Busy children are happy children

One of the prerequisites for worker satisfaction is their being able to balance their work and family life at the workplace. An uneasy task for which the Institute of Physics, as an employer, has looked for and found an effective solution. The emergence of Visitors‘ Rooms for adults with children across the centres of the Institute of Physics has put wide smiles on parents‘ and their children‘s faces.

The first resting area was created at the centre of the Institute of Physics in Střešovice. A former conference room has been converted into a playground area for kids up to the age of seven and their parents for whom two workplaces have been made available.

“The Visitors‘ room for children represents an ideal combination of an office space and a playground area for children. My daughter finds diversion on her own for several hours in the new environment, allowing me to process data and experiment results on my laptop without being disturbed by her, which is something that I would not be able to do if I was working from home,” Martin Müller explains, describing the advantages offered by the new room. The new space at Cukrovarnická has also been praised by Filip Dominec: “The Visitors‘ room for children and adults regularly makes my day. It allows me to reconcile my afternoon childcare duties and my work duties and meetings with my colleagues. It is also my two-year old daughter who is always looking forward to visiting the playground area, not only to play with the toys she has not fully explored yet but also to play with the other children.

The resting space at Ládví, which was adapted to accommodate up to four children and two workplaces for adults, has also been widely acclaimed. “The Institute of Physics has created a magic and a very cosy place that is children-friendly,“ Martina Toufarová says. “It is a great help if you need to make a short visit to your workplace while taking care of your child. You don‘t need to look for a baby-sitter, who is particularly expensive to arrange for a short period of time.

The newly built space for up to three children and two adults at the premises of the Eli-Beamlines centre has been experienced by Jiří Vaculík. He appreciates to have a chance of being available at the workplace and, at the same time, of being “there” as a parent especially if an emergency requires him to take up his childcare duties. “There are enough activities for my child to attract its attention to and to keep it busy in the resting area while I am working on my laptop or meeting my colleagues,“ he explains.

The creation of a resting area for children and caring adults is just one of the supporting steps offered by the FZU “Employees can make use of flexible working hours, work part-time or work from home, “ Lucie Beránková from the HR FZU explains.

By: Petra Köppl

Translation: Stanislav Široký

Credit: Martina Toufarová and Jiří Vaculík

Date: 5 March 2020