Children & Choices

International Link was created in Vaud at the beginning of April to promote a higher level of communication between foreign companies and their local counterparts, between expats and their hosts (see Swisster article). Two networking events take place in May.

Best Practices Breakfast dedicated to HR professionals on 7 May

HR professionals are invited to a Best Practices Breakfast in English on the theme of:“What should be in work contracts? And what do expats usually want to understand?”

Mr. Thomas Padar from PC & T and the legal service of CVCI (Vaud chamber of commerce and industry) will provide key elements on this subject.

The event is free of charge but registration is obligatory by sending an email to: internationallink@cvci.ch.

Please note that this event is limited to 30 participants and registrations will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Friday, 7 May from 8:00 am to 9:30 am.
CVCI, Avenue d’Ouchy 47
Lausanne

Lunch International-Local on 11 May

Le Business Club and International Link are organizing a business lunch for the local entrepreneur community and the international community, a perfect opportunity to exchange ideas with locals and find new business opportunities.

Accompanying guests are welcome. The meal and drinks will be approximately CHF 30 per person.

Please reserve by sending an email to internationallink@cvci.ch no later than 9 May. Please note that here is a no-show policy for this event and that uncancelled reservations will be billed.

Tuesday 11 May at 12:00
CVCI, Avenue d’Ouchy 47
Lausanne

For all other International Link events please consult link.

For its first public event, the newly founded English-speaking
Business Professional Women (BPW) Lake Geneva group
invites renowned Martha Maznevski,IMD MBA Program Director
to give a talk on the

Controversy of Diversity

Is diversity of any kind, including functional, cultural and gender
a key ingredient for corporate innovation, advancement & profitability?

AGENDA

18.00 – Registration & Introductions
19.00 – Speaker’s Presentation
19.20 – Q & A
19.50 – President’s closing & Future Events Announcements
20.00 – Dinner

VENUE

Hotel Beau-Rivage
Rue de Rive 49
1260 NYON
T 022.365.41.41

FEE

CHF 65 for BPW members
CHF 80 for non member to be paid in cash on March 4

REGISTRATION

lakegeneva@bpw.ch  c/o of Nicole Piaget

Martha Maznevski (Canadian national) is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management. She is currently Director of IMD’s MBA program on a broad range of organisational behaviour topics, including teams and leadership in global and virtual (distance) contexts, diversity and inclusiveness, and the relationship between organisational and national cultures. Her research focuses on the human dynamics of complex global organization. She has served as advisor to public and private organisations in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa on issues of managing people globally.

The QS World MBA Tour featuring hundreds of influential business schools, is coming up on the 27 of March in Geneva at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Come meet Top US and European Business Schools (Duke University, Hult International Business School, Thunderbird, IMD, HEC, etc…).

The event itself will give prospective MBA candidates a fantastic opportunity to meet face-to-face with admissions officers from around the world.

This all-inclusive educational event has become the world’s most successful event of its kind and has helped place thousands of MBA candidates in top business schools of their choice.

This year’s edition will put the accent on the benefits of studying in Switzerland. Due to the presence of a large number of European corporate headquarters, such as  Yahoo, P&G, McDonald’s, Nissan, Starbucks, Eaton, Medtronics and Philip Morris to name only a few “Any professional who is good and who had very good experience or skills has great opportunities in Switzerland at the moment,” says Alessandro Fonzi, an IMD MBA who is originally from Italy and who is now a Senior Vice-President with Lombard Odier in Zurich.

Furthermore as indicates Dr Rob Straw, MBA Director at the University of St. Gallen “Switzerland has traditionally had a very resilient labour market and economy. It is smaller, so there is more stability, and the economy has not been hit as hard here as it has been in other countries.”

Watch video : Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of the World MBA Tour, explains some of the benefits of attending a fair

More info

Saturday 27 March 2010
14:00-18:00

·         Meet face-to-face with the MBA admissions officers and alumni of the world’s top business schools

·         Attend GMAT and Admissions Strategy Workshop

·         Apply US$ 1,600,000+ of exclusive scholarships | Careers Panel with MBA recruiters / alumni

Event schedule

12:30 - Registration Opens
14:00 - Event Start time
14:00 - 15:00
Workshop type:

·         Panel discussions between Admissions Directors from BSL and other Business Schools

·         Presenter(s): QS World MBA Tour Team Member

Final Hour Last opportunity to talk to schools - the final hour tends to be quieter and is ideal for longer, more complex questions.

18:00 - Fair Closes

5CHF if you register online or 10CHF on the day
(payable on fair day at the registration table)

Register

Directions to Four Seasons des Bergues Geneva

33 Quai des Bergues
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

A conference organized on Monday, March 22, 2010 by Leman Events promises to offer “Priceless information for anyone with a school age child in Vaud.”

“Experts from Institut Polycours in Lausanne will speak to international parents in English about the unique Vaud public school system. Key topics will include a highlight about the differences between Swiss, International and Vaud schooling, public vs. private options and bridges between sections during school and after an A-level / high school (university both in Switzerland and abroad).”

“Cultural aspects and overall relationship between the school and parents will be also covered. After the presentation pasta and wine will be served to enable you to echange experiences with others and ask your questions to the Polycours representatives.”

Monday, 22 March at 6.45 pm
Registration requested - 40 Swiss francs per person

Hotel de la Paix
5, Avenue Benjamin-Constant
1003 LAUSANNE
Tel:  +41213107171

More info

“Maria, I just met a girl named Maria…” Crazy about Leonard Bernstein’s celebrated version of Romeo and Juliet, remember the fancy dancing of gang warfare when the ‘Jets’ get pitched against the ‘Emeralds’, nostalgic for a colourful and fast-paced musical in English?

The International School of Lausanne is pulling out the stops to offer the full musical and choreographed Broadway production performed by a brilliant student cast.

Performances take place on the 18th, 19th and 20th of March at 19.30

Tickets can be booked by contacting janet.gereige@isl.ch  or bought at the door. 25 adults / 15 under-18s.

International School of Lausanne Auditorium

Ch. de la Grangette 2

1052 Le Mont-sur-Lausanne.

(16 March 2010 update:

The Federal State Council (Switzerland’s supreme governmental authority) is considering the possibility of allowing exceptions to the rule to strap all children under the age of 12, as long as they measure less than 150 cm, into adapted booster seats. The rule would not apply for transportation in third party cars.  Source: Le Matin)

As from 1 April 2010, it will be obligatory throughout Switzerland for all children under the age of 12 to be strapped into child restraints (baby seats, child seats, booster seats and booster cushions), unless they measure more than 150 cm.

An exception will however be allowed until 31 December 2012 for seats that are only equipped with a two-point safety belt and not a three-point safety belt (usually the middle seat in the back) but only for children between the ages of 8 and 12 (unless they measure more than 150 cm).

That is because there are currently no seats that can be secured by two-point safety belts that are adapted to children above the weight of 25 kilos.

No exception applies for children to and including the age of 7, who under the current legislation, must be strapped into child restraints in all circumstances.

Surprisingly, children of all ages are allowed to travel in the passenger seat in front, as long as they are strapped into an appropriate child restraint. The seat must however be pushed back as far as possible in order to leave sufficient space for the airbag, should it be activated.

When baby seats are installed on the passenger seat facing away from the traffic, air bags MUST be deactivated (risk of crushing the infant). Otherwise, the baby seat must be strapped onto a back seat.

TCS (Touring Club of Switzerland) and bfu (Swiss Council for Accident Prevention) are taking a leading role in an accident prevention campaign. The paediatric surgeon Dr Hans-Walter Hacker insists that children are not miniature adults, since their heads are proportionally larger and heavier and their internal organs are not as well protected by a bone structure that has finished developing.

TCS estimates that up to the age of 12, children will need three different seats to be selected from five different categories according to size and weight. The rule of thumb to apply is that a seat must be changed when a child’s head reaches the top of the seat. The total cost for the three seats is about 1,000 Swiss francs at current prices. (Statistics do however indicate that at least 50 percent of children reach the height of 150 cm before the age of 12. Some other countries, including the UK, apply the height rule of 135 cm.)

To convince parents that the investment is necessary, TCS provides videos of crash simulations for five situations.

·         Unattached 3-year old at 50 km/hour

·        Child secured by a 3-point belt only

·         Child on a booster seat without full backing

·         Child on booster seat with full back

·         Correct protection

The recent legislation further edicts that child restraints must conform to the United Nations ECE Regulation R44.03 or R44.04. Versions R44.01 and R44.02 will no longer be allowed as from 1 April 2010.

The reference to check is on the yellow label on the underside of the seat: look for the first two numbers.

When purchasing a new seat, look out for ISOFIX, which stands for “International Standards Organisation FIX”, a new standard for installing child seats that is intended to make fitting child seats quick and simple.

The TCS has tested most child restraints available on the Swiss market and have come up with the following recommendations. They can be cross-referenced with images on link.  Please note that Swisster does not endorse, nor can it be held responsible for recommendations made by TCS.

P

Watch the videos on how to install correctly:

• Römer Babysafe Plus Isofix: ► video
• Bébé Confort Streety: ► video
• Chicco Autofix plus: ► video

More information:

TCS summary in French

Child safety flyer in English

Find out about legislation in other countries

BPW (Business and Professional Women) is launching its first English-speaking club in Switzerland in the Lake Geneva area.

Founded more than 80 years ago, BPW is recognized as the most important Swiss and worldwide association for women in prominent positions in business, charity, politics or culture. It is joined by women of all ages and experiences.

The kickoff meeting for BPW’s 40th club in Switzerland and the only English-speaking one will take place on:

Thursday January 28th 2010 at 7:00 pm
at the Best-Western Hotel in Chavannes-de-Bogis in the presence of representatives of BPW International, BPW Europe & BPW Switzerland.

It is the initiative of Sabine E. Baerlocher, Past-President of BPW Geneva Club, and is being created with the support of Liz Benham, BPW International President 2008-2011, Gabriella Canonica, 1st Vice President BPW International, Assimina Walther, member of the board of BPW Europe, Past-President of BPW Lausanne, Sabine Schmelzer, President of BPW Switzerland, as well as many other active BPW office holders.

The club will be located in the Lake Geneva Region between Lausanne and Geneva.

A motion put forward by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) to ban headscarfs in schools and to not allow students to be dispensed from sport during Ramadan was refused on 4 January by the Zurich cantonal parliament in a vote of 104 against and 65 in favour of the motion.

The parliaments of Vaud, Fribourg and Neuchâtel  in the French-speaking part of Switzerland have yet to vote on the issue of headscarfs, although it is felt that the Zurich result might swing the outcome. A number of representatives from parties not known to sympathize with the SPP, namely Socialists in Fribourg and Vaud, are however against all signs of religious identification, including headscarfs, which they feel get in the way of a child’s integration.

Barbara Steinemann, the Swiss People’s Party deputy who put forward the motion, believes that the  surprising 57 per cent vote in favor of the ban on minarets by the Swiss population on 29 November has influenced a ‘political correctness’ backlash.  “Even Turkey bans headscarfs in schools” she regrets.

Following an incident that opposed an irate father to the medical staff of the Hôpital de l’Enfance (Children’s hospital) in Lausanne, the guidelines that define how quickly a child will be examined and cared for by a doctor have been made public by the hospital. The father, whose three and a half year-old daughter had pains in her neck, considers that the hour and a half wait was too long.

The guidelines are as follows:

First of all, a panel at the entrance of the hospital indicates that the children are taken on by order of priority, not by order of arrival.

The nurse who greets the child establishes the degree of medical emergency according to a scale of one to five by taking into consideration the child’s general condition, breathing, state of consciousness, intensity of pain and fever, if any.

The five degrees will determine whether the child receives medical attention:
1) Immediately
2) Within ten minutes
3) Within 30 minutes
4) and 5) Within an hour or more when the medical condition is not considered urgent

Hôpital de l’Enfance, Lausanne, reception area

Six doctors are on duty until midnight each day. From midnight to 7.45 am the night shift doctor, who remains on the premises, can call his colleagues at any time if needed.

In the case above, the father who arrived with his child at 7.30 am was told that no doctor would be available before 9.00 am. In fact, had his child’s condition been considered urgent, she would have seen a doctor right away. As it happened, she arrived when the night shift was transferring information to the day shift, a daily ritual that takes place between 7.45 am and 9 am in Lausanne.

Despite the father’s wrath and his threat to take the hospital to court for non-assistance to person in danger, the little girl’s state of health was confirmed as not being a medical emergency by the three doctors who examined her and she was sent home with nothing more than anti-inflammatory pills.

The personnel in hospitals is often confronted to the anger of patients, who sometimes even resort to physical violence. The Hôpital de l’Enfance in Lausanne has just received a additional 2 million Swiss francs to increase its emergency staff and reorganize its reception.

Source 24 Heures, Francine Brunschwig

Gideons International, the Evangelical association, is being severely criticized for distributing free bibles to students just outside their schools in Yverdon-les-Bains. Although an authorisation for the Gideon members to gather in a public space had been obtained from the local police, parents and teachers are shocked that they were allowed to approach students leaving school. Furthermore, the under-aged recipients of the free bibles were asked to confirm in writing that they accept Jesus as their saviour.

“We distributed 784 copies in less than an hour outside the Yverdon high school” explains Jean-Daniel Zürcher, the head of the Gideon school section, not mentioning how many were handed out in front of the junior school.

“It is our duty to protect children from all forms of proselytism, including Christian” declares the city councillor, Patrik Duruz. “Otherwise how will we react when it will be the teachings of Buddha or the Koran?” he asks.

In any other public environment, the bible distribution is considered normal, but as Barbara de Kerchove, the President of the cantonal Parents association, explains “Any form of propaganda or marketing is forbidden in schools.”

The distribution of bibles is therefore likely to be banned within a certain distance of public schools.

(Source 24 Heures)