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Off to (daddy's) new office (symbol picture): Family businesses in particular often value managers with families
Photo: Adie Bush / DEEPOL / plainpicture
Katja Maurer *, 44, does not want to be a souvenir.
No bullet point in the résumé, no competence that her husband Christian, 47, brings to his new job.
She has a life of her own after all.
Sure, with her husband.
But just because he's changing jobs doesn't mean the whole family has to start over - and Christian, Katja and their daughter Anna, 12, cut all the lines, give up their home and move to start all over again in a strange place .
"That you have to explain that to someone in 2020," says Katja and shakes her head.
In the pandemic autumn of this year, many office workers no longer work at the company headquarters.
Home office, mobile office - the geographical proximity to the employer does not play a major role.
Unless it's about a management position, like Christian Maurer.
Previously, he was responsible for finances in the management of a medium-sized company.
After a change at the top of the company, he has been looking for a new job for around a year, preferably with a similar profile, annual salary 160,000 to 180,000 euros.
"The conversations with headhunters go well until they get to the point where the issue is where you live," says Katja.
"When Christian says that he doesn't want to transplant the whole family, but has a mixture of commuting and home office in mind, he says: 'Then I won't even introduce you to the company.'"
Whoever works here should also live here
And Christian is not an isolated case: While corporations are talking about New Work, making virtual meetings the new standard and CEOs like Kasper Rorstedt naturally commute between the Adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach and the family in Munich, things look different in large parts of German medium-sized companies.
The so-called »residence obligation« still applies here in many companies.
True to the motto: whoever works here should also live here.
With man and mouse.
Christine Stimpel, partner at the international HR consultancy Heidrick & Struggles, knows this from her customers: "German family businesses expect a move, and international clients also expect on-site presence, preferably with family." Many understand this as an expression of identification with them the company.
The applicants increasingly encounter incomprehension, says Stimpel: "The candidates expect more flexibility from the company, but that doesn't exist."
The Maurer family doesn't understand that either.
Especially since she has experienced for ten years that there is another way: The family has their main residence in a small Swabian town, during the week Christian was in his second home at the company's headquarters in Upper Franconia.
In between are a good 300 kilometers and a three-and-a-half hour drive.
"The companies know that they are not allowed to"
Labor lawyer Sonja Riedemann
"Yes, the commute is sometimes exhausting, and it wasn't always great to only have my husband at home on the weekends," says Katja Maurer.
But they had settled in well: the small Swabian town is their home together.
You have bought and renovated a house on a slope with a fantastic view over fields and forest, have long-term friendships, Katja worked in her father's company, daughter Anna went to kindergarten and now to school.
The grandparents helped out when nobody could look after the little one;
now they often need help themselves, so it's good if Katja can be with you quickly.
And at a time when Katja had major health problems, she was able to go to the doctors who already knew her and her history.
"This double housekeeping was never a problem for Christian's company," says Katja.
On the contrary: the fact that the family was far away during the week meant that the man's attention was focused entirely on the job.
Why finish work on time if nobody is waiting at home anyway?
Parents Day?
Sick child?
It all took place 300 kilometers away.
"If Anna had to be fetched from daycare early, it was clear that I was responsible," says Katja.
"From a purely legal point of view, a residence requirement is usually completely impossible," says Sonja Riedemann, an expert on board contracts at the Osborne Clarke law firm in Cologne.
"The German labor law forbids that with rare exceptions." These include caretakers.
Notaries also have to live close to the office, most resident doctors close to their practice - so that they can be present quickly in emergencies.
Family reunification was requested for half of Christian's job offers
But manager?
"There are actually a whole range of tasks that you have to do on site as a managing director, such as signing contracts or bank account instructions," says Riedemann.
But it cannot be inferred from this that someone would have to set up their main residence with their family nearby.
Those who appear fit for work at the agreed times are fulfilling their contractual obligations - the rest is a private matter.
In fact, it is very rare to find such clauses in more modern management board contracts, according to Riedemann's experience: "The companies know that they are not allowed to." In practice, this can still play a role: "As long as a candidate cannot prove that he is was rejected because of this, he cannot take action against such a legal violation. ”On the other hand, it also means:“ If you are asked about a family move in an interview, you don't have to give an honest answer. ”However, the company patriarchs should take a close look at the subject You have to be prepared for that at the latest when the end of the probationary period approaches.
Consequently, there are no reliable figures on how often the residence requirement actually plays a role.
In Christian Maurer's case, that was the case with half of the job offers, i.e. a dozen.
In some cases it was already indicated in the job advertisement that a life on site is desired.
"What about partners who are so involved professionally that they don't just throw everything down to follow their husband?"
Katja Maurer *
"We were told that it was important if women and children could also be present at company celebrations," says Katja Maurer.
»I see that as discrimination: you reduce the family to an accessory, a backdrop.
And don't even ask if they like it. "
The Residenzpflicht, she thinks, is based on a traditional family image: man, woman, child, roof over it.
»What about partners who are so involved in their jobs that they don't just throw everything away in order to follow their spouse?
What about people who want to leave private matters private, for example out of fear of homophobia?
What about partnerships that simply work better at a distance? "
According to headhunter Stimpel, it is not just about the representation at company parties - another reason plays a major role: "Executives whose family lives in a different location tend to jump out at the first opportunity and accept an offer at home." this concern is "understandable".
Residenzpflicht shows little trust in the candidate
Before Christian's job in Upper Franconia, the Maurers actually moved to Dortmund for work.
When he later switched to his current employer, the desire to return home played a role.
However: "Neither of us warmed up to Dortmund in all these years," says Katja Maurer.
So it is not certain whether a manager will stay longer: If the family gets homesick and does not feel at home in the new place, the pressure quickly increases to reorient themselves.
Lawyer Riedemann experienced a good ten years ago that a client, a company patriarch, asked her about the possibility of a residence obligation for his new managing director: “I explained to him that the idea not only violated the law, but also had little trust in it the candidate. ”In the end, he was convinced that contracts are not valid for life anyway, but can be terminated or only for a limited period: With this risk, the entire family certainly does not move immediately, especially not in the middle of the school year - but also the risk for the company is manageable.
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The new manager finally turned out to be a stroke of luck.
When his contract was extended long before the five years were up, his family followed suit.
She had always felt very comfortable in the city when she visited.
The collaboration now amounts to a lifelong position, says Riedemann.
As part of the corporate succession, it is now planned that this managing director will inherit a share and continue the company.
And what's next for the Maurers?
Keep applying until it works.
Last Friday, Christian went to Erlangen for an interview.
The head of the company himself lives 300 kilometers away.
* Katja, Christian and Anna Maurer have different names, but their full name and place of residence are known to the editors.
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