Work-Life Balance

Working hours and flexible working arrangements

ESA is a family-friendly environment offering flexible working arrangements and multiple benefits to its employees for greater work-life balance.

ESA’s standard working pattern is an eight-hour working day and 40-hour week. To help you balance your professional and personal life, we offer a flexible working scheme, together with the option to telework. At ESA, you can telework 40% on a monthly basis and even up to 80% with management agreement. Telework is in principle foreseen from your home (i.e. your principal residence) and, with some limitations, you can also telework from another country. A part-time scheme (50, 60 or 80%) completes the set of options to allow you maximum flexibility to achieve your professional goals. Some of these benefits, such as part-time working, can be requested once you have been working at ESA for a certain period of time.

Learn more about what we offer.

Leave

ESA staff are entitled to 12 public holidays and 32.5 days of annual leave each year (30 days for Young Graduate Trainees and Internal Research Fellows). Expatriate staff can benefit from an additional eight day home leave every two years, under certain conditions. Home leave also entails payment of a return trip to your home country for you and your family. 

Learn more about what we offer.

Support for families

Most of ESA’s larger sites offer childcare facilities and summer activities or, where this is not possible, other arrangements are made with off-site providers. In some sites, a school bus service is organised to take ESA children to local international schools.

In addition, the award-winning ESA Space Camp has been running since 1994 and gives ESA children from all sites the chance of a stimulating two-week break during the school holidays each summer.

And, of course, ESA also makes provision for maternity, paternity, parental/family care and sick leave, and can grant special leave for personal and family-related reasons.

Social, cultural and sport activities

ESA volunteers are involved in running a wide range of social clubs and programmes, cultural activities and sports across Europe. From sailing to photography, music to gourmet food, there’s something for everyone and plenty of opportunities to meet colleagues from other areas of work and cultivate new interests.

Facilities

We offer a range of facilities and services at all ESA establishments to improve the quality of your working life and work-life balance:

• subsidised canteen and coffee bar
• medical centre
• travel agency
• free car parking, as well as electric car charging facilities on most sites
• sports facilities including gym, tennis court, five-a-side football pitch, basketball court and exercise classes (depending on the ESA establishment)
• staff discounts on local services
• after-school childcare (depending on the ESA establishment)

Learn more about Life at ESA.