Beyond the Dyad of Work and Family: Towards a More Holistic Understanding of Work-life Balance

Abstract

The concept of work-life balance has been the subject of considerable scholarly and practitioner interest in the past few decades. This interest has given rise to a large body of literature characterised by a dominant focus on the interface between work and family. Critics, however, have suggested that focusing on family primarily in the context of caring commitments imposes theoretical and practical limitations on both our understanding of life balance and the implications and possibilities of organizational life-balance practices and policies. Therefore, this symposium responds to calls to engage with a broader range of life circumstances and stages, and the related implications for life balance initiatives. The Symposium will draw on four separate studies carried out in Denmark, the UK and the Netherlands to engage more fully with the composite and dynamic nature of what it means to have life-balance in the contemporary work place. It will also signal specific themes for managers and practitioners seeking to provide employees with opportunities for life balance that extend beyond the needs parents and other care givers. In this regard it moves towards a more holistic understanding of opportunities for and experiences of life- balance. The Changing Employer Orientation to Work-life Policies in Britain: Evidence from WERS Presenter: Lilian M. de Menezes; Cass Business School, City U. London Presenter: Stephen Wood; U. of Leicester Flexibility as an Employability Enhancement Tool?: Time-spatial Flexibility and Employability Presenter: Pascale Peters; Radboud U. Nijmegen Presenter: Beatrice Van der Heijden; Radboud U. Nijmegen Presenter: Guy Notelaers; U. of Bergen When Work Becomes into Community Care: A Redefining of Work/Life Management for Public Servants Presenter: Robyn Remke; Copenhagen Business School Would you Help? Examining the Antecedents of Co-worker-enacted Informal Work Accommodations to Life Presenter: Elisabeth B. Schmitz; Volkswagen AG Presenter: T. Alexandra Beauregard; London School of Economics