This is the Department of Labor blog post, authored by Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor.  Tom writes about his tour to Germany to study the elements of the German Workforce System.  There may be lessons that the Labor Department can apply in modernizing the American apprenticeship and workforce system and strengthen our middle class.  On day 1 of his tour, he notes that as the only industrialized nation on the planet without a national paid leave policy, we are woefully behind the times. We’ve got to do better.

Editor’s Note: This week, Secretary Perez travels to Germany and the United Kingdom, to learn from workers, employers and government officials about their effective models for skills training and workforce development. Throughout the week, he’ll share his personal reflections and observations.

Oct. 27, Day 1: Frankfurt, Germany

Hello from Germany! Waking up in Frankfurt and preparing for a full day of tours and meeting to study the elements of the German workforce system. There may be lessons we can apply as we look to modernize our apprenticeship and workforce systems and strengthen our middle class.

Making Apprenticeship a Top Priority

Secretary Perez visits a Job Information Center or "Biz" in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Federal Employment Agency here is an autonomous public employment service overseen by a tripartite board comprising representatives from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, trade unions, and employers. The FEA runs more than 300 Jobs Information Centers. A BIZ (as each center is known) is the rough equivalent of an American Job Center, offering career guidance based on detailed labor market information to the youth and the unemployed. I toured a BIZ in Bad Homburg – north of Frankfurt – with Dr. Frank-Jürgen Wiese, chairman of the managing board and CEO of the FEA.

The BIZ model is very successful at providing information on apprenticeship opportunities that Germans need to launch successful careers. Learning more about their best practices will help us reach President Obama’s goal of doubling the number of American apprenticeships over the next five years. While visiting one of the Jobs Information Centers, I learned that women make of 40 percent of German apprentices. In the U.S., they account for 7 percent.

Wow. We can do better.

Germany Leads on Leave

At a luncheon with employers hosted by the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce, I met an American man living and working here in Germany. Jason Berning is from Ohio and came to Frankfurt for a job in IT. Here, he met his wife and has started a family. In fact he plans to stay in part because of Germany’s paid leave policies. In addition to the mandatory 14 weeks of paid leave (six weeks before and eight weeks after  the birth) his wife Julia took eight more months of parental leave. Jason joined her at home for the first two months and spent the last two month of Jonathan’s first year at home when Julia returned to work. Germany offers 12 months of paid leave to new parents, which can be extended to 14 months if the couple shares the time off.

Jason and his wife are expecting their second child. As Julia recently accepted a new job that demands more time and will advance her career, she is only staying home for the mandatory 14 weeks this time. Jason will take one year of paid leave in order to be at home with his children. His employer understands the importance of retaining his talent, and that is why they’re providing the flexibility that allows him to take this critical time off. Jason’s employer isn’t an outlier. Every employer I’ve met with in Germany understands that offering paid leave and investing in your workforce is critical to a successful business.

I’ve said it before. As the only industrialized nation on the planet without a national paid leave policy, we are woefully behind the times. We’ve got to do better.

Follow Secretary Tom Perez on Twitter, @LaborSec.