Thomas Unger (centre) experienced a wave of solidarity from his colleagues at Auhof when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. On the initiative of the employee representatives (Dominic Portisch, left, and Thomas Kempfer), they donated their own overtime and vacation days. Photo: private
By Viola De Geare
With a completely extraordinary campaign, employees of the Hilpoltsteiner Auhof (Roth district) helped a colleague through the most difficult time of his life.
So that Thomas Unger had enough time this summer to look after his wife Katharina, who was terminally ill with cancer, and his two children of primary school age, many of them gave him their own overtime and vacation days.
At the same time, the master painter’s colleagues took over his workload with full commitment. On September 24, Katharina Unger died of the disease at the age of 40.
Concerned about the family – end of self-employment
Thomas Unger from Hilpoltstein was a self-employed master painter until September last year and was doing well with his company “Meistermaler Thomas Unger”. When his wife Katharina received the terrible diagnosis, he soon realized that the most important thing now was to have time for her and, above all, for their two children aged seven and nine. He gave up self-employment – a big step – and applied to the Auhof: the long-time company painter had just retired in the huge facility for the disabled. Unger applied and was hired – even though everyone knew about his situation.
Dominic Portisch, deputy chairman of the employee representative body, emphasizes: “Thomas has always been open about his story – it was clear from the start that there was this private burden. Nevertheless, the Auhof hired him. I find it highly rewarding to hire someone even when you know they won’t be fully resilient right away.”
With a permanent job with fixed working hours, Unger found it easier to be there for his family. After all, he no longer had to coordinate customer appointments, write offers and invoices – all that a self-employed entrepreneur has to do. In October 2021 he was able to start at Auhof. The colleagues there quickly accepted him into the team. The facility was not new to him anyway – he had once completed his civil service there and also met Dominic Portisch, who was just doing his training as a curative education nurse. Portisch says: “We then noticed that his wife Katharina was getting worse and thought about what we could do to support Thomas.” had”, so that he could take time off without having to use up the entire annual vacation or at some point be left with a completely overdrawn working time account.
Condition: It must remain a one-time action
Together with his colleague and staff council chairman Thomas Kempfer, Portisch approached the management. Aufhof manager Andreas Ammon supported the campaign and the sponsor of the Auhof, the Rummelsberger Diakonie, gave the go-ahead. The only condition: it must be a one-time action given Thomas Unger’s special situation.
At the beginning of July, when Katharina was already feeling very bad, Dominic Portisch sent a circular email asking all colleagues to “donate time”. You can transfer a day of vacation or overtime to Thomas Unger so that he can be there for his wife and children in the last few weeks before his death. “When I opened my e-mail program the next day, there were countless e-mails. Almost 700 hours came together,” reports Portisch. Around 70 colleagues took part and time and again “latecomers” announced that they would make hours available. In fact, only the hours that Unger had stayed at home were actually retrieved.
The direct colleagues from the building services department also showed great solidarity, who took on the work that Unger was not able to take on during this time. This is anything but a matter of course, says Portisch.
Standing together “when the going gets tough”
“For me, this wave of solidarity was a really positive sign. As a staff councillor, you often have to deal with things that are not going well. This action showed me that the Auhof stands together when the going gets tough,” says Portisch, who is still enthusiastic. “I never would have thought that so many colleagues would get involved, especially in these difficult times when the additional workload for the employees is still high due to Corona and everyone might look after themselves a little more.”
In September, Unger’s wife was getting worse and worse. She could no longer stay at home and had to be cared for in a hospice. Now Unger could rely on the network that his colleagues had cast for him. He stayed at home and was completely there for the family until the death of his wife.
He is now back at the Auhof, his working time account is zero, Thomas Unger is grateful for the great solidarity of so many people. “He was very happy about it,” says Portisch. Despite all the sadness, it was a touching sign that you are not alone, even in the darkest of days. Life goes on – somehow.
HK