Occupational Health and Safety, and Health Management

Ensuring health and safety in the workplace is part of the Company’s duty of care towards employees. United Internet’s goal is to minimize accidents, sickness, and risks as far as possible and to promote employees’ health. The focus is on two areas here: occupational health management (OHM), and occupational health and safety including data center safety. The policies and measures described in this section apply to all of the United Internet Group’s German locations.

All issues relating to these two focus areas are discussed at the regular meetings of the Health and Safety Committee, both in relation to individual locations and at an overarching level.

Occupational Health Management (OHM)

Occupational health management includes hazard assessments, occupational medical care, health promotion offerings, and preventive measures, among other things. This last category is broken down into focus topics at United Internet. These are exercise, ergonomics, nutrition, and mental health. The measures taken in these areas aim to create a health-promoting environment, develop skills, raise awareness, and influence concrete behavior. The offerings can differ slightly depending on the segment concerned.

Overview of OHM Measures on Focus Topics in 2023

• “Exercise” offerings: These include back health courses, outdoor circuit training, active breaks, and health-related campaigns such as “Bike to Work.” In addition, company runs were organized at the Company’s major locations in Germany (including with the assistance of service providers B2Run and Berliner Teamstaffel). Discounts are offered for selected fitness studios. In addition, there are internal sports groups.


• “Ergonomics” offerings: Since many employees mainly work sitting down, workplaces are regularly checked and adapted, and seated workstations are replaced by adjustable-height desks where necessary. When fitting out new buildings, care is taken to ensure that meeting areas in particular offer space for both sitting and standing. In addition, the Company’s German locations ⁽¹⁾ provide a range of ergonomics-related services such as advice on ergonomic seating options, specialist literature on the intranet, health care videos, and downloadable documents containing recommendations on how to work ergonomically and on compensating exercises.

• “Nutrition” offerings: The Company’s own canteens offer healthy, sustainable meal options. United   Internet bases its offering here on employee needs, with staff being able to provide feedback either directly or via dedicated surveys. For example, a vegan and a vegetarian dish is provided every day, as are salads, a wide variety of different bowls, energy bars that are made on the premises, and so on. Employee diversity and preferences are taken into account in the meat dishes. Since mid-2023 a milk alternative (an oat drink) has been offered at most locations in response to employee suggestions. Drinks and fruit are provided free of charge at all locations. The issue of staff meals is being addressed internally by a working group ⁽²⁾ and a food policy is being drawn up; this will be successively expanded as needed and will serve as guidelines or minimum requirements.


• “Mental health” offerings: Regular relaxation and well-being offerings such as yoga and resilience and mindfulness training are designed to promote resilience and reduce stress. In addition, management training on how to support staff under stress is provided in cooperation with UI Learning. ⁽³⁾ The Business Access Segment has independent offerings such as webinars and training courses in the area of mindfulness and mental health.
  
  The OHM team, Vertrauenspersonen (designated persons of trust), and the specialist contact staff from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) also provide individual advice for staff and managers.

(1) This applies to the Consumer Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments.

(2) To date, this only applies to the Consumer Access, Business Access, and Business Applications segments. The plan is for the Business Access Segment to join the group soon

(3) This offering applies to the Consumer Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments.

Other OHM Measures in 2023

• Hazard assessments: Among other things, these comprised updating the documents on hazard assessment for maternity protection and protection against infection (with respect to COVID-19), organizing presentations on long COVID for managers and HR business partners, and first aid training.


• Occupational medical care: This includes check-ups (e.g., for computer workstations), advisory services (e.g., relating to maternity protection), and offers of influenza vaccinations.


• Health Week/Health Day: A virtual health week entitled “Sustainably Healthy” was held in 2023 in cooperation with German health insurance fund Techniker Krankenkasse.

• Employee Assistance Program: United Internet helps all employees in Germany achieve a positive work-life balance even in challenging situations through its Employee Assistance Program, which is run in partnership with an external provider. Service provider contacts are available by phone around the clock to provide confidential advice on three core topics/offerings: parental counseling/childcare, care for relatives, and life coaching to cope with personal challenges. The Employee Assistance Program offers prevention and support services designed to promote mental and physical health. Among other things, these include resilience training, mindfulness and relaxation courses, and webinars on healthy eating. In addition, the external service provider supports employees experiencing difficult personal situations such as stress, illness, addiction, or financial crises by providing remote counseling and emergency/crisis psychotherapy, and by helping to find medical assistance, therapists, and clinics in acute cases. Intranet posts are used to inform staff regularly of the service and of other health-related measures.


• Communication on the topic: The intranet and onboarding events for employees and managers are used to inform them of health promotion measures and offerings, and a health mailbox and intranet discussion channels are provided that they can use to submit suggestions, ideas, or their own initiatives (for example, a lunchtime “wild plant walk” was organized on the back of an employee initiative).


• Health strategy: Occupational health management activities and internal communications on this topic are being continuously enhanced and expanded at a strategic level. As part of this, a Health & Care requirements survey ⁽⁴⁾ was performed in order to understand employees’ needs and expectations, to derive new, focused measures from these, and to further optimize current offerings. In addition, health promotion offerings are regularly evaluated and feedback obtained from employees so as to enhance the formats used. In 2022, work started on implementing hybrid health promotion formats that combine face-to-face and online offerings, leveraging the benefits of both formats for employees and also improving the coverage offered to smaller locations. ⁽⁵⁾


• Supplementary health insurance: Since October 2023, the Business Access Segment has offered employees employer-financed supplementary health insurance as a contribution to preventing and treating sickness. Employees are provided with an annual health budget that can be used individually to source offerings from a service catalog. A broad portfolio of advisory and health care services is provided (e.g., check-ups, dental treatment, and natural remedies).

(4) The survey was performed in the Consumer Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments

(5) The offerings apply to the Consumer Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments

Occupational Health and Safety, Including Data Center Safety

Annual safety inspections in line with health and safety agency/statutory rules and regulations are performed at the Company’s German locations together with experts from external service providers. ⁽⁶⁾ In addition, reports are evaluated and implemented, and Health and Safety Committee meetings are held, at these locations. Health and safety activities are continuously enhanced on the basis of the statutory/health and safety agency rules and regulations.

Only authorized employees have permanent access to the data centers. ⁽⁷⁾ These employees are obliged to attend (digital) training, including on the following subjects: 

• How to behave if there is a fire


• How to behave in an emergency


• First aid courses run by the DGUV (Germany’s statutory accident insurance scheme) that are specially tailored to data center environments


• Emergency first aid training in the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs)


• Fire prevention training that is specially tailored to data center environments


• Safety training for electrical equipment


• Practical training in Category III personal protective equipment (PPE)

(6) Business Access: Annual safety inspections in administrative locations with more than 20 staff; smaller locations are inspected every three years.

(7) This relates to the data centers in the Business Applications Segment.

In addition, courses and training are organized for those employees who are responsible for powering up and booting servers in the abovementioned data centers. The Company works together with Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft (VBG), the German occupational health and safety agency, to train safety officers for each operations team, who then attend regular courses.

In addition, United Internet is assisted by external occupational safety and fire protection specialists. An internal communications platform is used to provide employees with emergency manuals, work instructions, and the rules and regulations to be followed.

Occupational Health and Safety in Figures

The objective of the measures described above is to reduce stress-related absences and avoid accidents at work. Work on pinpointing the causes of absences and accidents will continue in future so as to identify any other measures that may be necessary. The following table gives a breakdown of absences due to employee illness in Germany. United   Internet is below the national average for its sector. ⁽⁸⁾

(8) See the sector-specific statistics compiled by the umbrella association for German occupational health insurance funds: www.bkkdachverband.de/statistik/monatlicher-krankenstand for the telecommunications (61), IT services (62), and information services (63) sectors.

(1)   The figures relate to all core employees in Germany.

(2)   The number of accident reports in 2023 relates to reportable workplace accidents (absence >   3   days). In previous years, accidents involving absences of ≤ 3 days were also included. Consequently, comparability is limited. The change was made proactively in preparation for the future requirements of the CSRD/ESRSs.