Work-life Balance Policies Research Articles

Time Allocation of Married Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times: The 2007–09 US Recession

Using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003–10, this study examines whether the 2007–09 recession contributed to gender equality in married mothers’ and fathers’ paid and unpaid work hours. Trend analysis shows that the recession narrowed the disparity in both paid and unpaid work hours, as mothers substituted paid work for unpaid work and fathers’ paid work hours declined. If the jobless recovery after June 2009 is included in the recessionary period, hardship in the labor market for fathers brought greater gender equality only in paid work. Relative to mothers and in an absolute sense, fathers’ paid work hours and total workload declined and their personal care and leisure time increased. These findings suggest an alternative path for moving toward equality in workloads that entails gender-equitable job creation, living wage, and work–life balance policies.

Femmes et travail: représentations du féminin et politiques de conciliation travail-vie. L'exemple italien

Important changes have characterized the social and economic role of women. For the latter paid work has become a fundamental part of their life. Yet such important changes have not corroded a division of labour that assigns to them highly informal responsibilities, generating in many cases conflicts between family and work activity. The present article is focused on Italy and proves the stability of the gender division of labour mentioned above. In particular a set of specific explanatory variables is stressed: a socio-cultural milieu that reinforces a strict division between public and private spheres, and a traditional understanding of men and women with regard to paid and unpaid work. Such a cultural delay, that produces heavy consequences on the participation of women in the labour market and on the construction of coherent and stable careers, has been analysed though an empirical research. This looks at the circular relationship between the crystallization of beliefs and conventions about the social and economic role of women, and the institutionalization of public and private firms' work-life balance policies that tend to interpret conciliation to be basically a female issue. Analysing the social environmental influence that classifications and logical operations has on action, the article inquires into the potential for women to adhere to those interpretative scripts.

Organizational work-life balance policies: A study on Indian insurance and banking sector

For employees in high pressure occupation like insurance and banking industry, discovering equilibrium between life and work is an off-putting task. The present study tries to look at the awareness, attitude, perceived importance and formalization of work-life balance (WLB) policies of employees in insurance and banking sector. Stratified random sampling technique was applied and a sample size of 148 was taken. The reliability statistics used was Cronbach's alpha. Statistical techniques used to analyze the data were descriptive statistics (Mean and Standard Deviation), chi square test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and related procedures thereof like Multiple comparisons (Games-Howell test, Tukey HSD) and Levene Statistics for Test of Homogeneity of Variances. Findings suggest that employees perceive leave policies like carer's, maternity/paternity, and bereavement etc. as most vital WLB policy. Also there were no formal procedures on work life balance policies. Income, gender and type of organization had statistically significant affect on attitude of employees towards the implementation of these policies.

Childbearing, women's employment and work-life balance policies in contemporary Europe

This volume addresses the tensions between work and welfare with respect to fertility. Focusing on childbearing choices (intentions, desires) as influential predictors of future fertility, the contributors examine the importance of labour force attachment on young women's fertility plans in the context of increased labour market flexibility and differences in work-life balance policies across Europe in the early 21st century. Both high- and low-fertility societies of different welfare regimes are studied, illuminating processes of uncertainty and risk related to insecure labour force attachment and the incoherence effect in terms of women's and men's equal access to education and employment but unequal share of domestic responsibilities, constraining fertility. The synthesis of the findings shows how childbearing choices in relation to uncertainty, risk and incoherence offer a lens for understanding the capabilities of families to have and care for children in contemporary Europe. This volume contributes to the conceptual development of further research on the complex relationship between fertility, paid work and work-life balance policies.

The harmonization of business and employees' personal goals

The study presented in the paper deals with the problem of harmonizing business and employees' personal goals, as well as issues of organizational support to employees with the aim of achieving life balance. The research is based on how organization affects achieving life balance of their employees and how employees manage to balance between business and personal obligations. The study focuses on the elements that relate to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet. The key part of the research is related to follow up on employees' obligations outside of working hours and the quality time spent on resting and relaxing. The organizational support elements are examined, as well as written evidence of Work-Life Balance policies, support from organization's culture, support from superiors and the perceived work satisfaction.

An Exploratory Study of Managers' Perspective of Work‐Life Balance in Nigeria: A Case Analysis of the Nigerian Banking Sector

AbstractThis study describes an exploratory research of managers' perspective of the concept of work‐life balance (WLB) policies and practices in Nigeria. This is done through in‐depth case studies of 20 banks in the banking sector. The data set is comprised of responses from 102 middle line managers in the Nigerian banking institutions. A review of the extant literature on WLB initiatives in the banking sector revealed that there is a dearth of knowledge on WLB policies and practices in an African context. In an attempt to fill the gap in the literature, this study examines the range and scope of WLB practices, managers' perception of WLB, and the forces helping or constraining to shape the choices of work life balance practices and policies. The findings reveal that there is diversity in terms of how middle‐line managers understand and experience WLB initiatives in Nigeria. Another finding highlights the practice of favoritism in most banks using WLB initiatives. In addition, the study shows that cultural sensitivity affects how WLB is appreciated and utilized. The study suggests some policy implications in the form of support for WLB policies in this context. © 2013 Crown copyright.

The role of rhetoric and affect in policy changes: the case of Dutch life course policy

Using methods that are developed in discourse historical analysis, this case study on Dutch life course policy suggests that analysis of (the interrelationship between) rhetoric and affect can contribute to a poststructuralist explanation of policy change. It is argued that the catachretic act of naming this policy ‘life course policy’ produced new spaces of representation within which (partly) incompatible goals and values were united. Actors identified with these new signifiers because they contained a promise, a way out of the old, dead-end discursive positions. Thus, the use of rhetoric constituted the dominant social security discourse in a new way, containing both the former dominant discourse and the voices of resistance, as a result of which the emphasis in the Dutch social security discourse shifted, albeit temporarily, from a policy informed by the values of the market to a work–life balance policy.

Social Equity, Policy Intentions and Unanticipated Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis of Work–Life Balance Policies

Robert Merton's theoretical formulations of unanticipated consequences provide a useful tool for understanding the consequences of government policies. In this case study the work–life balance policies in the Netherlands over the past decade are analyzed. Based on the current understanding of family-friendly policies, one can assume that the policy intended to promote gender equality did not necessarily lead to equity in the workplace. This case study suggests that researchers and policymakers should engage the concept of unanticipated consequences of government policies into theory and research whenever possible.

The Effects of the Perception of Work-life Balance on Acceptance of Work Arrangement Requests

Although social support provided by supervisors has been recognized as one of the key factors that help employees utilize work-life balance (WLB) programs in their organization and maintain balance between their work and life, the factors that influence supervisors’ willingness to support their subordinates have not yet been sufficiently examined. This article investigated whether supervisors’ positive or negative perceptions of WLB policy and their subordinate’s past performance influenced supervisors’ willingness to accept their subordinates’ work arrangement requests, using data collected from 2,230 Japanese workers. The results showed that when supervisors had a positive perception of WLB policy, it positively influenced their acceptance of their subordinates’ requests, while negative perceptions had a negative impact on acceptance. Further, regardless of what was requested, high performance subordinates received more favorable treatment from their supervisors than low performance counterparts did.

Organisational Work-Life Culture: A test of model across two case studies

Research into work-life balance policies is beginning to recognise the influence of organisational culture. In this article, we use in-depth qualitative data from two contrasting organisations to e...

Generational and Gender Perspectives on Career Flexibility: Ensuring the Faculty Workforce of the Future

Generational and Gender Perspectives on Career Flexibility: Ensuring the Faculty Workforce of the Future

Organizational Work-Life Balance Policies:A Study on Indian Insurance and Banking Sector

For employees in high pressure occupation like insurance and banking industry, discovering the equilibrium between life and work is an off-putting task. The present study tries to look at the awareness, attitude, perceived importance and formalization of the work-life balance (WLB) policies of employees in insurance and banking sector. In this research, stratified random sampling technique was applied and a sample size of 148 was taken; then the reliability statistics such Cronbach's alpha was used. Statistical techniques used to analyze data were descriptive statistics (Mean and Standard Deviation), chi square test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and related procedures thereof like Multiple comparisons (Games-Howell test, Tukey HSD) and Levene Statistics for Test of Homogeneity of Variances. Findings suggest that employees perceive leave policies like maternity/paternity, and bereavement etc. as the most vital WLB policy. Also, the study finds that there were no formal procedures on work life balance policies in institutes. Income, gender and type of organization had statistically significant influence on the attitudes of employees towards implementation of these policies.

Work–life balance: eastern and western perspectives

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast eastern and western perspectives on work–life balance (WLB). The study is based on (1) literature review; (2) secondary data on working hours and parental leave in different countries; (3) WLB policies and practices of 25 large firms of both western and eastern origins (from their respective websites); (4) WLB ratings across companies (glassdoor.com) and (5) informal semi-structured interviews with HR heads from 50 multinational companies and 50 Indian companies, in both the private and the public sectors, on family-friendly workplaces. Qualitative analysis revealed that in Asian countries gender socialization played a major role in one's perception towards WLB, and coping strategies were also individual driven. While American multinationals focused on flexible working practices, the focus for Indian companies was on employee welfare programmes. On the basis of data provided by glassdoor.com, which compares WLB across companies, it is noted that the American and European companies rank higher than the Indian companies as they pay a lot more attention to it. The study also looks at government policies on working hours and parental leave and concludes that western countries have fewer working hours and more generous parental leave, as compared to their counterparts in Asia.

"I Couldn't Wait to Leave the Toxic Environment": A Mixed Methods Study of Women Faculty Satisfaction and Departure From One Research Institution

A mixed methods analysis of women faculty departure at one research institution was conducted using Hagedorn’s model of faculty job satisfaction. Findings from an institution-wide survey and interviews with women faculty who had left the institution resulted in several themes: (a) a lack of resources to support faculty work, (b) a lack of consistent and quality leadership, (c) a lack of work–life balance policies and an environment to support them, and (d) overall negative institutional and departmental environments. These findings are discussed in relation to Hagedorn’s model as are implications for policy, practice, and future research.

“I Couldn’t Wait to Leave the Toxic Environment”: A Mixed Methods Study of Women Faculty Satisfaction and Departure From One Research Institution

A mixed methods analysis of women faculty departure at one research institution was conducted using Hagedorn’s model of faculty job satisfaction. Findings from an institution-wide survey and interviews with women faculty who had left the institution resulted in several themes: (a) a lack of resources to support faculty work, (b) a lack of consistent and quality leadership, (c) a lack of work–life balance policies and an environment to support them, and (d) overall negative institutional and departmental environments. These findings are discussed in relation to Hagedorn’s model as are implications for policy, practice, and future research.

Work-life Balance Policies: The Use of Flexitime

This study investigated the use of flexitime as a Work-life balance (WLB) policy and understanding employee perceptions regarding the use of flexitime among South African employees. A qualitative design with an exploratory approach was used. A non-probability purposive sample (n = 15) was taken in the financial sector. Data collection was done by was means of semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Four main themes were extracted. The first two themes related to the various ways in which participants use flexitime and the influencing factors. Participants use flexitime according to their own preference (e.g., Spillover of working hours, dividing one's working day into smaller work hours, working from different locations) and were influenced by factors such as client's needs and expectations, own workload/pressure and personal commitments/responsibilities. The third theme related to various perceptions regarding the level of position of management, visibility and also personal life and situation. The last theme indicated that the use of flexitime have consequences, which include amongst others delay in work/deadlines, reduced productivity or performance, increased workload and health consequences.

Work–life balance: One size fits all? An exploratory analysis of the differential effects of career stage

This paper explores the antecedents of work–life balance for employees as they progress through different career stages denoted by age. To date, research has failed to adequately explore how work–life balance issues develop over the course of an employee’s working life. As a consequence, much of the work–life balance policy and practice research examines WLB issues from a relatively static and unchanging perspective resulting in praxis which is undifferentiated. Such a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the design and development of work–life balance initiatives is not only costly but likely to be ineffective in terms of meeting the real needs of different categories of employees. This paper challenges the static approaches and instead seeks to examine if and how WLB is affected and shaped by different antecedents as they impact on differing career stages as defined by distinct age categorisations. The research was carried out among a sample of 729 employees in 15 organisations (10 private sector and 5 public sector organisations) in the Republic of Ireland. Four career stages are considered with regard to both men and women irrespective of their parenting status. The findings suggest that factors which impact upon work–life balance differ marginally across various career stages thereby indicating that WLB is a concern for employees at all career stages and not the preserve of parents with young children only. These findings shed new light on our understanding of the antecedents of work–life balance and have particular implications for organisations who wish to foster a culture which values work–life balance across all career stages for all their employees.

Trade union influence in Spanish manufacturing firms

Abstract.Based on surveys conducted in 1996 and 2007, this article examines the relationship between trade union influence, as perceived by management, and human resource policy and productivity in Spanish enterprises with over 50 employees. It investigates whether trade unions use their influence to pursue the agenda they have traditionally professed to uphold or whether outcomes differ in practice. The authors identify positive correlations between trade union influence and both wages and absenteeism, but union influence appears to have no effect on the incidence of casual employment, the provision of training, work–life balance policies or information sharing within enterprises.

Predictors of work‐family enrichment: moderating effect of core self‐evaluations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine core self‐evaluations (CSEs), family support, co‐worker support, supervisor support, job characteristics, work‐life balance policies (WLBPs) and work‐family culture as the predictors of work‐to‐family enrichment (WFE) and family‐to‐work enrichment (FWE) and explore the moderating effect of CSEs.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a questionnaire survey from 485 employees from six organizations in India representing manufacturing, telecommunications and information technology sectors and were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regressions.FindingsSupervisor support, job characteristics, WLBPs and work‐family culture predicted WFE. CSEs, family support and job characteristics predicted FWE. Little moderating influence of CSEs was found. It moderated the relationship between supervisor support and WFE.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross‐sectional design of the study constrains inferring conclusions regarding causality.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that from an organizational perspective, involvement in family roles should not be viewed as a hindrance, since it can also benefit employees at work. Employee assistance programs may be introduced to help employees develop the necessary skills and adaptability to increase their work‐family enrichment experience.Originality/valueThe construct work‐family enrichment examined in this paper reflects an understanding of work‐family interface from a newer lens in a novel socio‐cultural context and demonstrates the moderating role of CSEs.

Work-life balance practices in the banking sector: Insights from Nigeria

The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which work-life balance policies / practices are a reality for employees of banking sector. The article is based on a mixed method approach utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods. Semistructured interviews were utilised for the qualitative and questionnaire used for the quantitative. There was a general sense of lack of awareness of work-life balance policies.