Central Association of Opticians and Optometrists
The Central Association of Opticians and Optometrists ( ZVA ) represents the interests of the German optician trade. As a federal guild, it looks after the overall interests of the profession.
history
As the legal successor to the "Central Association" formed in Dresden in 1905 , the Central Association of Opticians was re-established in 1951 and is based in Düsseldorf . Members of the ZVA are the state guild associations or state guilds affiliated to it. The local or regional optician guilds , which are represented by the chief masters, are organized in these associations . 2015 the company was renamed the Central Association of Optometrists in central association of opticians and optometrists . The members of the guilds are optician companies. Guild membership is voluntary.
tasks
The ZVA represents the overall interests of German opticians. In this function, the association sees itself as the point of contact for the profession at the federal level. The primary objective of the ZVA is to safeguard and optimize the economic framework conditions for self-employed opticians. These activities are intended to support the added value of the guild members.
The tasks of the ZVA are as follows:
Professional policy
As an employers' association , the ZVA is the point of contact for the industry. He negotiates with the legislature, the responsible federal ministries and subordinate authorities, courts, trade unions ( ver.di ) and health insurance companies . The ZVA supports technical innovations in ophthalmic optics, e.g. B. by participating in the definition of quality standards and regulations for standardization. The clarification of professional policy issues such as B. Refraction rights , screening, contact lens sales by non-opticians or ready-made glasses are initiated and processed by the ZVA. The development of work guidelines and quality assurance concepts by the ZVA are intended to ensure a uniform level of performance.
Law
The association is active in legal fields (e.g. professional and craft law, social and competition law). It informs its members about legal changes and new judgments, conducts model trials and takes a position vis-à-vis the legislature and the courts. The members of the ZVA receive advice, in particular on competition and contract law.
Education, training and further education
The vocational training of opticians is one of the core tasks of the ZVA. The association plays a key role in the conceptual and uniform design of vocational and vocational school training and inter-company training. He is in charge of the job description of the master optician and offers advanced training for all members of the profession via the "ZVA-Bildungszentrum / Akademie der Augenoptik in Knechtsteden. Advanced training takes place at the academy in the form of master courses according to the ZVA framework curriculum and a postgraduate course in optics and Optometry, training courses are offered in the form of seminars and courses. the ZVA supported, partly as school boards, training at the professional and technical colleges of the profession. the ZVA supervised on behalf of the European Optometrists Association (ECOO) in Europe, the "European Diploma in Ophthalmic Optics and Optometry ”.
Business basics
This includes the observation of the market with the help of external and internal data sources. In order to obtain its own figures, the ZVA carries out ERFA statistics and a company comparison. As a free service, the participating companies receive individual evaluations of their company compared to the average. The data obtained in this way are intended to provide arguments for the government, trade unions and other organizations as well as decision-making aids for future strategies of the ZVA and the guild members. Expert reports provide information for the market presence. The creation of calculation bases for the industry is also part of it.
Press and public relations
The ZVA informs the guild members about important news and developments (e.g. via the ZVA report and the specialist press). The association implements marketing measures and offers guild members the appropriate communication tools. Outwardly, the ZVA is the industry's mouthpiece. It informs the media about the political, legal and economic framework conditions of the optician trade, about the importance of good vision and the range of services offered by opticians.
Association landscape
As a federal association, the ZVA represents opticians on a national level, for example in the Entrepreneurs Association of German Crafts (UDH) at the Central Association of German Crafts and in the industry initiative Kuratorium Gutessehen e. V. (KGS). At the international level, the ZVA is represented in the European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO) and the World Council of Optometry (WCO).