Children already attending new Lek kindergarten
Today Lek Pharmaceuticals held an opening ceremony for their new kindergarten, which has been operating at Lek’s location on Alešovčeva Street in Ljubljana as a unit of the Najdihojca kindergarten since 1975. It is one of the major factors which make it easier for parents at Lek to balance their work schedules with their family lives. In its 33 years of operation it has been attended by several hundred children. Lek earmarked 700,000 euros for the construction of the new, more modern and larger kindergarten, which the children and teachers moved into in January.
“At Lek we know that it is harder and harder for employees to balance their work and family life in the demanding tempo of modern life, so we want to make the work environment as friendly and pleasant as possible. In 2006 we joined the Family Friendly Company initiative and received a certificate in May 2007. The new Lek kindergarten is one of the more significant steps which confirm our efforts in this area,” said Marjan Novak, Member of the Lek Board of Management and head of the Family Friendly Company project.
The new kindergarten, which is currently being attended by 51 children, has three playrooms of the same size and a separate recreation room and art classroom. The total surface area in the interior play areas is 270 m2, and the area around the center is set up for outdoor play, as part of the exterior surface is coated with a special surface suited to children’s play, the greenery will bloom in the springtime, and the children will also be able to enjoy the roller-skating track and playground with swings and slides in natural shade.
Lek kindergarten operates as a unit of the Najdihojca kindergarten
In 1974 Lek decided that owing to a lack of space in kindergartens in Ljubljana, they would set up a building at the Lek Headquarters on Verovškova Street as a kindergarten and thus ease the concerns of parents at Lek. Lek has provided all of the investments in the kindergarten since the beginning, and the City Municipality of Ljubljana has financed the implementation of the program. At the opening of the Lek kindergarten the Principal of the Najdihojca kindergarten Jelka Fijavž said: “For the Najdihojca kindergarten, Lek’s investment is a model of responsible entrepreneurship, which we can only hope to see more of. The new facilities with their modern and functionally designed playing surfaces make it possible to plan and implement a modern curriculum for the nurturing, teaching and development of preschool children and optimal continuity and transparency of the children’s activities.”
Balancing work and family life
As part of the Family Friendly Company initiative, Lek has taken a series of steps designed to allow families to find the most effective balance between their work life and their private life. One of the significant steps is working at home. People who have jobs which can be performed at home are allowed to do so. They have also introduced a novelty upon arrival at work. Employees who work on a flexible schedule can come to work up to 8.30 (until now this was 8 a.m.). For employees who are heavily burdened with care for a loved one, they will be preparing a range of assistance services for the family member or loved one.
Having children at the Lek kindergarten is a major advantage for parents. Marjan Novak adds, “I am only now becoming aware of the pleasant, almost home-like atmosphere created by the kindergarten staff, now that my children are in elementary school, when they occasionally still reminisce about their nice memories from the kindergarten and show interest in everything connected with the future of the kindergarten .”
Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the pillars of leading world generics company Sandoz. It operates as a global development center for products and technologies, as a global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines, as a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products, as a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar products and as a supply center for the markets of CEE, SEE and CIS, sales Slovenia and sales services for Sandoz’s global markets. Lek d.d. employs more than 3,000 people. For further information please consult http://www.lek.si
Novartis AG provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on growth areas in healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, and consumer health products. Novartis is the only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2007, the Group’s continuing operations (excluding divestments in 2007) achieved net sales of USD 38.1 billion and net income of USD 6.5 billion. Approximately USD 6.4 billion was invested in R&D activities throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 98,200 full-time associates and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.
For further information contact:
Katarina Klemenc Dinjaški
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d.
Phone: + 386 1 580 22 43
Fax: + 386 1 580 24 32
communications.lek@sandoz.com
