Work-family conflict in South Asia: the case of Pakistan

Abstract

This study gives a picture of work-family conflict in South Asia, specifically the views of Pakistani Bank employees on antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflicts. We use the framework of the psychological contract to understand work-to family conflict for both employees and managers, to see how work-to family conflict might be resolved. Twenty bank employees, including three executives were selected from three privatized banks and two private Banks in Pakistan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to get rich and deep insights on work-family conflicts in Pakistan. The findings suggested that the high working demands in the form of long working hours and workload did not directly lead to work-to-family conflict; conflicts arose when demands emerged from work as well as family domains. Since the perception of management of the work-life balance practices differs from the view of the employees, they have to create a joint new employment relationship (psychological contract) to be able to fulfill the requirements of both parties .This study suggest that HR managers should acknowledge the importance of work-family balance and psychological contracts by understanding their obligations from the eye of employees. This is especially important in the current situation of increasing working demands and changing family demands.