Elisabeth Schwarzer: I'm Liz – actually Elisabeth – Schwarzer, I work in Human Resources as a team leader, I'm responsible for Labor Relations and Organizational Development and I'm the employer's Inclusion Officer.

Vanessa Thülig: My name is Vanessa Thülig, I am a personnel officer at Volkswagen Infotainment and my main responsibilities are recruiting and marketing. I, too, serve as an Inclusion Officer on the employer side.

Thomas Schulte: My name is Thomas Schulte, I am the head of G-TP3, I am involved in the Connectivity Solution as Business Owner of OCU3 and I am the elected representative of Volkswagen Infotainment and in this function I am also a member of the Inclusion Team.

Klaus Kunze: I'm Klaus Kunze, second deputy, and I work in G-TS in the connectivity products, so OCU3 and OCU4, where I take care of Stability Performance. I myself have equal status due to a hearing impairment that I have had for about 20 years.

Daniel Neuhaus: My name is Daniel Neuhaus and I am currently working in the ZeC project, until recently as a developer and now in the role of a product owner. After a circular email from Liz, my interest was piqued. I went to research what it actually means to be a person of trust representing the specific needs of severely disabled people as an interest vis-à-vis the employer. I then put myself up for election.

Thomas Schulte: The law provides for a person of trust, a general contact person. In addition, there is also a deputy. At Volkswagen Infotainment, we were able to approach the issue a little differently: Daniel and I divide up the day-to-day business, which is now also written down in our inclusion agreement. This means the title is not so relevant in our case: We are all contact persons.

Vanessa Thülig: I was inspired by my father, who himself works with mentally disabled people at the Diakonie. He even retrained at the time to go into such a field and assist people. I have always found that totally exciting. That was my motivation.

Elisabeth Schwarzer: I had similar reasons. My aunt and uncle were both deaf due to accidents. As a child and as a young adult, it was normal for me. From time to time, however, strangers gave them really funny looks or even said stupid things. This has always made me very angry and has led to a desire on my part to get involved and defeat prejudices.

Daniel Neuhaus: For me, it's a little different. I have had my own difficulties with the pension office and would like to help others avoid them. In addition, I have always had the desire to engage in social and volunteer work. Here and there, I also helped out in a repair cafe, but never really integrated it with my working hours. When the Severely Disabled Representative Council was formed in 2019, I saw my chance to make a difference.

Klaus Kunze: Difficulties were also a motivating factor for me. Basically, I came to the Severely Disabled Representative Council without any previous preconceptions. On the day of the election, I was asked if I still wanted to participate. At that time, I was also a member of the Works Council, so my election would also create a direct link to the Works Council.

Thomas Schulte: My/our goal is to provide assistance to colleagues on the topic of severe disability and equality. In the 21st century, there should no longer be any differences here. We know from our training courses, among other things, that even today this is not a matter of course everywhere. I personally appreciate the fact that we have reached a very exemplary level at Volkswagen Infotainment. We try to take action before problems even arise, and we have succeeded very well with the current regulations set out in the inclusion agreement.

Elisabeth Schwarzer: We are basically composed of two "opposing" parties. As Inclusion Officers, Vanessa and I are the employer representatives. We ensure that our company complies with all legal requirements. Example: We also have to make our jobs available to the employment agency to make it possible to find employees with severe disabilities. Apart from that, we are also supposed to represent the employer’s interests. The Severely Disabled Representative Council, on the other hand, is the employee representative. Together, we are the inclusion team. I think this constellation is actually very nice, because we really do work as a team and pull together.

What also, perhaps, few people know: To become a person of trust or to be elected to the Severely Disabled Representative Council, you do not have to be a person with a severe disability or an equal status. So anyone who cares about inclusion and equal opportunity can get involved and get elected. This is where the difference between active and passive voting rights becomes important: Every employee of our company can be elected, but only people with a disability or an equal status can vote. This is the difference to a Works Council election, for example.

Thomas Schulte: If there are colleagues who want to know how the system works and how to get a GDB recognized, they can contact us. How we can offer support. It is important that the persons concerned are always the masters of their proceedings. I.e. we stand aside in an advisory capacity and perhaps also give a nudge. But the colleagues make the decisions.

Klaus Kunze: Determining the GDB is so complicated because there are several tables of what might constitute a disability for limitations. And multiple limitations in everyday life doesn't mean that these are added together. Possible interactions are checked by the pension office and the exact GDB is then determined afterwards.

Daniel Neuhaus: When things are complex, a lot of mistakes can be made. When applying, contact should be made in advance either with us or with the social associations, or with both. Even the smallest inaccuracies can have a very large impact on the outcome of the case.

Elisabeth Schwarzer: The inclusion agreement consists of building blocks, some of which are prescribed by law, and topics that are important to us as an inclusion team. As an example: There is a legal entitlement to 5 days of additional leave for people with a GDB of 50 or more – Volkswagen Infotainment even goes beyond the legal requirements with one additional day. There is also the possibility of an exemption from business trips, the possibility to initiate a company integration management on one's own initiative as well as regulations regarding one's own further development, appraisal interviews, training, working hours, etc. All aspects of working life are covered by this agreement. There is a nice phrase for this: Inclusion means that every person naturally belongs.

Thomas Schulte: I would like to add one more thing: In one of the first joint meetings, management said that no one in the company had to worry about their severe disability. This is exactly what it is all about: Sending a clear signal to every employee that severely disabled people are a clear part of us and that they need not fear any kind of discrimination, but rather receive special support.

Elisabeth Schwarzer: On one of our intranet sites you can also read a short overview of content and the special rights. Many people may not even know that they have the right to have a degree of disability determined so that they can then receive even more support. For example, someone who has gone through cancer could also get, albeit temporarily, a degree of disability. This can help with regeneration.

Daniel Neuhaus: It is important to note that we generally do not deal with employee health issues. Health topics are very sensitive and you have to make sure that they are well protected. We want to create our own awareness, but without giving the impression that we have the right answer for every health question. We cannot say for each individual problem whether a GDB would be recognized and if so, how high it would be. If in doubt, the company physician or family doctor would be good points of contact. We try to support our colleagues in the best possible way.

Daniel Neuhaus: The Representative Council for Severely Disabled Employees has been in place since 2019. Before that, there was no such thing, as the proportion of people with disabilities in the company was still very small. As soon as 5 people with disabilities or equal rights work in the company, then a representative for severely disabled persons must be elected. And this is how this election came about in 2019. In a training session, we learned that the company had to provide us with a sparring partner in the form of an Inclusion Officer, so Liz and Vanessa joined us.

Elisabeth Schwarzer: Since we realized from the beginning that it makes more sense to work together on a permanent basis, the inclusion team was born from this.

Klaus Kunze: In principle, the inclusion team is a reflection of the fact that we ourselves also have short communication channels. When we have concerns, like the inclusion agreement or refining it. We are a sharp little committee that comes up with solutions quickly.

Vanessa Thülig: I wish that inclusion would become part of our DNA and that it would just be natural for everyone.