Work–life balance

About: Work–life balance is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2252 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36240 citations. The topic is also known as: Work Life balance & work-life balance.

The concept of preventing negative consequences of work overload based on positive interactions between work and life, and promotion of workers’ healthy behaviors

Abstract: Aim: The main aim of this article is to identify negative health consequences resulting from work overload and lack of work-life balance, as well as to present characteristics of positive healthy behaviors in the workplace as counteracting strategies. The paper is a part of the discussion on the concept of corporate wellness which forms the basis for the development of organization’s health culture. Design / Research methods: The paper is based on a review of literature concerned with the factors influencing worker welfare. Moreover, it presents two case studies on comprehensive health programs implemented by Mars Poland and the Belgian branch of Protect & Gamble. Conclusions / findings: Based on the review of foreign and domestic literature, the authors propose a model describing the relationship between individual variables impacting worker welfare. In this model, it is assumed that the interaction between work and life, and workers’ healthy behaviors such as physical activity and rest after work (sleep) are crucial to workers’ regeneration. Originality / value of the article: The value of the paper lies in the interdisciplinary approach to the development of worker well-being. Apart from the perspective of human resources management, the outlined concept also takes into account the issues relating to workers’ mental and physical health. Implications of the research: The theoretical assumptions presented in the paper will become a starting point for a research project to be conducted on Polish enterprises. Its objective will be to identify the possibilities of counteracting the negative effects of workload congestion through the promotion of healthy behaviors in the workplace and support of workers in their creation of a positive work-life interaction.

Helping families: childcare, early education and the work-life balance

Abstract: Since Labour came to power in May 1997, there have been substantial increases in spending aimed at helping families with formal childcare, early education and the work-life balance. We look at the effects of these reforms and at the proposals of the parties in this area.

Challenge-Hindrance Appraisal Job and Work-Life Balance Among Teachers: a Conceptual Paper

Abstract: Work-life balance is a prerequisite, in the choice of contemporary work styles, but allegedly has deteriorated in the teaching profession. Affected work-life quality causes serious impacts including work-life conflict, decreased job ability and affects an individual’s psychological state. This distress wave affects on a global scale, due to extreme workloads which cause high job stress that eventually affect quality of life. In the Malaysian context, job stress is currently at a medium level, but workloads are expected to increase, hence, work-life balance is potentially at risk. Investigations into work-life balance among teachers in Sabah is scarce. In addition, studies have not adequately examined the issue with positive integration. Balancing is about strengthening the known gains, and overcoming the identified strains. Thus, present conceptual paper discussed about the relationship of workload, eustress and distress towards work-life balance. Ultimately, a conceptual framework is developed based on the reviewed literature.

Variations in Work-life Balance Satisfaction among Service Sector Employees

Abstract: The work-life balance has become a key area of concern for today’s workers (Valcour, 2007). The existing work-family research and literature has tended to focus on homogeneous samples of managerial and professional workers, with very few studies covering the work-life experiences of other employee categories (Casper et al., 2007). We therefore know relatively little about the work-life experiences of non-professional workers, older workers, part-time employees or ethnic minorities, for example. By investigating satisfaction with work-life balance for various employee categories working in a range of different service sector organizations, the present chapter fills this gap in the work-family literature. More specifically, we look at satisfaction with work-life balance and its relationship with work-related antecedents for professional versus non-professional, full-time versus part-time and older versus younger workers. We selected these categories to compensate for the shortcomings of previous research, which failed to examine the work-life experiences of lower-level non-professional workers (Lambert, 1999), the rise in part-time work due to the increasing flexibility of European workplaces and the ageing of our workforce. The broader theoretical framework of the study is presented in Chapter 2. A detailed discussion of the concept of satisfaction with work-life balance is provided in Chapter 6.