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.

Review of Literature on Work Life Balance Policies and Practices

Abstract: Work Life Balance is incredibly important emerging issue among employees and employers life. From decades an individual is making an effort to bring equilibrium between his personal and professional life. At every stage organization plays a dynamic role to provide them all the necessary support by implementing innovative policies and programs which leads them towards healthy life. From years many researchers had attempt to explore the factors and impact of work life balance policies on employees and employers. This paper is an endeavor to reveal the importance of work-life balance policies and practices for an employee and employer. The study is based on review of various related literature and articles, both from Indian and foreign country perspectives. The literatures had been review to know what methodology been implemented, objectives and possible outcomes of the research. Work-life Balance policies and practices are beneficial to an organization as it reduce absenteeism rate, saving of recruitment and retention cost of an employee as well as reduction in work-life conflict and life-work conflict. In a country like India, were female workforce is growing drastically in every sectors; these policies are a motivational approach for them to take more paid works. Not only female workforce, but it‘s equally beneficial to male employees also, as they too are struggling to manage their office and home work efficiently.

[Organizational and individual determinants of using initiatives conducive to successful work-life balance].

Abstract: Appropriate distribution of time and energy between work and personal life poses a challenge to many working people. Unfortunately, many professionally active people experience work-family conflict. In order to minimize it, employees are offered various solutions aimed at reconciling professional and private spheres (work-life balance (WLB) initiatives). The authors attempt to answer what makes employees use WLB initiatives and what influences the decision to reject the available options. The review is based on the articles published after 2000, searched by Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge with use of the key words: work-life balance, work-family conflict, work-life balance initiatives, work-life balance initiatives use, use of WLB solutions. We focused on organizational and individual determinants of WLB initiatives use, such as organizational culture, stereotypes and values prevailing in the work environment that may result in stigmatization of workers - flexibility stigma. We discuss the reasons why supervisors and co-workers stigmatize their colleagues, and what are the consequences of experiencing such stigmatization. Among the individual determinants of WLB initiatives use, we have inter alia focused on the preference for integration vs. separation of the spheres of life. The presented material shows that social factors - cultural norms prevailing in a society, relationships in the workplace and individual factors, such as the level of self-control - are of equal importance for decisions of using WLB initiatives as their existence. Our conclusion is that little attention has been paid to the research on determinants of WLB initiatives use, especially to individual ones.

Should I Stay or Should I Go (to the Office)?—Effects of Working from Home, Autonomy, and Core Self–Evaluations on Leader Health and Work–Life Balance

Abstract: Leaders represent a high-demand group in organizations. The effects of leaders’ personal and workplace resources on their health and work–life balance have often slipped under the radar, as most studies are directed outwardly and focus on follower outcomes. With this study, we closed a gap in the research and investigated the positive effects of remote work, autonomy, and leaders’ core-self evaluations (CSE) on two important leader outcomes: health and work–life balance. We hypothesized that the relationship between remote work and the outcomes would be moderated by leaders’ CSE and their autonomy—in such a way that leaders with lower resources benefit more from remote work and achieve better health and work–life balance the more days they spend working from home. A sample of 367 leaders reported their frequency of working from home, their autonomy, and CSE. Their health and work–life balance were assessed five months later. Results showed a moderating effect of CSE on both outcomes, indicating that leaders with low CSE benefit more in terms of health and work–life balance. There was no moderating effect of autonomy. Leaders with high resources (autonomy and CSE) had overall higher levels of health and work–life balance regardless of work location. Practitioners in organizations should consider working from home as a resource for leaders, particularly if personal resources are lower.

Implementing the work-life balance directive in times of COVID-19: new prospects for post-pandemic workplaces in the European Union?

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected workers’, especially women’s, ability to combine their paid work and care obligations in an unprecedented way. However, it has also raised the political relevance of the work-life balance issue. The moment is timely as the Work-life Balance Directive adopted by the European Union (EU) in 2019 comes to its implementation deadline in August 2022. The combination of these two events can lay the ground for new ways of configuring the workplace and new rights to working parents which might enhance work-life balance for workers in the EU.