In the late 19th century, many companies began to establish a social policy. Every one of Abbe’s measures (such as health insurance, retirement pay, and the 8-hour workday) had precursors. What was different with Abbe is that – in conscious contrast to the "Lord of the Manor "mentality of other employers – he put these social benefits in place not as perks, but as employee rights.
An interest group was established just for employees. While this interest group had no right of co-determination, it did have the right to be heard on all company issues.
All these work relations were regulated by means of the Carl Zeiss Foundation charter. Both the regulation and the institutional mechanisms for conflict resolution are precursors to the social market economy.
Tolerance was an essential concept in Abbe’s thinking. Even though Abbe was definitely no social democrat, it was important to him that this party was allowed to develop freely. He was also vehemently opposed to racism, which was already causing trouble during his lifetime. He made sure that no one at Carl Zeiss was discriminated against due to religion, heritage, or political opinion. For instance, this is evident by the fact that his closest management colleague, Siegfried Czapski, was Jewish.
Promoting science and culture: Privately, Ernst Abbe supported the university with anonymous donations. After the Carl Zeiss Foundation was established, it provided financial support to the university and to the city of Jena.