I promise I have done a search but didn't really find anything useful.
I've got an interview at Novartis (Basel, St Johann site) next week and if I am successful, I will need to find a suitable nursery for my 1 year old daughter. I have had a look at the KISS Nordwestschweiz site and have seen a couple that do have spaces at the minute, but I haven't been able to find any reviews etc.
So, I was wondering if anyone here who uses a day care in the vicinity of the Novartis campus has any recommendations or otherwise? I would be using the 14/1 tram so perhaps there are other nurseries on that line that others may be familiar with?
Any info would be very much appreciated as I feel more nervous about finding day care for my daughter than going for the interview!
Have you thought about an Au Pair????? Novartis was ranked (shamed) as one of the worst companies for women to work at (pregnancy, salary, promotions, lack of daycare etc) last year or the year before.... They had to pay huge fines in the US for it.
So it might be worth asking the HR people if they have come up with any solutions yet with regards to internal daycare. They might have a list of options for you.
Just wanted to point out there are indeed a number of Novartis facilities in CH, one here in Nyon, but that does not seem to be what you are referring to.
Perhaps changing the title or more explanation could let others help you more.
I'd be glad to help with Nyon but not too familiar with other sites.
oops sorry! I am looking for nurseries in the Basel St Johann site.
Zuger - thanks for the info. I would prefer a nursery as I'd like my daughter to start to get familiar with spoken German (as we don't speak it at home) and also it would be good for her social skills and development. I am applying for a contract position so I'm not sure if their policies would apply to me, but regardless I will heed your advice and check with the HR. Although I do know that they offer flexi time which is helpful.
I'd do some interviews (much like the one you are going to do at Novartis!) to make sure you feel comfortable leaving your little one there. They'll all provide an opportunity to take a look around and see how your child does during the process. Good Luck with both the job and the Daycare search!
I just wanted to say that is really unfair. The case in the US was about sexist remarks being made to sales women - nothing to do with mothers, maternity rights at all. And the situation at Novartis headquarters in Basel is very different. Novartis is absolutely no worse than any other company in Switzerland for "women's rights". Novartis offers good maternity packages not to mention a pretty much guarenteed part time option when you return. Flexi time, work from home, it's all encouraged.
Of course Switzerland in general is unfavourable for working mothers because the school system is a disaster for 2 working parent families and after school and lunchtime care is the hardest to find but daycare and maternity part is pretty well covered I think.
In terms of daycare there are 3 Novartis daycare centres - 2 Swiss German and one bilingual. They all have good reputations - I know people with kids at all of them. The two german ones are on the Kleinbasel side, the bilingual one is on Kraftstrasse.
There's also Home from Home on Kraftstrasse where my kids went when they were babies. That's a few years back now so I imagine staff will have changed, but Mona (the owner) is possibly one of the nicest people I've ever met and adored by so many kids - she's one of "those" people who kids just bond with. She's basically Mary Poppins.
Susanna's international something (SIK) can't remember the name exactly (it used to be called Eva) is also very well known and good reputation - and is bilingual. It's further from St. Johann, but good all the same.
Kids&Co by St. Johanns Tor is run by the childcare services Basel of which Novartis is a member company. Lots of people love this place too.
Novartis will give you a list of all daycare centres close by if you ask for it.
Of course, all this doesn't guarentee you a place.... there are waiting lists for the Novartis ones. We actually chose Home from Home originally because we couldn't get in anywhere else - obviously we liked it too and in the end it was great, but we didn't really get to actually choose.
????? Perhaps you missed the entire point I was trying to make. Normally after a high profile event like this a corporation will go into over drive to pamper the women inside their organization. They make major steps to make life easier on women...... Thus you have daycares and flexi-hours now... Make sense????
Actually no I don't get your point - I've worked for Novartis forever (since it existed and before then) they always had good conditions for working mothers - none of the stuff they provide is particularly new. There is one new daycare centre, but that's as a result of the campus.
There is a brilliant child care advisor at Novartis. At some point of your interviewing process benefits will be discussed and then is the right time to ask. Novartis runs 3 own daycares in Basel, a 4th one is to open soon on the Campus.
I have my experience with one of these daycares and I can strongly recommend.
So fingers crossed that you and the job are a good match!
Just be aware that company-owned daycares can be a retention factor more than you wish...
wattsli - thanks for the info. I have checked quite a few out and as you predicted most of them don't have any places, although as of today, home from home does, so I really appreciate you relating your experiences. They will definitely be top of the list to visit.
lala - I've heard through the grapevine that all the Novartis ones are full, but I am sure HR will go through this with me as they know I cannot start until I have this in place.
The other places that have spaces include tinyfeet - does anyone have experience of this nursery?
Just thought I'd give an update for those that were kind enough to give me advice. My interview was successful and we decided upon Home from Home as it had a really nice feel and wattsli - I agree, Mona is lovely!
The settling in period starts next week and I'll be enterning the world of work in a few weeks time. Let's hope I can remember how to do it after a year out
Just thought I would update this thread, 1 year on. I'm still at Novartis and my daughter is still at Home from Home and I can honestly say that it was the best decision ever. She absolutely loves it there and I would reccomend it to anyone.
I don't know about Novartis but its worth checking on the eligibility criteria for the corporate daycare and what the waiting lists are like during your interview .... the daycare at Roche is only available to families where both parents work full time ....this was no good for us as my wife is currently looking after our youngest (9 months) and has not decided on future work plans
Edit: just realised this problem was solved! Good luck with the new job!
Did you know there is a new nursery bilingual in Mies (10 min from Nyon) www.bebebiz.ch . Private nursery so there would be still some space available may be.