additional salary components offered by subsidiaries take into account country-specific benefit systems and are suitably comparable to local standards. Nevertheless, Merck employees continue to remain responsible for contributing to any additional plans required to attain their desired level of benefits on retirement or in the event of occupational disability.

Monetary security thanks to the Temp Service

The “Merck Temp Service“ is another social benefit in Germany: It helps employees whose jobs have been eliminated for business reasons, and company trainees to find a new job in the company. Until they do so, they are transferred as regular employees to the Merck Temp Service. During this period, their salary is secure and they can participate in professional advanced training opportunities.

A family-friendly company

In 2008, the charitable Hertie Foundation confirmed that Merck in Darmstadt and Gernsheim is a family-friendly company. We are therefore permitted to continue to use the quality seal of the “Family and Career” audit for a further three years. In 2005, Merck initially received the certificate for its commitment to improving family-friendly working conditions. We view this as recognition of our efforts to permanently anchor processes that reconcile the demands of a career and a family. The certificate shows that we are not only striving to create a family-friendly corporate culture, but also implementing and living it.
Within the scope of the recertification, the flexible childcare program offered by the Merck daycare center and the organization of external childcare services in Darmstadt scored points, in particular. The childcare services provided by the Merck daycare center offers 101 places. For employees at the Gernsheim site, five places are available in a nearby daycare center. Our social services unit offers professional advisory assistance to employees and their relatives with topics such as parenthood and eldercare. Our Merck Serono division has offered an extensive range of childcare possibilities at its Geneva headquarters. This is sponsored by a foundation in which Merck Serono and the city of Geneva each hold a 50% interest. A total of 52 places are available for children between the ages of four months and four years, 35 of which are reserved for children of Merck Serono employees. Other Merck subsidiaries are also encouraged to offer family-friendly programs, as appropriate given the local situation.