The Founding of EURO-TZA e.V.

The Official Founding

On 29 October 1987 the time had finally come. On the library level of the University of Oldenburg, nine founding members met to bring the association EURO-TZA – ‘European Cooperation for the Promotion of New Forms of Part-Time Work, registered association (e.V.) (Job-Splitting, Job-Sharing, Split-Level Sharing, Job-Pairing)’ – officially to life. The equal participation of women and men was particularly important to us: two women and two men were elected to the board. For us this was a matter of course – even though in 1987 it was true of very few associations and organisations. After all, we were concerned with working models intended to create greater equality of opportunity. That had to be reflected in our own structure too.

A few days after the inaugural meeting we went to the notary, Dr Niewerth, so that the association could be entered in the register of associations (Vereinsregister) at the Oldenburg Local Court (Amtsgericht Oldenburg). Another important step followed shortly afterwards: the application for charitable status at the Oldenburg Tax Office (Finanzamt Oldenburg).

Why Charitable Status Mattered So Much

In several discussions with the Oldenburg Tax Office, one question was central: could an association concerned with jobsharing and new forms of part-time work be recognised as charitable? The decisive argument was ultimately the promotion of research projects. The association was to support academic work, collect information, publish findings and encourage exchange between research, business and society. In this way it fulfilled an educational and research mandate. Charitable status was granted. An important milestone.

The Aims of EURO-TZA e.V.

Even in the statutes we formulated a vision that was far ahead of its time. The association was to be an information and communication centre for questions of qualified part-time work, promote exchange between research, business and trade unions, support research projects and launch seminars, colloquia and publications. We also planned a literature documentation, an archive and the active brokering of contacts between interested individuals, companies and institutions.

§ 2 Purpose of the Association (1) The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section ‘Tax-privileged purposes’ of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung). The association acts selflessly; it does not primarily pursue commercial interests of its own … (2) The association promotes research projects that deal with the various forms of unconventional part-time work.

I was particularly proud of paragraph (3) of the statutes. It read:

„This European Cooperation is affiliated with the “jobsharing associations” that have been, or are yet to be, founded in other European countries. Within the framework of this cooperation, the association supports the exchange of experience at European level.’ …“

An aim from the statutes (translated from the German)

Thus, as early as 1987, the vision of a European network for jobsharing had taken shape – as a clearly formulated aspiration rather than a mere wish.

(4) The association may offer seminars for employers and employees who wish to engage with questions of unconventional part-time work. Colloquia initiated by the association are also intended to serve this purpose. (5) The association is the publisher of a series of publications on the subject of unconventional part-time work. (6) The purpose of the association is the establishment and continuous expansion of a literature documentation and an archive that collects publications on the forms of this part-time work, their potential applications and critical commentary on them, and makes them available to interested persons. …

§ 8 Advisory Board (1) An advisory board may be formed to advise and support the board. The advisory board shall include representatives of institutions and persons who are of significance for the tasks of the association. (2) The members of the advisory board are appointed by the board for a term of three years.

The Beginning of Something Bigger

When we adopted the statutes and completed the founding, we could not have guessed what would one day come of it. We had hardly any budget. No website. No database. No social networks. But we had something else: a shared conviction. The conviction that people can organise work differently. And that jobsharing is far more than a working-time arrangement – that it is a form of collaboration that shares knowledge, joins up responsibility and opens up new possibilities. With the founding of EURO-TZA e.V., a new chapter began for me. Research became networking. A vision became an organisation. And from a German project, a European network emerged step by step.