SILENT WEDNESDAY has been in place since January 2018, in order to increase the ability of our employees to concentrate. We wish to enable employees to perform their work and work objectives on Wednesdays without disturbances. We are confident that SILENT WEDNESDAY is a positive measure to significantly reduce stress levels.

For the initial phase of this initiative, we have established the following principles for Wednesdays:

• A general calm working atmosphere in the company, so that the colleague m/f/d is not disturbed
• Avoid communication that can be postponed
• Where possible, do not arrange meetings (in-house or external)
• In as far as is possible, do not arrange appointments with customers or suppliers
• For important discussions, move to a meeting room without disturbing third parties
• Communication that is an absolute necessity (e.g. for emergencies) must of course still take place!

In a second phase of SILENT WEDNESDAY, technical measures could be taken to limit both email traffic and communication by telephone.

We trust our business partners to understand this initiative. We kindly ask our partners and customers to respect Silent Wednesday where possible.

We hope that other companies support this initiative and also introduce a SILENT WEDNESDAY. The introduction of SILENT WEDNESDAY on a wide scale will enable us to increase the effectiveness of our work.