Geneva, September 15, 2021 – In the face of cancer, employers sometimes lack the resources to meet the challenges of the disease. Thanks to the OTIUM Foundation’s ENTREPRISE PARTNERSHIP, they can now join forces with a professional structure to better support their employees and their families through this difficult period. A positive initiative for the world of work, and a real asset in supporting patients and facilitating their return to employment.

Thanks to medical progress, more and more people affected by cancer are cured[1]. Despite this encouraging trend, the disease remains synonymous with difficulties for patients and their families, both at home and at work. An observation that prompted the OTIUM Foundation to open its first Center in Geneva in 2018 to offer comprehensive support and care in a single location to complement medical treatment.

Today, the Foundation is going one step further by offering employers the possibility of benefiting from its expertise and structure to support their employees affected by cancer, as well as their loved ones. That’s what the OTIUM ENTREPRISE PARTNERSHIP is all about.

“Many working men and women who have come to the OTIUM Center for support have told us how difficult it is to reconcile work and cancer. That’s why it seemed obvious to us to develop such a partnership with companies. By offering a more suitable framework for managing the long-term illnesses of their employees, employers make it easier to manage this kind of delicate situation, but also to get them back to work,” emphasizes Linda Kamal, Director of the Foundation and of the OTIUM Center.

By joining forces with the OTIUM Foundation, our partner companies will be giving their employees access to free group courses (yoga, discussion groups, sophrology, art therapy, etc.), one-to-one counselling sessions and a vast catalog of services designed to enhance well-being, balance and confidence. HR training to help managers deal with the administrative and emotional management of people affected by the disease is also planned, to better prepare employers to deal with the phenomenon.

“The idea of this partnership is simple, and we immediately subscribed to it for all our employees. By making a contribution commensurate with your workforce, you not only benefit from free services at the OTIUM Centre for your employees, but above all, as a company, you contribute to improving the conditions under which illness is dealt with in the workplace”, emphasizes Olivier Sandoz, Deputy General Manager, FER Genève.

Set up in close collaboration with FER Genève – the umbrella organization for Geneva businesses – and the insurer Groupe Mutuel, PARTENARIAT ENTREPRISES OTIUM has its first two major contributors in these partners.

“Insurance is our business. And we know how difficult it is to deal with cancer, both in the workplace and in society as a whole. The human factor must remain our top priority. So it’s only natural that we should make a commitment to the OTIUM Foundation through this partnership, which we will be offering to all our affiliated companies,” concludes Marc-André Müller, Deputy Director, Groupe Mutuel.

Initially open to all employers in the Geneva area, the OTIUM Foundation’s ENTREPRISE PARTNERSHIP will enable companies to strengthen their corporate social responsibility policies, and make their own contribution to an issue at the crossroads of employment and public health. It’s a triple-win partnership, since it affects both the employer and employee, as well as their social environment.

[1] “Today in Switzerland, almost 70% of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis (all cancer locations combined), corresponding to a reduction in mortality of around one-third since the 1980s,” Cancer: meeting the challenges at work, Ligue contre le cancer, 2019. https://boutique.liguecancer.ch/files/kls/webshop/PDFs/francais/cancer-relever-les-defis-au-travail-021830012111.pdf