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Contents

Page 4 What is the Work & Life Service?Page 6 Flexible working hoursPage 8 TelecommutingPage 10 Parental leavePage 12 Kindergarten “Die kleinen Strolche” (The little rascals), daycare facility for children “Kinderhaus KIWI”Page 14 Pool of babysitters, holiday daycare, supervision in special casesPage 16 Promotion of health, sports program, corporate sports groups, outdoor programPage 18 Relocation service, laundry and ironing service, maid servicesPage 20 Audit “Beruf und Familie”, success factor family 2005, local family associationsPage 22 Co-operation partners, contact persons

The Work & Life Service is part of the human resources department and serves as the ser-vice and competence center for all Winter-shall employees on issues concerning career, family, education, work schedule manage-ment and corporate sports programs.

In recent years, Wintershall has adapted wor-king arrangements to an extent that enables employees to meet demands both in their workplace and in their private sphere in equal measure.

Contact the Work & Life Service for the following questions:

• Finding childcare facilities, even beyond the services offered by the Kinderhaus KIWI, as well as assistance with the search for nannies, aupairs or babysitters

• Finding suitable schools for children• Flexible hours arrangements: part-time,

telecommuting and job sharing

• Planning parental leave, measures to help maintain contact, return to the workplace

• Interest in corporate sports programs and health promotion

• Care for elderly family members (eldercare)

The service also provides a first contact point for employees who have recently joined us. We strive to facilitate their start at our company. Furthermore, upon request, we offer a relocation service for those employees who join us from abroad. It assists with the orientation at the new place of residence and deals with tasks such as registration at local authorities and municipal utilities.

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What is the Work & Life Service?

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Telecommuting means performing all work-related tasks from one’s private home or, alternatively, it can include a combination of telecommuting and office-based work (alternating telecommuting).

A suitable job profile as well as adequate facilities at home are essential requirements for establishing a telecommuting job.

Telecommuting is well suited for result-ori-ented tasks with defined targets which allow for a clear determination of individual steps within the work process. Unfortunately, not all professional fields and tasks are suitable for conversion into a telecommuting job.

Along with the implementation of a telecom-muting workspace there is the option of using a laptop to work from home tempo-rarily. For this purpose, employees have ac-cess to a laptop equipped with all technical features and security standards. Employees may make use of this option if, for example, a child is ill. In that case the employee can access the company network from home.

Especially in emergency situations like these, employees find it easier to bridge the gap between professional demands and their family duties - often perceived as a source of stress - leaving them more moti-vated and relaxed.

Telecommuting

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Parental leave

The Work & Life Service is the contact point for parents-to-be before, during and after their parental leave. Experienced employees explain the current laws and company re-gulations, as well as their application, to the employees in Kassel and Barnstorf. They assist those seeking advice in this new, unusual situation and provide information on topics revolving around family, job and parental leave. The contact persons of the Work & Life Service ensure that employees are kept in the loop during their “time out” and that they don’t miss out on anything. In order to plan their professional future after taking parental leave, employees should contact the Work & Life Service at an early stage. The consultations take place in a safe and discreet atmosphere.

The following range of information and consulting services is available to anyone interested and to those seeking advice:

• Information for mothers and fathers-to-be• Brochures on maternity protection, paren-

tal leave and financial benefits• Planning an employee’s return to the job• “Buddy system” for maintaining contact

with the employee’s department

By substituting for ill staff members or du-ring vacation times, an employee can work for the company in his or her respective department, even during parental leave. This reduces the time away from the company as well as the spatial distance during their “time out”. The Work & Life Service is happy to assist in the search for adequate child care.

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Insufficient child care facilities are still one reason why it is so difficult to balance family and work. Particularly the inflexible hours of public facilities as well as unsatisfactory childcare solutions for children below the age of three impede the compatibility of family and work for many parents.

During a Wintershall survey on work and fa-mily in 2000, employees were asked a range of questions regarding childcare. The most visible result of that survey is the Wintershall daycare facility for children, Kinderhaus KIWI, which was established in 2001. With their involvement and dedication, employees and management created a facility that has already won several awards. The daycare center, painted bright yellow, is located less than 300 meters from the company’s headquarters.

The building was renovated in 2001 and equipped to be suitable for children. A gar-den of 1,000 square meters offers plenty of space for playing and running around. The open-plan house as well as the motivated teachers help children learn and discover. There is time and space for exercise and

daydreaming. Special programs – ranging from forest exploration days to computer, English and music classes – foster skills without overstraining children. Individual development is fostered in family groups with children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years – younger and older children are together in one group – so that children learn social competence beyond their own family boundaries. The open, playful atmos-phere is inspiring to anyone who enters the house.

Our partner in all educational questions is the Gesellschaft zur Förderung von Kin-derbetreuung e.V. (GFK: Association for the Promotion of Childcare) which runs the Kinderhaus KIWI.

The GFK offers parents a very flexible child care model which can be adapted to indi-vidual needs. The daycare center is open Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm.

For further information about our co-opera-tion partner and the Kinderhaus KIWI, visit the following website: www.gfk-kassel.de

Daycare facility for children “Kinderhaus KIWI”

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Sports program in Kassel

Whether you choose energy-step aerobics, spinning, “strong back” training or tai chi – the sports program “BeFit@Work” has so-mething to offer for every taste. Experienced trainers run the fitness and health courses in the gym located at the Kassel headquar-ters. The trainers develop courses which are adapted to the employees’ requirements regarding movement, relaxation and fun. Various courses are on offer from Monday to Friday. Partners and spouses are welcome to join.

For those who like to exercise by them-selves, there is a choice of professional equipment for endurance training – tre-admill, cross trainer and bicycle. These machines with their range of programs can be adapted to the individual’s level of fitness, which make them suitable for beginners, more advanced athletes and pros. After professional instruction on how to use the equipment, employees may exercise from Monday to Sunday during opening hours.

Corporate sports groupsAlong with the “BeFit@Work” program in Kassel, there are numerous other corporate sports groups at other Wintershall locations which are initiated and run by employees. The sports they offer include tennis, table tennis, soccer, rowing and many more.

Outdoor program in Kassel

For sports enthusiasts who prefer to ex-ercise outdoors, the Work & Life Service, in co-operation with employees as well as external providers, offers an outdoor sports program during the summer months. It includes activities such as inline-skating, swimming, running in groups, mountain-bi-king and horseback riding. After the physical exertion, there is usually time to get together and relax with colleagues.

Relocation service in Kassel Employees joining Wintershall Holding AG from abroad can take advantage of our relocation service in Kassel. This service supports our new colleagues and their families and assists them with orientation in Germany and integration in Kassel. We offer assistance with administrative tasks, accompany employees to local authorities and municipal utilities, and help with finding a new home.

Laundry and ironing service

Our laundry and ironing service makes a trip to the cleaner’s superfluous and saves our employees valuable time which they can spend with their families or on other acti-

vities. A local laundry service picks up the laundry at the Wintershall office and returns the garments to the headquarters, cleaned and ironed.

Maid servicesA while ago, the Work & Life Service started to make available the contact details of vari-ous agencies through which employees can book maids, cleaning personnel, shopping services as well as other household-related services. The agencies find and appraise qualified personnel, thus leaving emplo-yees with more time for their families and recreation.

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Co-operation partnersIn order to manage and perform all these tasks for the employees, the Work & Life Service co-operates with numerous institu-tions, such as:

• Gesellschaft zur Förderung von Kinderbe-treuung e.V. (GFK) in Kassel

• youth welfare offices (Jugendämter)• various schools, such as the Montessori

Schule Kassel (Montessori school with a bi-lingual curriculum)

• the local education authorities• public and private childcare facilities• local family associations• irema relocation services GmbH

Contact personsIn Kassel:

Wintershall Holding AGWork & Life ServiceAnika EngelmannFriedrich-Ebert-Straße 16034119 KasselPhone: +49 561 301-1036Fax: +49 561 301-1136anika.engelmann@wintershall.comwww.wintershall.com

For Germany:

Wintershall Holding AGWork & Life ServiceHeidi ImsandeRechterner Straße 249406 BarnstorfPhone: +49 5442 20-564Fax: +49 5442 20-466heidi.imsande@wintershall.comwww.wintershall.com