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.

Study of the Effect of ‘Commuting & Working Hours’ on Work Life Balance of Working Fathers in Mumbai

Abstract: In recent years, work–life balance has become a keyword for balancing workingtime and free time. In particular, TIME is a crucial resource for balancingwork and life, because it can be allocated to either work or free time. We examinethe effect of working hours and commuting time on Work Life Balance, with data collected from a survey. Working time has been an important issue for the ILO ever since the founding of the organization. The establishment of limits on daily and weekly working hours was the subject of the very first ILO Convention: the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1). The recent economic crisis and the Global Jobs Pact of 2009 have put working-time issues back on the agenda. At the same time, recent trends such as technological advancements enabling tele-working have contributed to the creation of a “24-hour society” where line between work and non-work time is becoming increasingly blurred. This has been coupled with a significant shift away from the “normal” or “standard” working week towards “non-standard” work schedules, for example shift and part-time work, compressed workweeks, weekend work, on-call work etc. The world has changed in the 24-hour, 7 day society, customers expect service at times that suit them. More and More people have to juggle responsibilities at home and in the workplace. And when employees are asked about the WORK LIFE, the three concerns that emerge out more frequently are long working hours, work intensity and commuting hours. Work-Life and Personal-Life and interconnected and interdependent. Spending more time in commuting and working can interfere and affect the Personal-Life, sometimes making it impossible to even complete the household chores. On the other hand, Personal-Life can also be demanding if you have a kid or ageing parents, financial problems or even problems in the life of a dear relative. With the growing diversity of family structures represented in the workforce in the new millennium, it is important that human resource professionals better understand the interface of work and family relationships and resulting impact in the workplace. This paper is trying to bring out the effects of WORKING HOURS on Work Life balance of working men over their various aspects of Work Life Balance such as Work Interference with Personal Life (WIPL), Factors impacting on work-life balance (FIWLB) and Factors impacting on Engagements with the children (FIEWC). Specifically, it has been focused here that the TIME MANAGEMENT lead to attaining equilibrium between professional work and other activities.

A quantitative study on salient work-life balance challenge(s) influencing female information and communication technology professionals in a South African telecommunications organisation

Abstract: Orientation: There have been numerous studies on women’s WLB in various industries in South Africa. This study is unique in that it investigates work-life balance among female ICT professionals in South Africa who work in a male-dominated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) sector.Research purpose: The study aimed to investigate the salient WLB challenges influencing female ICT professionals in a South African telecommunications organisation.Motivation of the study: In male-dominated sectors, understanding the factors that influence women in combining work and family life is invaluable in gaining a competitive advantage by having a committed and diverse workforce and understanding how women cope with WLB challenges.Research approach/design and method: Data were collected using a quantitative approach employing a cross-sectional survey design from female Information Communications and Technology professionals (n = 50). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, Measure Central Tendency and Dispersion, and Exploratory Factor Analysis were used in analyzing the data.Main findings: The main findings indicated the challenges of the different age groups, with the age group 21–25 exhibiting the highest score for the ability to combine work and family roles successfully.Practical/managerial implications: This study may lead to practical applications to support human resource management practitioners towards comprehending the impact of work-life balance practices, either directly or indirectly, especially females.Contribution/value-add: This study will fill the unexplored area of improving work-life balance by highlighting a unique insight into how females cope with their work-life challenges in their chosen careers.

Psychosocial Working Conditions and Social Participation. A 10-Year Follow-Up of Senior Workers.

Abstract: Social participation is important for health, and it is well known that high strain jobs impact negatively on mental and physical health. However, knowledge about the impact of psychosocial working conditions on social participation from a long-term perspective is lacking. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between different job types and social participation from a long-term perspective. A comprehensive public health questionnaire “The Scania Public Health Survey”, was used, and psychosocial working conditions were measured with a Swedish translation of the Job Content Questionnaire. Based on data from 1098 working respondents aged 55 at baseline and a 10-year follow-up when the respondents were not working, the analyses revealed that social participation varied by job type. Jobs with high decision latitude, as in active and relaxed jobs, seem to predict high social participation, even after cessation of employment. Besides that, the result suggests that high social participation during working life is a predictor of high social participation from a long-term perspective which promotes healthy aging. Incentives for working longer are strongly related to good working conditions. A supportive work environment with possibilities for employees to participate in decision making, i.e., high control, is vital for a sustainable working life. This may contribute to an extended working life and may also support social participation prior to retirement as well as after retirement and thus to healthy aging.

Information and Communication Technologies and Work-Life Balance: Practical Recommendations for Employers and Individuals

Abstract: For decades, the number and frequency of individuals who work from home has gradually increased, in many ways as a result of emergent Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This gradual increase, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has weathered away boundaries between work at work and work at home, with some positive and many negative outcomes. Currently, however, because of a global pandemic which necessitates ICTs for working from home, the impact that organizational technology assimilation has on the way that people engage with each other is increasingly important. This chapter reviews theory and research regarding organizational technology and concludes with pragmatic recommendations for individuals and organizations regarding work-related technology use at home.