Structure and Tasks

Point of contact for AVR sub-committee heads and working groups

• Attending meetings and raising subjects for discussion:

• weekly EC meetings
• fortnightly meetings with HR management
• three-weekly Committee meetings
• annual off-site meetings of the Committee and expert guests
• annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AVR

• Acting as the AVR delegation in wage negotiations with management

• Meeting other employee organisations to exchange views, and participation (by the President) in the Roche Europe Forum ¹

• Representing the AVR towards third parties and associations

The secretariat’s responsibilities towards the EC include:

• organising meetings
• taking minutes
• helping to organise events and the like
• receiving and forwarding or processing communications such as:
  • employee enquiries of all kinds
  • new membership applications

Providing confidential advice and support for employees seeking help (employee advice)

Acting as mood monitor: Maintaining a watching brief in their own areas in order to identify problems as early as possible, look into them and bring them to the attention of the EC

Attending the three-weekly Committee meetings

Representing the AVR at the Roche induction day for new employees

Anniversary calls (the AVR congratulates members who complete 25 and 40 years’ service)

Participating in or heading sub-committees and working groups such as:

• discount scheme (running the discount office, maintaining the discount list)
• public relations (circulating the newsletter, conceiving and conducting promotional campaigns)
• distributing commissions (allocating reimbursement received in respect of the group health insurance policy to charitable organisations)
• selecting, negotiating and organising discounts on fitness and spa facilities
• organising social events (November Party, Come-Together Party)

• Review of the invoice for the calendar year
• Preparation of the audit report and its presentation at the General Meeting of the AVR

• Supervising the Board of Directors in its management of the AVR’s business and interests in accordance with the Articles of Association and the mandate of the General Meeting
• Impartial arbitrators (ombudsman function) through neutral counselling and mediation in complaint matters
• Report on the occasion of the General Meeting of the AVR

• Election of your site representatives every 2 years; if necessary, you can stand for election yourself
• Participation in the Annual General Meeting and election or confirmation of the Executive Board
• Highlighting problems in the organisation
• Attending AVR events and making suggestions for their organisation
• Voluntary registration for co-operation following a call to the workforce:
  • for selected, time-limited tasks of the AVR, e.g. campaigns, events
  • as AVR representative in various foundations and commissions
  • as an assessor on the board

The AGM takes place once a year. All members of the AVR may attend. They discharge and elect new members:

• the Executive Board
• the advisory boards and
• the revisors

An important pillar of the AVR are the site representatives, who are part of the Board of Directors and also have voting rights. However, they are not elected at the AGM, but every two years electronically by the active members of the AVR.

The following pages show how the tasks in the AVR are distributed.

The AVR Basel meets regularly (usually twice a year) with the AVR Rotkreuz for a joint board meeting.
The AVR Rotkreuz also takes part in the annual off-site meeting to address and discuss common issues.