Category: Work-Life Balance

Introduction

Every company depends on its employees greatly. To ensure that they do their best and constantly improve their performance to meet organizational goals, managers should pay much attention to employment relationships, aligning them both with national legislation and company policies.

Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance should be emphasized because it prevents employee burnout. By having enough time to rest and communicate with their families, staff members receive an opportunity to recharge and continue working, increasing overall performance levels. Thus, employees are healthy and satisfied with their work, which reduces the turnover rate. People tend to become more attentive when they have enough time to focus on work and home separately. The legislation recognizes the necessity to maintain work-life balance, and legislative bodies can make companies alter their organizational culture to support this initiative. Being located in Dubai, RTA follows the Human Resources Management Law (“Dubai Government Human Resources Management Law No. (27) 2006”). This law determines the limits of paid annual leave; regulates health, safety, and work environment; and more.

Legal Support for the Employee as a Family Member

As a family member, a worker can receive legal support in several areas. Maternity leave is offered to any woman, but it can be offered with full pay or only half. This leave lasts for 45 days but can be extended for ten unpaid days (Majid). Still, the UAE President has shared his ideas of extending paid leave. Paternity leave is another worker guarantee usually supported by law. Still, it has not yet been considered in the UAE. However, it is expected that three-day paternity leave will be provided to men who work in government bodies (Kantaria and Barr). There is no separate adoption leave for working women in Dubai. However, if the adopted child is less than three months old, women are supported under the general maternity legislation. Even though there is no dependent leave for employees, they benefit due to the opportunity to obtain health insurance for themselves and those relatives they take care of.

Fair Treatment

For employee pay, it is critical to follow legislation, organizational policies, and the work contract. Being fair to workers, especially in terms of wages, is significant because it ensures the establishment of trust-based relationships. By being closer to employees and paying much attention to mutual trust and respect, the management receives more consistent support from the team. Organizational goals are likely to be accepted and reached efficiently with no issues. Also, fairness contributes to employee loyalty, engagement, and satisfaction, all of which reduce employee turnover.

Discrimination Legislation

To improve the organizational culture and environment, companies follow discrimination legislation that focuses on religion and race/ethnicity. These laws cover both oral and written communication. Thus, people can share their ideas using books, leaving online comments, or just speaking. This legislation prohibits acts of hate and labeling and protects minorities in this way. It also promotes the establishment of an equal rights society. According to the anti-discrimination law, acts that insult people regarding their religion and race/ethnicity are treated as crimes. Finally, legislation controls the information available in spoken and published media. It outlaws expressions of hate against people’s religion and race/ethnicity (The National Staff).

Organizational Policies and the Psychological Contract Support

Companies should develop organizational policies that benefit both employees and employers so that their psychological contract is maintained because the relationship between them determines organizational success. This idea is supported by Scheepers and Shuping, who defined a good practice as one that supports these policies and contracts (1). They found out that training and development practices help workers improve their knowledge and skills and strengthen the relationship between employers and their workforce. These practices are the most beneficial because they are developed based on organizational goals and needs and help them perform better.

Conclusion

Thus, every organization must focus on its employees and ensure they are satisfied. Following the law, employers should ensure that employees operate in a positive environment and have good relationships with one another and the leaders. Much attention should be paid to work-life balance and trust-based relations as well.

Works Cited

“Dubai Government Human Resources Management Law No. (27) 2006.” Dubai Courts, Web.

Kantaria, Samir and Gordon Barr. “Employment and Employee Benefits in United Arab Emirates.”Practical Law. 2016, Wen.

Majid, Jason. “UAE Labor Law.”UAE Labor Law, 2016, Web.

Scheepers, Caren, and Johannes Shuping. “The Effect of Human Resource Practices on Psychological Contracts at an Iron Ore Mining Company in South Africa.” SA Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 9, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1-19.

The National Staff. “Anti-Discrimination Law Enacted Across UAE.”The National. 2015, Web.

The cost center is tasked with numerous roles that must be completed diligently. However, such responsibilities have not been completed successfully in the past. As the new supervisor, I will implement potent changes to improve the level of collaboration and ensure scheduling is done efficiently. I am requesting for more staff members since the current workforce is overwhelmed. I am also encouraging the institution to implement new career development programs and seminars. Such efforts will foster teamwork, creativity, and performance. Finally, the organization stands a chance to benefit from the concept of work-life balance. This model will ensure more staff members are willing to support the institution’s objectives. I am looking forward to receiving your response as I focus on this tremendous obligation.

Analysis of the Problem

Realistic Assessment

The described cost center has recorded numerous challenges such as low morale, discontentment, and reduced performance. The situation is attributable to the ineffectiveness of the previous supervisor. Scheduling has been done by two lead workers. The vacation needs of specific workers are usually ignored. The two lead workers do not communicate effectively. Senior staff members have their vacation needs met while the needs of new employees are ignored. The center does not have a backup system when workers call in sick. Scheduling changes are not communicated effectively.

Recommendations and Rationale

The first recommendation is identifying a new person to complete scheduling tasks. The rationale for this argument is that a competent individual will support staff members equally. The second recommendation is that scheduling should be done by a competent person. The rationale is that satisfied and empowered workers will collaborate with each other to achieve their goals. The third recommendation is for the supervisor to support the communication process. The rationale for the suggestion is that the leader will ensure every person’s needs are met.

The fourth recommendation is ensuring that every employee’s vacation needs are addressed. The rationale is that the practice will streamline operations in the unit. The fifth recommendation is to have an effective backup plan. The rationale is that the system will ensure that there are professionals to offer emergency services. Finally, scheduling changes should be communicated efficiently. The rationale for this recommendation is that the move will support every individual’s needs and improve performance. These attributes will be done in accordance with every leadership function such as planning. Stakeholders will be empowered, led, and informed using adequate leadership concepts.

Action Plan

The proposed strategy will be implemented using Kurt Lewin’s change model (refreeze-change-freeze). During the first stage, the supervisor will communicate the proposed changes and their benefits. Every individual will be sensitized about the center’s mission. The stage will be completed within two weeks. During the period, a skilled person will be identified to complete scheduling tasks. The supervisor will also undertake the major organizational duties such as leading, organizing, directing, and planning.

The second step is implementing the proposed scheduling model for two months. Every employee will be informed about the plan. Communication procedures will be improved during the phase. Employees will receive timely e-mails whenever there are changes in the work schedule. The employees will also be supported using powerful work-balance initiatives. An efficient conflict resolution strategy will be implemented. Effective training programs will guide the targeted employees to work as teams. Tasks and leadership roles will be delegated evenly. The final stage will be used to make these changes an integral part of the center.

Essay Plan

Topic: How important is the concept of work-life balance among the members of the labor force? What are the efforts contributed by the labor unions, business units and the government in achieving work-life balance?

Summary of Argument: Work-life balance is becoming one of the most important aspects for the members of the labor force now a days. This paper will argues that despite all the continuing efforts of labor unions, businesses and even the government to enhance work-life balance of every member of the labor force, efforts still not enough as there are always new issues arising or new pressures coming of the workers’ side.

Definition: Based on through research, work-life balance is the ability to manage both work and personal life in an equal and most effective way. To quote: “The expression “work-life balance” was first used in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individual’s work and personal life.” (Canning, G. 2002)

List of Topics to be covered

1. Labor Unions: definitions and scope (Canning, G. 2002; Hynönen P. 2000; Weidman, S. 2006; Pressler, M & Swoboda, F. 1997)
2. Business units’ efforts contributed to maintain work-life balance (Welty, G. 1991; Grossman, R.2005; Laubacher, R. & Malone, T. 1997; Tyson, J. 1999; Mathey, A. 2002; Kaboolian, L. 1999; Jusko, J. 2003)
3. Government’s way of enhancing work-life balance – (Jitendra, M. 2002; Joyce, A. 2004; Chaison, G. & Bigelow, B. 2002)

Conclusion

Indeed, there are a number of efforts from all sides: the unions, the business sector and the government. There may be some loopholes in some aspects or there may be some areas that still need to be address and taken into account to, but what is important is that we are all getting there. In time, we can all say that work-life balanced has really been achieved and maintained.

References

C. Allan, R. McPhail and A. Wilkinson (2007) Introduction to Employment Relations, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest. (ISBN 9780733993565)

Canning, G. 2002. Managing crosscutting labor relations issues: what, who, and why? Keys to success in dealing with multiple constituencies and multiple union-management relationships at the federal level (Labor-Management Relations). The Public Manager.

Chaison, G. & Bigelow, B. 2002. Unions and Legitimacy., Cornell University Press.

Ithaca, NY, and London. 2005. Unions for the 21st Century. Chicago Tribune.

Foerster, A. 2002. Rekindling the Movement: Labor Quest for Relevance in the 21st Century. Ithaca, NY, and London, ILR Press.

Grossman, R.2005. Unions follow suit: labor takes a page from management as it looks to reorganize, perhaps signaling a new, less contentious era of labor relations. HRMagazine.

Hugick, L. & McAneny, L. 1991. Public Critical of Reagan’s 1981 Firing of Air Controllers. The Gallup Poll Monthly.

Hynönen P. 2000. Trade Unions in the 21st Century – the Effect of Globalisation on the Structures and Activities of the Trade Union Movement. ICFTU 17th World Congress.

Jitendra, M. 2002. The Use of Union Dues for Political Activity-Current Status.(labor unions’ legal history in America). Public Personnel Management.

2001. Labor, Management Agree to Put Off Multiple Unions, Prohibiting Payment for Union Workers. Korea Times (Seoul, Korea).

Joyce, A. 2004. Old Labor Tactics Resurface in New Union; Unite Here Involves Younger People, Has History of Not Backing Down. The Washington Post.

Jusko, J. 2003. Nature vs Nurture: Unique arrangements help manufacturers break from the traditional adversarial union-management relationships to improve both business performance and company morale. (Labor). Industry Week.

Kaboolian, L. 1999. Unions, Public Employers Team Up To Work Through Contentious Issues.(conference on labor-management cooperation). Nation’s Cities Weekly.

Lazes, P. & Savage, L. 2000. Embracing the future: Union strategies for the 21st century Journal for Quality and Participation. Mathey, A. 2002. Workers often face difficulty when unionizing: Union advocates explain how to organize and the pitfalls they often encounter in doing so. (Unions & Labor). Business Record.

Overman, S. 1991. Moving labor into the 21st century. (Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin talks about a new kind of workplace revolution) HRMagazine.

Pressler, M & Swoboda, F. 1997. Giant Labor Pains; An Era Ended When a Revolution in the Grocery Business Drove a Wedge Between Management and Union. The Washington.

Pressman, S & Mosca, J. 1995. Unions in the 21st century. Public Personnel Management.

Tyson, J. 1999. In high-tech age, unions can score; Labor’s recent gains among professional workers raise likelihood unions will be players in 21st-century economy.(USA). The Christian Science Monitor.

Welty, G. 1991. Management speaks with single voice. Why not labor? (mergers of railroad companies sometimes leads to troubled labor union management) Railway Age.

Will, G. 2005. Labor Unions in the 21^st Century. The Washington Post.

“Work-life balance”. Web.

Weidman, S. 2006. Organizational change in union settings: labor-management partnerships: the past and the future. Human Resource Planning.

Work-life balance is an essential tool in enhancing the employee’s welfare and health. An excellent operational balance is when workers can equally prioritize work and personal life demands without bias. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act is a policy that intends to create work-life balance by securing employees 12 weeks of paid leave to care for their families when the need arises (The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, 2017). This time is crucial in ensuring that these employees can attend to other personal responsibilities to achieve this balance.

Companies that disregard the FAMILY Act are denying them social justice and dignity, which breaches the labor laws. The impact of these breaches includes low job motivation and satisfaction, which affects the organizational processes.

Currently, the employed population faces job dissatisfaction and low motivation because most miss out on important events such as christenings or weddings. Only five states in the US currently implement a similar policy which indicates that more workers are subjected to rigid work schedules, resulting in work stressors such as burnout and limiting personal life engagement (The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, 2017). Furthermore, when employees also miss out on important life events, they become withdrawn to the outside world, limiting collaboration in the workplace.

A proactive measure should be incorporated to ensure that FAMILY Act is adhered to as required to protect the employee’s welfare (The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, 2017). One strategy of ensuring justice is imposing sanctions such as revoking the operation license for organizations that defy the regulations. This strategy will ensure that compliance is guaranteed and so that employees can also participate in their life development projects to reduce dissatisfaction and low motivation. Furthermore, by observing the social work principles such as justice, dignity, and respect, employees’ rights are maintained, fulfilling the labor law’s aim.

Reference

The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (2017). [eBook] (pp. 1-4). CLASP. Web.

Executive Summary

The review of literature concerning the improvement of employees’ work-life balance (WLB) revealed that three aspects might affect the WLB of the employees. They included management of workspace, communication with friends, and communication with family. Thus, three hypotheses were formulated:

• H₁ = Effective space management has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.
• H₂ = Communication with co-workers has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.
• H₃ = Communication with the family has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.

Multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. The analysis found significant support for Hypothesis 1; however, Hypotheses 2 and 3 were rejected. Several recommendations were formulated based on the results of research and analysis of possible risk factors and ethical considerations. They included conducting workspace management training, disseminating the results of this study to attract attention to the training program, and ensuring the ethicality of the training process.

Hypothesis formulation

Identification of independent and dependent variables derived from the collected datasets

The purpose of the data analysis was to understand what processes could be implemented to help the employees maintain a healthy work-life balance (WLB) during periods of distant working. In order to formulate hypotheses, a literature review was conducted. The literature review helped to understand what practices and changes in the corporate culture could help to improve the work-life balance. These practices were introduced as independent variables that were expected to affect WLB, which was identified as the dependent variable.

Work-life balance is a significant concern for employees during the distant work period. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies were forced to move to distant work regimes to continue operations with minimal disruptions (Pathak, 2021). During this period, WLB became a significant concern, which encouraged the companies to implement immediate measures to improve the situation (Pathak, 2021).

Work-life balance is of extreme importance for both employers and employees. According to Irawanto, Novianti, and Roz (2021), WLB during the COVID-19 period was closely correlated with the employees’ satisfaction. Since employee satisfaction is closely correlated with the productivity and effectiveness of employees, it is of the employer’s major interest to help the employees maintain an adequate WLB (Irawanto, Novianti, and Roz, 2021).

Several factors were identified that may affect the WLB among employees. For instance, Udin (2021) stated that employees can maintain a good WLB if they are supported by both family and the employer. On the employer’s side, Udin (2021) suggested that the employer could support the employees by helping them to manage time, conducting stress management time, and teaching them about the effect of spending time with the family on WLB, workplace satisfaction, and work efficiency. On the family side, Udin (2021) recommends adapting family norms to ensure that the family members can work and live in the same place.

Another study was conducted by Caringal-Go et al. (2021) provided several strategies for maintaining an adequate WLB. These practices were divided into cognitive crafting strategies, physical crafting strategies, and relational crafting strategies. Physical crafting strategies included managing time, workspace, and work tasks adequately (Caringal-Go et al., 2021). Cognitive crafting strategies included enforcing health-related self-care practices and embracing fluidity between work, rest, and leisure (Caringal-Go et al., 2021). Relational crafting strategies included spending time with the family and connecting with co-workers online for leisure (Caringal-Go et al., 2021).

Considering the information provided above, several variables were considered. First, the dependent variable was the WLB, as this research was striving to single out strategies that could improve the WLB among employees during the period of distant working in Australia. Second, it was decided that space management was one of the possible independent variables that affected the WBL of Australian employees working from home, as it was suggested by Caringal-Go et al. (2021). Third, communication with co-workers was considered to be a possible independent variable (Caringal-Go et al., 2021; Udin, 2021). Fourth, communication with family was believed to be a significant practice that affected WLB (Caringal-Go et al., 2021; Udin, 2021). Finally, Udin (2021) suggested that strategies may be different for males and females; thus, gender was considered a control variable. The list of variables is provided in Table 2.1 below.

Table 2.1. Model variables

Design of a diagram showing relationships amongst the identified variables

Figure 1 below arranges all the variables in a diagram for the reader to be able to visualise the relationships among them. Creating such diagrams is of extreme importance for researchers, as these diagrams can be considered conceptual models that facilitate understanding of the intricate interrelationships among concepts and variables (Robinson et al., 2015). While the diagram provided below is fairly simple due to the limited number of variables, business research may identify numerous variables that may have very complicated inter-relations.

Design of a hypothesis

A total of three hypotheses were formulated to test the relationships between the variables.

H1₀ = Effective space management has no significant effect on WLB during the distant work period after controlling for gender.

H1_A = Effective space management has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.

H2₀ = Communication with co-workers has no significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.

H2_A = Communication with co-workers has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.

H3₀ = Communication with the family has no significant effect on WLB during the distant work after controlling for gender.

H3_A = Communication with the family has a significant effect on WLB during distant work after controlling for gender.

Data preparation

In Part 1, it was suggested that both qualitative and quantitative data should be used to formulate strategies for addressing the problems of inadequate WLB in the selected Australian company during the distant working period. Indeed, a mixed-method approach could help the research to benefit from both qualitative and quantitative methods, which implies high reliability and depth of insights would be united in one study (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2019). However, after careful consideration, it was decided to stick to quantitative methods only.

There were two reasons for abandoning the idea of using qualitative data. On the one hand, it was decided that collecting qualitative data would be associated with increased time spent on the research. On the other hand, utilisation of qualitative methods would be associated with increased barriers due to the limitations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, only quantitative methods were used.

The data was collected using a self-created questionnaire that included only five questions. Four questions were based on a seven-point Likert scale, and one question was a categorical question that was meant to measure gender. The questions are provided below:

What is your gender?

• Female
• Male

During the distant work period, I had a good work-life balance.

1. Fully disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Neither agree nor disagree
5. Somewhat agree
6. Agree
7. Fully agree

During the distant work period, I managed space well in my house.

1. Fully disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Neither agree nor disagree
5. Somewhat agree
6. Agree
7. Fully agree

During the distant work period, I communicated virtually with my co-workers well.

1. Fully disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Neither agree nor disagree
5. Somewhat agree
6. Agree
7. Fully agree

During the distant work period, I communicated with my family often.

1. Fully disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Neither agree nor disagree
5. Somewhat agree
6. Agree
7. Fully agree

The survey was conducted using Survey Monkey, which created a unified dataset. A screenshot of the initial dataset is provided in Appendix A. The dataset included a total of 30 responses acquired from a random sample. The questionnaire was sent to the potential participants using corporate email. In the email, the participants were provided with a brief description of the research details and the questionnaire. Additionally, the email included a link to the Survey Monkey website. A total of five days was spent on data collection.

It was planned to use Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) for conducting the statistical analysis. However, the initially acquired dataset was unusable for SPSS, as it included textual data, which cannot be used by the software. Thus, the data were exported to Microsoft Excel to modify it for future use. Three types of activities were used to prepare the dataset for future analysis. First, the questions in the first row were replaced with variable names. The names were adapted for use in SPSS. In particular, variables names excluded spaces and all characters except for letters and numbers were excluded. This was done manually, as only five cells needed to be altered.

Second, the wording of the Likert scale questions was replaced with the corresponding number. This was achieved by the “Find and Replace” function in Excel. The wording of the Likert scale choice was entered in the “Find what” row and the corresponding number was entered in the “Replace with” row (see Figure 2 for an example). Third, the gender variable was transformed into a categorical variable, where “Female” was replaced with “1”, and “Male” was replaced with “2” so that SPSS could use the variable for analysis. A screenshot of the final dataset is provided in Appendix B.

After all the procedures in Excel were finished, the dataset was imported to the SPSS, where the variables were given labels for a better understanding of the results. A screenshot of the variable view in SPSS is provided in Figure 3 below.

A summary of all the datasets used for the final model is provided in Table 2.2 below:

Table 2.2. Summary of data sets for the integrated model

Data analysis

Justification of the statistical model

The research conducted for this case study was correlational, which implies that statistical methods for correlational research were expected to be used. Three statistical methods were considered for the analysis, including Pearson’s r, multiple linear regression, and a simple moderation model.

Pearson’s correlation analysis is the simplest method of correlating two variables (Cooper and Schindler, 2014). Pearson’s r provides an easy-to-interpret coefficient, which identifies the degree of correlation between two variables on a scale from ‘-1’ to ‘1’, where ‘-1’ stands for direct negative linear correlation, ‘0’ stands for no correlation, and ‘1’ stands for direct positive linear correlation (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2019). While Pearson’s r is an adequate method for determining the degree of correlation between two variables, it cannot be used to create a model that will correlate several independent variables to one dependent variable (Sedgwick, 2012). Moreover, the analysis is accurate only if the data is normally distributed and the correlation between two variables is linear.

One of the most frequently used methods for data analysis in correlational research is linear regression (Cooper and Schindler, 2014). Linear regression can be both simple (one dependent variable) and multiple (several dependent variables). The method is frequently used because it allows correlating several independent variables to one dependent variable and creating a model that will help to predict the outcomes (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2019). Linear regression analysis is easy to interpret, as the results provide a list of coefficients with their significance and magnitude of effect, along with the coefficient of determination, which allows understanding of the predictive ability of the model in general. However, there are certain limitations associated with the regression analysis (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2019). First, the regression analysis assumes that the correlation between the independent variable and the dependent variable is linear, so it cannot be used when the correlation between the variables is non-linear (Rubinfeld, 2000). Second, regression analysis measures only the direct effect of the variables, without accounting for indirect effect, if there is any (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2019). Third, the data within variables need to be normally distributed.

The simple moderation model was considered based on the assumption that gender may moderate the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. This method is similar to the linear regression analysis; however, it accounts for the indirect (moderation) effect, which is the model’s central benefit (Memon et al., 2019). However, the model would provide inadequate results if there is no indirect effect of the variables, which is the central limitation of the model. Table 2.3 below provides a summary of the comparison of different models.

Table 2.3. Comparison of different statistical models

The analysis of possible methods revealed that simple regression analysis is the most appropriate method for analysing the data. The central reason for that was that several independent variables needed to be correlated to one dependent variable. Additionally, no confirmation that gender could moderate the relationships between the variables was found. Therefore, the use of the moderation model was inappropriate.

Analysis and discussion

The hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression. The results of the analysis revealed the model was statistically significant (F(4,25) = 10,91; p < 0.001 ) with a coefficient of determination R² = 0.636. This implies that the model had a high predictive ability since 63.6% of the changes in the dependent variables could be explained by the changes in the independent and control variables. The estimations of the coefficients are provided in Table 2.4 below.

Table 2.4. Coefficients

The analysis of coefficients demonstrates that only working space management had a statistically significant impact on work-life balance, as the coefficient’s p-value (p < 0.001) was below the alpha level of 0.05. Communication with co-workers (p = 0.135) and communication with family (p = 0.85) were insignificant predictors of WLB, as their p-values were above the alpha level of 0.05.

Hypothesis 1 was accepted, was accepted as the analysis revealed significant evidence that the working space management had a positive influence on WLB. In other words, the more effective the working space management of an employee, the better the BLB of the employee. This implies that the company can help the employees to improve their WLB by conducting training about workspace management during the distant working period. The training should concern distinguishing between the space where one works and the space where one rests. The findings of this paper are consistent with the current body of knowledge. In particular, Udin (2021) stated that women are more likely to work productively while working at home if their workspace is well-organised. Similarly, Caringal-Go et al. (2021) stated that organising the workspace was one of the central strategies.

Hypotheses 2 and 3 were rejected as the coefficients did not reach the statistical significance level of alpha = 0.05. This implies that frequent communication with co-workers and family cannot help to improve WLB. The findings were inconsistent with the previous research. Udin (2021) stated that communication with family and support was crucial for maintaining WLB. Additionally, Caringal-Go et al. (2021) stated that communication with colleagues was crucial for having an adequate WLB.

The inconsistency between the results of this research and the previous body of knowledge may have two explanations. On the one hand, the discrepancy may be explained by the differences in the populations. This study’s population were the employees of the selected company, while the previous studies focused on Europe and the Middle East. On the other hand, the inconsistency may be explained by the limitation of the methods utilised by this study.

Assumptions and limitations

According to McClaive, Benson, and Sincich (2018), there are several assumptions associated with regression analysis. First, correlation analysis is possible only under the assumption of normality. The analysis revealed that only one variable (Communication with Co-Workers) was normally distributed, while all the distribution of other variables did not follow the normal distribution curve. Normality was assessed by creating and analysing histograms for all the variables. The histograms are provided in Appendix C. Second, regression analysis assumes the absence of multicollinearity. Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to understand if there were strong correlations between the independent variables. The analysis revealed that multicollinearity was not a significant issue. Finally, regression analysis assumes that the relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variables were linear. The analysis of scatterplots provided no conclusive results since the variables were measured using Likert scales. In summary, the analysis revealed that there were significant issues with assumptions of regression analysis, which may have led to bias.

There are other limitations of this study that should be acknowledged to help the reader assess the reliability of the findings. First, the sample size was smaller than is required to arrive at reliable results. The sample size for this study was 30, which is below the recommended minimum of 118 participants assuming the acceptable margin of error of 3% (Cochran, 1977). Thus, the reliability of the findings may be questionable. Second, the researcher could not guarantee that all the members of the population had an equal chance to participate in the study. Third, the instrument used for measuring the variables was self-created. Even though it had high face validity, other types of validity were not assessed, which implies that the instrument may have failed to measure what was intended. Finally, the results of this research are applicable only to the selected population. Managers are to use the results of this study for other populations with caution.

However, despite the limitations of this study, it should be acknowledged that the results are still reliable, as the utilised methods were appropriate for the purpose of the study. Even though the sample was small for full-scale research, it was enough for this case study, as it aimed at providing preliminary results.

Deployment considerations

The analysis of data revealed that conducting workplace management training was associated with significant improvement in the WLB of the employees. Thus, it was recommended the selected company to provide space management courses for their employees to improve the WLB and workplace satisfaction. The courses were expected to improve the effectiveness of the employees during the distant working period in Australia.

While the deployment of the program was expected with significant benefits, several risks were identified that could affect the implementation of the programme. These risks are listed below:

1. Finding a provider. Workspace management is a very narrow topic that requires a very specific provider. However, a brief overview of the market of the current providers of business training revealed that there are no companies that offer workspace management courses. This implies that the selected company will not be able to choose between several providers for the best price/quality ratio. Instead, the company will either need to agree to the only provider they find or create their own space management courses based on best practices. This may result in the low effect of training.
2. Attracting attention to the courses. Even if the company creates the best courses in workspace management during the distant work period, there is a significant possibility that the employees will refuse to attend them. The company cannot obligate the employees to take the courses, as these courses are not part of their job. Even if the employees are offered to take the courses during their work hours, it is not guaranteed to attract the employees’ attention. Thus, it is crucial to motivate the employees to take the courses.
3. Measuring the outcome. It will be difficult to measure the effectiveness of the courses, as difficulties may appear with the determination of the variables applicable to measuring the outcomes. Additionally, it may appear challenging to develop appropriate instruments for measuring these variables before and after the intervention.
4. Employee dissatisfaction. Employee dissatisfaction may arise as a result of the unethical implementation of the courses. Ethical considerations associated with the deployment of the project are provided below.

When providing training and development courses, there are several ethical standards that should be followed to ensure employee satisfaction and the overall success of the endeavour. The list of the central ethical considerations is provided below.

1. Training should benefit the employee. Implementation of the project should not improve the space management skills of the employee at the expense of significant harm. For instance, learning space management skills should not have a negative effect on the employees’ family lives.
2. Dignity should be promoted. The trainers and the participants should not be allowed to harm the dignity of others. For instance, no nicknames that may offend the participants, the customers, the family members, or any other stakeholders should be used during the training process.
3. Confidentiality should be protected. The participants and the trainer should protect each other’s confidentiality. For instance, the participants should not disclose any of the sensitive information that was shared during the training sessions.
4. Expectations should be clarified. The providers of the training sessions and the employer should be clear about the expectations from the participants. In particular, among other expectations, the employer should explain that the participation is voluntary and there will be no repercussions in case of refusal to participate.
5. Emotional and physical safety should be promoted. The safety of employees should be ensured on two levels. First, when developing the content of training, possible negative impact on participants’ physical and emotional health should be considered. Second, the employees’ safety should be protected during the training process. This implies, for instance, that no shocking material should be included in the content.
6. Different socio-economic statuses should be considered. The training provider should understand that employees may have different possibilities due to working at home. Some of the employees may not have a separate room or enough space to ensure that no one disturbs them while they work. Failure to acknowledge the differences in socio-economic statuses may lead to employee dissatisfaction and emotional trauma.
7. No discrimination should be allowed. Neither the trainers nor the participants should be allowed to discriminate on any basis. This should be clear for all the participants.

The analysis of the study results, possible risks, and ethical considerations allowed to develop a list of recommendations for the implementation of the project. These recommendations are provided below:

• Deploy corporate training courses to improve workspace management skills of employees while working at home. The results of the regression analysis revealed that working space management is a significant contributor to WLB. Since WLB is closely connected to employee satisfaction and efficiency, it was considered beneficial to conduct WLB training to improve the company’s performance.
• Conduct future research concerning the effect of communications with co-workers and family on the employees of the selected company. This research did not find any significant correlations between WLB and employees’ communication with co-workers and family. However, significant limitations were identified, which may have led to biased results. Thus, future research should be conducted on the matter.
• Disseminate the findings of this research to attract attention to the workspace management courses. One of the central risks is the lack of attention from the employees towards the courses. Effective dissemination of knowledge acquired from this research can help to attract the employees’ interest.
• Develop courses based on best practices. The analysis of the training market revealed that there are not enough offers concerning employee workspace management training. Thus, the company can use the opportunity to develop the courses based on best practices specific to this organisation.
• Consider the measurement of the outcome before implementation. The company should ensure that adequate variables and instruments are used for measuring the outcomes of the intervention. Such an endeavour can help to ensure that the outcomes are favourable and the courses can be sued in the future to improve the employee’s WLB.
• Ensure ethicality of training. This paper introduced seven crucial ethical considerations that are crucial for the implementation of the project. Without ensuring ethicality, the company may face significant problems with employee satisfaction.

Reference list

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Cooper, D. R. and Schindler, P. S. (2014) Business research methods. Philippines: McGraw-Hill Education.

Irawanto, D. W., Novianti, K. R. and Roz, K. (2021) ‘Work from home: Measuring satisfaction between work-life balance and work stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia’, Economies, 9(3), pp. 96-105.

McClaive, J., Benson, G. and Sincich, D. (2018) Statistics for business and economics. London: Pearson.

Memon, M. A. et al. (2019) ‘Moderation analysis: issues and guidelines’, Journal of Applied Structural Equation Modeling, 3(1), pp. 1-11.

Pathak, D. (2021) ‘The work-life balancing act: A study on the mandatory work from home due to COVID-19 on the IT and non-IT industry sectors’, International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals (IJHCITP), 12(3), pp. 1-20.

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Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2019) Research methods for business students. Brazil: Pearson.

Sedgwick, P. (2012) ‘Pearson’s correlation coefficient’, BMJ, 345, Article e4483.

Uddin, M. (2021) ‘Addressing work‐life balance challenges of working women during COVID‐19 in Bangladesh’, International Social Science Journal, 71(239-240), pp. 7-20.

Appendices

Appendix A: Original Dataset

Appendix B: Final Dataset

Appendix C: Normality Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the literature on work-life balance in both Australia and the UK. It tries to understand the basic issues in those countries that contribute to work-life conflict and compares the policies pursued by the two countries in tackling the problems in balancing work and life. After a review of the literature, the paper finds that while several laws have been enacted in both countries in defining and addressing the problems at the workplace. However, there are deficiencies in the systems in both countries. Notably, Australia follows a policy of least state intervention and the government generally lets the employer and employee decide among them as to what policies to adopt in an enterprise. In contrast, the UK government has in place laws having more teeth. These laws prescribe certain rights for the employer and employee and also define some obligations of the employer and employee that are binding on them.

However, the governments in both countries generally feel that work-life balance would be better addressed by the concerned parties themselves. Thus, the governments try and maintain the distance of the state from work-life problem issues. But, there are certain similarities of approach in the two countries. For example, both rely on promotional campaigns and state agencies to ‘spread the good word’. Problems facing the countries are also similar. Both countries have a rapidly aging population. More women are opting for paid work than in the past. As a result, with a decrease in the number of carers at home, increasingly families depend on outside agencies to take care of their dependents. The UK is ahead of Australia in many respects. But both countries follow passive intervention methods aided by some laws to ensure work-life balance. Much needs to be done to achieve better work-life balance, less stress at the workplace, etc

Introduction, Aims and Objectives

Lewis (1996) defines work-life balance as “…employment based on emergent new values which does not discriminate against those with caring or other non-work responsibilities, and which provides an opportunity for people to realize their full potential in work and non-work domains”. The Work Foundation of the UK (formerly called as The Industrial Society) observes, ‘Work-life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society” www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk). Again, Employers for Work-Life Balance define work-life balance as “about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work, …achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society”. The New Zealand Department of Labour perceives balancing of work and life as “effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people”.

The DTI & Scotland Office (2001) observes that, “Work-life balance isn’t only about families and childcare. Nor is it about working less. It’s about working ‘smart’, about being enough to give all you need to both work and home, without jeopardizing one for the other; and it’s a necessity for everyone, at whatever your stage in life”. Byrne (2005) also observes that work-life balance may be affected by any one or more of measures like “flexi time, staggered hours, time off in lieu, compressed working hours, shift swapping, self-rostering, annualized hours, job-sharing, term-time working, working from home, teleworking, breaks from work, or, flexible benefits”. Wise (2003) adds that, “Essentially, work-life balance is about helping employees to better manage their work and non-work time. A number of policies can facilitate this: by reducing hours (e.g. part-time, job-share); changing when the hours are worked (e.g. compressed working week, flexi time, term-time working); where hours are worked (e.g. home working); or providing periods of paid or unpaid leave (e.g. compassionate leave, parental leave, study leave, career break). Appropriate balance and the means of getting there depends on individual and business needs”

Russel and Bowman (2000) note that, “work-life balance (WLB) is an important area of human resource management that is receiving increasing attention from government, researchers, management and employee representatives, and the popular media”. They also state that “employers view the benefits or working conditions that they provide to help employees balance the family and work domains as work-life benefits”. Bardoel et al (1998) as also Kramar (1997) also note that “Work-life balance strategies in an organizational setting include policies covering flexible work arrangements, child and dependant care, and family and parental leave”. Undoubtedly, “work-life balance has emerged as a strategic HR issue and is an important part of an employee retention strategy” (Lewis and Cooper, 1995), and Grover and Crooker (1995) observe “more flexible HR strategies do have significantly beneficial effects”. Thus, various scholars have emphasized the benefits of work-life balance and various governments have implemented work-life balance policies across the world.

In the light of the above, this paper tries to understand the work-life policies and employment structures adopted in the UK and Australia, and also compare the same. It identifies several characteristics of work-life balance policies that distinguish one country from the other. In so doing, this paper traces the origin of the work-life balance concepts in the countries and also examines the social and political considerations that have been responsible for the evolution of the present-day policy framework in the two countries. It even tries to explain the differences or similarities in policy in the countries.

Work-Life Balance in the United Kingdom

The policy in the UK is based on the need to honor its commitments to the European Commission (EC) which views work-life balance as an instrument for attaining greater gender equality. Accordingly, the government in the UK thought it appropriate to implement laws for ensuring equal treatment of full-time and part-time workers and also for providing for maximum working hours and a minimum period of rest and leave. The laws also provide parents leave and grant all employees additional time off from work in case of emergencies, particularly involving dependents of employees.

The laws also provide for extended facility of maternity leave for female employees. In fact, recently the UK government has also implemented legislation for providing extended maternity rights, paid paternity leave, and a right for availing flexible employment opportunities in case of parents of children aged less than six years. The scenario was previously one of low employee protection. But the situation is gradually changing in keeping with EU stipulations. Thus, the government has put in place a minimum legal framework in order to achieve better adoption of larger EU objectives. But it also recognizes the inherent lethargy of employers in the UK in general in adopting better work-life balance strategies. Hence, it has also sponsored a work-life balance campaign, which preaches the benefits of work-life balance to businesses and employers by way of improved motivation and productivity of employees.

A survey of businesses operating in the UK is a pointer to how employers perceive work-life balance issues. Thus, Hogarth, Hasluck and Pierre (2000) find that “flexible work opportunities are rare, and mostly (80 percent) consist of part-time work. Also, only 22 percent occasionally work from home, around 10 percent have flexi-time, 20 percent of employers do not provide any flexible working avenues, and less than 5 percent employers offer compressed working weeks, term time working, or job share”. The same study also finds that, “90 percent of employers in the UK provide their employees bereavement leave, around 45 percent provide for paternity leave and less than 30 percent employers provide for study leave and career breaks to their employees”. However, the study notes further “the state of care facilities provided by the employers is still lower with only 2 percent of employers providing for a crèche at the workplace, just 1 percent providing for subsidized nurseries, and around 3 percent helping in other ways like providing for child care vouchers, etc”.

In another study, Dex and Smith (2002) observe in an examination of the nature and pattern of family-friendly work policies in the UK that, the employment conditions in larger organizations as also in public sector organizations are more family-friendly or flexible than in smaller or private organizations. Flexible working conditions are found to be more prevalent in the organizations “which have recognized unions, where there is better employee participation in management decision-making, where the women employees are more in number and also where the workforce is better educated and also exercise better discretion”. While the results of the study depict the overall working conditions of the companies in the UK in general, in a particular study of the Scottish workplace conditions, too, Bond et al (2002) observe “workplace practices are more flexible in large companies having recognized unions than in smaller companies which have no employee representative forums”. Additionally, it finds that part-time work is the common mode of flexible arrangement in place in the Scottish companies.

Another aspect of the work-life balance issue is the maximum number of work hours that employees put in per week and hence the minimum available rest period that they enjoy. Studies find that the United Kingdom has the highest number of people who work long hours in entire Europe. Indeed the “average, collectively agreed upon work-week in the U.K. is around 37.5 hours, whereas full-time employees in the country are also found to work an average of 43.6 hours per week” (www.eurofound.ie). A European labour force survey also finds that nearly 30 percent full-time employees work more than 46 hours per week, while the EU average is only about 12 percent. Fagan (2000) also observe that the UK has “the greatest dispersion of hours worked by employees in Europe”.

The Working Time Directive of 1998 does prescribe a maximum time limit of 48 hours working time per week. But this does not apply to all employees. There are many clauses to opt out and various exemptions, which prevent a uniform and satisfactory measure for ensuring maximum working hours per week from being achieved. Even Hogarth, Hasluck and Pierre (2000) maintain that managers and professionals put in the most work hours but are the least protected by the Working Time Directive. The consequence is that many employees work harder and longer so that, they can spare less time for their family life. Thus, many such employees feel tired and irritable, get increasingly less motivated and often develop severe health problems.

Perhaps the most significant impetus for development of work-life policies in the UK is the increasing participation of women in paid employment and their lesser involvement in family life. But even in the present day, although men are increasingly inclined towards family life, women are maximum involved in family life. This is evidenced by the fact that more women are in part-time employment and take responsibility of child and home care, whereas men still putting in longer working hours.

Another major reason for introducing work-life policies is the ageing population of the country, particularly the Scottish population. In fact, a study (GROS, 2002) has found that the population is ageing and fast declining. Duncan (2002) also observes that with the fall in birth rate, the ageing population becomes increasingly dependant on the working population and this could seriously impede economic growth across entire Europe. The need for improving birth rates in turn calls for improved work life reconciliation; the policies geared to improve family life and productive work hours can be implemented for addressing the problem. In this respect, the UK government has attempted to remedy the situation by scrapping the statutory retirement age and have also made state and occupational pension schemes more flexible. In effect, the reduction in pension paid to people who work post-retirement ensures that lesser number of people work part-time prior to retirement and are thus better able to manage family and care responsibilities.

One other major reason for adopting work-life balance is that the competing demands of work and family lead to increasing work-life conflict. Such conflict affects people with care responsibilities more severely. Work-life conflict also “causes psychological and other health problems, creates marital problems, increases absence from work due to sickness, and also decreases job and life satisfaction” (Evans and Steptoe 2002; Crouter et al. 2001; Westman 2001; Kossek and Ozeki 1998).

Byrne avers that, “Employers can hope to gain a more motivated, productive and less stressed workforce, which (in turn) can result in making employees feel valued, attract a wider range of candidates, such as older part-time workers and carers, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, help the employer gain reputation of being an employer of choice, help retain valued employees, reduce costs, and maximize available labour”. Byrne also says that “employees benefit from being happier at work and at home through a greater responsibility and a sense of ownership, by having better relations with management, as a result of improved self-esteem, health, concentration and confidence, by being shown loyalty and commitment through not bringing problems at home to work, and vice versa, from having the time to focus more on life outside work, and by having greater control of their working lives”.

Work-Life Balance Policies in the UK

This paper examines the legal and social framework that contributes to better work and family life in the UK. Accordingly, a number of work-life balance initiatives and the legal acts that govern the same are examined in the following paragraphs. However, it needs to be stated that the official work-life balance campaign by the UK government was launched only in 2000. This campaign is actually a part of the employment relation policies and the main agency responsible for the campaign implementation is the Department of Trade and Industry or DTI. This agency also looks after employments rights issues and legislation. The strategy is to target those sectors of the industry which have significant work-life balance problems, help decrease the long hours put in by most British employees at work, and also provide timely support services. The DTI tries to influence business policies in adopting better work-life balance as a part of the usual human resource policies and provides a host of information on the benefits of balancing work and life to employees and to employers alike, by way of improved work productivity and quality, less stress, and better individual and organizational health.

Sex Discrimination

The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 deals with marital and other gender discriminations in the workplace. The UK government recognizes that long working hours can interfere with the employee’s family life and can also infringe upon human rights of the employee.

Parental Leave

The Employment Rights Act of 1996, as amended by the Employment Act of 2002, prescribes a mandatory 26 weeks paid Ordinary Maternity Leave. This statute covers all employees. An additional maternity leave of 26 weeks is also provided for by the Act. The European Commission also mandates by means of its Pregnant Workers Directive that pregnant workers be provided time off from work for receiving antenatal care. The Act explicitly provides for this and such employees also receive normal pay during the time off. And, in contrast to maternity leave, the Act also provides for paid Paternity Leave of 2 weeks.

But the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations of 1999 is much more comprehensive in its provisions regarding parental leave. Thus, the Act provides that those under contract of work is eligible for 13 weeks of leave from work in case of each individual child for whom such employee is having parental responsibility or is registered as the father of the child under the provisions of the Birth and Deaths Registration Act. The Act also stipulates varying periods of time-off with varying status of the child. As per amendment in April 2003, legislation was enacted so that, in case of a disabled child, the parent can avail such parental leave within the age of 18 years of the child. But in case of a normal child, such age is mandated as a maximum of 5 years of age of the child within which the parent can avail the parental leave.

In case of an adopted child, the Act also clearly prescribes that such parental leave is to be exercised within 18 years of age of the child or by the 5^th anniversary of the adoption, whichever is earlier. Also, employees with children who enjoy a disability living allowance enjoy 18 months leave. However an underlying requirement for such provision of the act to be applicable is that the employee, in order to receive such parental leave, has to be employed for at least a year and also has or may have in future, the responsibility for a child (Amended by the Maternity and Parental Leave Amendment Regulations, 2001). The employee, if found eligible, can thus avail change in hours or time of work, as also work from home Such work arrangements can include annualized hours, compressed hours, flexitime, work in shifts, job-sharing, unpaid leave during school holidays, or even staggered hours of work.

The Act also considers the employer’s obligations to the employee in regard to parental leave as an implied obligation of the employer as to trust and confidence to the employee as also to any terms and conditions of employment. Such employment obligations include the employer’s obligation to give due notice of termination of employment to the employee, and an obligation to provide compensation in case of redundancy, and/or disciplinary procedures. The employee also is having an implied obligation under the provisions of the Act to the employer with respect to good faith and in complying with terms and conditions of employment while on parental leave. Also, in wanting to protect both employee and employer rights and convenience, the Act envisages that in case the employee takes less than 4 weeks parental leave, then he or she can join the same job; but if he or she takes more than 4 weeks of parental leave, then he or she can, if so required, join some other job, as appropriate.

The Act also protects the employee from detriment caused by any act, or deliberately caused by employer’s failure to act because of any reason like employee’s pregnancy, his or her seeking and availing such parental leave, non signing of a workforce agreement by the employee, for representing the workforce members, or such reasons. Dismissal from service for any of these reasons has been made unfair by the provisions of the Act. The UK government also prescribes some non-binding guidelines, which effectively complement the legal provisions. Thus, the existing framework envisages also that an employer may waive the one year qualifying period, or can ignore the age of the child’s age in granting parental leave, or even that such parental leave can be given by the employers, if they so desire, even to grand-parents or foster parents of the child. The Employment Opportunities Commission or EOC, which wanted to promote flexible work arrangements, primarily piloted such legislation. In fact, the EOC had in place a larger campaign, which attempted to give support to parents seeking flexi arrangements at work due to family needs, and also recognized that the usual work hours no longer served the purpose in all cases.

Part-time Employment

UK laws recognize that an employer needs to be more flexible in considering employee needs so that the laws do not directly or indirectly discriminate against the employee needing genuine time offs or part-time employment. Under the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 and the Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations 2002, better worker access to part time work is envisaged. Also, Sec 80F of the Employment Relations Act prescribes the conditions under which an employee can request for flexible work arrangement for the purpose of caring for a child. In addition to hours of work and the arrangement of such part-time or flexible work, the employee can also, under the law, request for desired choice of place of work.

The Flexible Working Regulations 2002 covers employees under contract and also considers that a worker is an individual under contract of work or any other type of contract of service promised to be done for another who is not the individual’s client or customer. The Act stipulates that the employer must hold a meeting within 28 days of the date that an employee applies for contract variation and is also required, within 14 days of such meeting, to convey the decision in this regard to the employee concerned. Generally, the employee is supposed to agree to the reasonable application of the employee. However, if the employer feels that granting of variable work arrangement as requested by the employee can entail higher costs, impede the company ability to meet customer demands, result in detriment to quality or performance, or hamper reorganization of work among remaining employees, or there are planned structural changes that the employer wants to implement and hence, the granting of such employment variation to the employee may be an obstacle to such a planned change, etc., then he may very well refuse such request from the employee for work variation. Of course, the concerned employee can appeal by notice within 14 days of receipt of decision from the employer and may even be accompanied by another worker from the organization or a union representative during the meeting following the appeal.

The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints, and Remedies) Regulations Act 2002 requires that the employee be employed for a continuous 26 weeks in case he or she wants a contract variation. There are also other conditions that require that the employee must be either a father, mother, adopted, guardian, or foster parent of the child, married to or the partner of the child’s mother, father, adopted, guardian, or foster parent who lives with the child and the mother….and has responsibility or may have in the future, responsibility for caring for a child [Reg. 2 (1) and 3]. There are also provisions in the Act allowing for the employee to complain to the Tribunal and in case the Tribunal finds the complaint justified, it may mandate as much as 8 weeks pay to be paid to the employee.

Another legislation, The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 that covers workers as defined under the Employment Rights Act, stipulates that part-time workers who can show that they are disadvantaged as compared to comparable full-time workers, can avail overtime pay only if they have worked in excess of equivalent full-time hours. Thus, the Act follows the EC stipulations but it does not envisage the right to part-time work. Actually, only the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Equal Pay Act of 1970 ensure legally enforceable rights.

Leave for Family Emergencies

The Employment Rights Act of 1996 (ERA), as amended by the Employment Relations Act 1999, gives the right to all employees for taking time off (unpaid) for care emergencies and covers exigencies like a dependant’s illness, birth of a child, or injury suffered, even including mental illness. The right extends to situations like unexpected termination of care for a dependant, case of death of the dependant, any incident involving a child for whom the employee is responsible, etc. A reasonable period of leave like one or two days is considered sufficient so that the employee can attend to all requirements in caring for the dependant or child during the emergency.

Other Initiatives

The UK government has also launched two funds to provide assistance to employers, the Challenge Fund and the Partnership Fund. The Partnership Fund provides funding to employers for improving relationship between employees and employer, and for improving employee job satisfaction. Various projects for improving work-life balance have already been financed and also many others, which have identified causes of stress in the work place, have also been funded. The second fund, the Challenge Fund, helps pay consultants who provide innovative solutions at the workplace for bettering work-life balance. This fund is more employee-centric and attempts to provide finance for ways to improve flexible work arrangements.

The UK government also created the Employers for Work-Life Balance, an alliance of employers who actively collaborate with the government for ensuring and establishing best practices in the industry. This organization provides resources, including a benchmarking tool, which can be accessed from its website for helping employers and employees achieve better work-life balance. Also, the government set up a standard in 2000, which envisaged the commitment from the management of employer organizations towards assuring a better work-life balance. This was sought to be achieved by including planned systems for incorporating work-life balance initiatives, by acting on the planned initiatives for ensuring work-life balance, and also by reviewing and assessing for changes, if required.

Work-Life Balance in Australia

Haar (2006), Pocock (2005), and Thornwaite (2004), among others, have conducted research on work-life issues in Australia. Also, Hamilton and Mail (2003) note that “those workers who can organize a better balance try to do so by many means in an attempt to increase their individual well-being: by changing jobs, reducing their hours, finding a better boss, or ‘downshifting’ and weakening their work attachment or changing its location”. In a study, Pocock (2005) observes that work-life imbalance in Australia is exacerbated by “declining male participation, rise of women, growth in demand for jobs and for long work hours, and also the increase in short work hours, particularly during casual employment”.

The same study also notes that, “overall participation rates in Australia climb upwards even as more women compensate for fewer men (in employment)”. In fact, says the author, work-life issues have gained predominance due to “steady convergence of male and female labour participation rates”. Demand for paid work is also more, since Australians, whether male or female, are found to gain identity through the paid work. Even would-be mothers try and hold on to paid jobs so that the competing demands on them of motherhood and work create work-life conflict later, and thus, authors like Pocock (2003), Probert (2002), and Reed et al (2003) even note “their work attachment increasingly collides with their later identification as mothers and carers”. Even more alarming is the increased long hours at work put in by employees in Australia. Recently, the International Labour Organization found that Australia had the fourth largest number of people who worked 50 hours per week or even more (This was about 20 percent in 2000), and also that the total number of Australians who worked such long hours was growing fastest among all industrialized nation (ILO 2004).

It is commonly felt that work is intruding into family life more and more as larger number of family members like mothers and persons caring for dependants try to enhance payments by partaking of paid employment. Even work hours are seen to have changed in nature and in longer number of hours worked. Often, working women who have to care for dependants opt for part-time work in order to ensure better work-life balance in their lives. As per one estimate, around 44 per cent of women in Australia are part-timers whereas the average figure in all of OECD is only 26 per cent (Pocock, 2003).

Most often, such part-time jobs do not provide for paid holidays or sick leaves. While such part-time employment does not offer these benefits, yet, the increase in part-time jobs indicate that increasing number of Australians are attempting to achieve better work-life balance in their lives. More alarmingly, work hours are getting longer. Thus, Australia has conditions very unlike those in some other industrialised nations like France, Britain or the US. In those countries, government is seized of the need to decrease the number of work hours put in per week by the employees. Obviously, work-life policies in those countries are better geared to achieve balance. In addition to the longer hours worked by the average Australian, the greater workloads borne by the employees and low support from employers are also contributing to overall work-life conflict with generally less quality interactions between family members (Allen, Loudoun, and Peetz 2005).

Leave is another problem area affecting the work-life balance of Australian employees in general. Thus, only four weeks of annual holidays can be availed by employees normally in Australia, whereas in other countries this period is considerably more. Many casual employees do not get any paid holiday. One study (Denniss 2003) found that a high 58 percent of full-time employees did not avail annual leave in full, while 42 percent of these employees stated that they could not avail leave due to work pressures. Pocock (2005) succinctly observes that loss of leave entitlement, hesitation to use leave, growing intensity of work and increasing work hours are creating greater imbalance between work and life. Also, the very nature of Australian families nowadays, are compounding things further. Households are increasingly dual-income or single mother earner households.

In such a situation, the family is time poor, care rich, and consumption dependant. Pocock (2003; 2005). Watson et al (2003) also observe that “women are increasingly getting involved in paid work, while the length of full-time work hours is also increased greatly, so that, there is less time as also lesser control over the time”. Many households avail of outside help for supplementing the aid that could have been given by their women, going outside to ear their pay through full or part time employment. Employees having household care of dependant family also feel the need to avail more flexible work arrangements so that they can better balance their paid jobs and their home responsibilities. In this respect, Pocock observes (2003) that “more working people constitute such ‘carers’ of dependants (around 40 percent of all employees), but the efforts to address the larger issue of work-life balance in Australia are still patchy and small”

Work-Life Balance Policies in Australia

The Australian government has constituted a Work and Family Unit within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations for providing information and advice on improvement of work-life balance. The Unit tries to promote the advantages of flexible work arrangements, and encourages employees and employers to enter into mutual agreements which can safeguard both work and family obligations. The government has prepared various fact-sheets which, it hopes, can succeed in achieving better work-life balance. In 1992, the government also instituted the National Work and Family Awards which are administered by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as also the Business Council of Australia. The awards are an attempt to promote flexible work arrangements and also an effort to balance work and life of employees better. The government also provides various case studies to drive home the message that work-life balance is essential. Additionally, it has also developed a guide to help the employers assess their status of work-life balance strategies, and help them evolve better policies in this regard.

However, the Australian government has failed to develop an effective legislation to promote work-life balance measures. The industrial relations among employee and employers are far too complex, the laws as diverse as the states in which the issues arise, and generally, a bargaining system is prevalent, post the 1993 Reform Act. In later years, the system of bargaining reduced the awards system to one for providing a minimum standard of work. In 1996, the Workplace Relations Act introduced the Australian Workplace Agreements as the standard form of employment contracts. Thus, the government appears to take the role of facilitator of workplace bargains between employer and employee and is quite passive in its approach. The Workplace Relations Act or WR Act also seems to be the defining piece of legislation that seeks to promote work-life balance for employees. The government is neutral to both employer and employee and encourages the spirit of cooperation and mutually advantageous work arrangements and practices. It also seeks to prevent discrimination.

The WR Act grants employees unpaid maternity and parental leave of 52 weeks. The Act does not generally allow both parents of a child leave simultaneously, and in any case, the combined leave of both parents must be a maximum of 52 weeks. Leave can be availed for the purpose of adopting a child in addition to shouldering normal child and dependant care responsibilities. The Act mandates the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to grant awards at ceremonies. With the institution of the Australian Workplace Agreements, awards serve only as a safety net relating to provision of sick leave, parental leave, and leave for adopting a child. Additionally, there can be certified agreements which are made collectively between employers and employees/unions and AWA s (workplace agreements with a single employee).

Comparing Policies of Australia and the UK

Compared with the U.K., Australian legislation is not as clearly defined or comprehensive. Nor does it seek to guarantee some basic rights of employees as has been attempted by the UK laws. The legislation in Australia is generally perceived to lack teeth and is half-hearted. In fact, it is only in recent times, that the government has come to be aware of the essentiality of adopting work-life balance policies. While the situation is more or less similar in both countries, the UK appears to be more cohesive and definitive of approach in tackling all issues relating to work-life balance or lack of it. The same problems like longer work hours put in by employees, the increasing age of the population, more women opting for paid work, and the need to adopt flexible work arrangements in order to allow workers to handle both family care and paid work are common to both the countries. But the differences in policies of both the governments and the corporations that function in the respective countries are very apparent from the foregoing paragraphs.

In the UK, there is emphasis on market forces to play their part and little direct intervention on the part of the government in relation to family arrangements. Promotional activities are sought to be encouraged with the objective of improving the work-life balance of the employees. And this is true of both countries. But, the UK also specifies some standards to be adopted by the management of the companies and holds employers responsible for stress of the employees in some measure. It also needs to be mentioned that there is no equivalent government agency similar to the UK Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in Australia. Neither is there any legislation similar to the UK’s Health and Safety Act of 1974, which guarantees protection to the employee from stress caused by poor work arrangements. The UK law imposes legal duty on the employers to assure their employees protection of health and safety, since the government clearly recognizes that work-related stress is due to poor working conditions and the employer is responsible and answerable for such stress caused to an employee. This acts as a pressure on employers to undertake responsibility for the safety and health of the employee at all times during his employment in the company, and the effects of work on family life are thus considered by the government in favour of the employee.

For the most part, the UK policies seem more effective and the social and legal framework seems to be more organized than it is in Australia. While it is true that both the countries attempt to follow a policy of minimum intervention and seek cooperation between employer and employee in achieving work-life balance, and both perceive that the issues need to be regulated for mutual benefits of both employer and employed, the approach to tackle the problems are in some respects diverse and unequal. In addition, the outside or private agencies in the UK that seek to promote work-life balance appear more organized and active than their counterparts in Australia.

Another important feature of work-life policy regulation in Australia is that more employees are covered by legislation in case the work-life policies are negotiated via enterprise agreements, in keeping with the Australian government’s affinity for industrial bargains. Also, the system prevalent in Australia prior to legislative change of the 1990s was based upon the ‘basic wage’ idea enshrined from the “Harvester” case of 1907. Such ‘basic wage was “the wage which would provide sufficient income for a family of five if the employee worked full-time (Davis and Lansbury, 1998). At that time, less number of women needed to be in employment. This is not to say the same is true in the present time, since it has been established that as much as 40 percent women are employed in Australia. Also, the existence of health care benefits provided by the government in Australia to all cases of employees, whether full-time or part-time, means that more and more people are taking to part-time employment in Australia than they are in the UK, where the concept of part-time employment is still to catch on among employees.

Conclusion

While both countries have some similarities and some diversity in their approach towards implementing work-life balance policies, it does appear that they are seized of the emergent need to speed up such work-life balance due to a host of reasons. These reasons include benefits to the employees as also advantages for the employers. The benefits that could accrue to employees if work-life policies are successfully implemented include better productivity, greater rest, lower stress, better health and motivation, to name some. Also paid work along with flexible work hours do mean that an employee can better manage both his family and work obligations to the best of his abilities and time at his disposal. For the employer, better working arrangements mean that the company stands to improve productivity and profitability. Also, both the employers and employees can better satisfy their obligations and better enjoy their rights under the various legislations enacted in this regard.

While the policies in the UK and Australia are all geared towards a common end, the policies in the UK are more proactive and appear to protect both the employers and the employees. But Australian policies are more in the nature of minimum intervention so that the employer and employed together can work out mutually beneficial agreements amongst themselves. The legal system in Australia is also much more complex than in the UK and has evolved a standard agreement format to be adopted by the employer and employee so that a better work-life balance is achieved through common enterprise. But fact remains that Australian law, although more advanced than those in the US, for example, are still behind the UK legislation in protecting or even ensuring better work-life balance.

References

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Introduction

All workers face a great challenge trying to harmonize their lives, thus balancing between their works and families. In such a situation, families end up being affected. Some parents would like produce more children but the cost of them stopping to work seems too high.

Other couples are contented with the size of their families but want to work more (Di Cieri, Holmes, Abbott, & Pettit, 2002 p. 2). There is need for managers to encourage their workers to feel free to request for flexible working hours. Poor communication and cultural perceptions are the major obstacles to work-life balance for employees. Managers should change the cultural perceptions in their organizations to make sure those workers who need work-life balance are not seen as noncommittal to their work obligations.

Benefits of work-life balance for employees

If couples are forced to decide between bringing up their children and working, this will lead to very few children and very little employment. Having a good balance between work and life is a crucial issue for the well being of children because a child who is brought up working parents is thrice less likely to experience poverty compared to children with one working parent (Di Cieri, Holmes, Abbott, & Pettit, 2002 p. 1).

A good balance between work and family also reduces stress of the parents leading to more benefits to the relationship between children and parents as well as the relationship between both parents. Approximately 66% of mothers in OECD seek employment after their child is old enough to go to school.

This shows that families are capable of balancing their careers and families successfully. The number of hours an individual spends at work is also a significant factor of the balance between work and life. Research has indicated that long hours at work are likely to increase personal stress, endanger personal safety, and harm personal health. Besides, the more a person works the less likely will he/she be able to have time for other activities (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008 p. 10).

In the OECD, an average individual works 1739 hours each year and spends about 64% of their day for leisure and personal care (Bradford, 2011, par. 5). The balance of work and life does not necessarily mean an equal balance.

Managers play a very crucial role in helping their workers to attain the correct work-life balance. When managers promote a working environment that makes it easy for their employees to realize a good balance between their work and life, the organization will have motivated, healthier, more contented workers. The employees who have a better work-life balance are more satisfied with their jobs and eventually become more productive which is a benefit for the entire organization.

Managers can help their workforce to attain a work and life balance by: implementing flexible working schedules and work arrangements that meet the needs of employees, being respectful and thoughtful of employee personal responsibilities, creating time for employees to pursue career development and opportunities to serve the community, and by promoting a constructive work setting by providing good leadership and supporting all workers (Bohl, 2007 p. 25).

By providing a good work-life balance for the workers, the working environment becomes less stressful for the employees leading to increased organizational profits. Human resource managers should be more understanding and flexible with the needs of the employees in order to promote a successful and positive working environment (Halbert, 2008 p. 15).

Benefits of work-life balance for employers

There are both personal and organizational benefits for a work-life balance. The benefits for the organization include: increased personal accountability and productivity, better on the job relationships, communication and team work, improved group morale, and reduced general organizational stress.

Personal benefits include: healthier daily life balance and increased productivity, more fulfilling work experience, reduced stress, and improved work and off the job relationships. Work-life balance is not just a slogan but its life. There are various organizations who have adopted values that allow the workers to have a fulfilling work-life balance.

These companies have concentrated on the needs of their employees which are very crucial and the organizations have planned resolutions and opportunities which allow employees have more time for themselves, their families, as well as the society (Bohl, 2007 p. 20).

However, a few other companies have implemented a balance between work and life as directives of the human resources but not as a way of life or as a general corporate strategy. Such companies are gradually lagging behind. For all the parties involved in implementing a work-life balance a lot of work still needs to be done at many organizational levels. The distinct and most crucial principle that needs to be created is that it is not only possible to establish a work-life balance, but it is also proper, significant, and applicable to all the employees. Misconceptions are widespread that senior management does not need work-life balance. This fallacy also states that people should be workaholics to be successful.

Questions are being raised regarding the conventional explanations of what must be done in order to succeed in the corporate world. Many people particularly employees have come to the realization that they want to get involved with their families having to give up their advancement opportunities or their income.

Research has indicated that a majority of full time employees actually prefer shorter working hours and even if many organizations are slowly implementing flexible working practices such as part time jobs such working practices are characterized by limited career development opportunities, low skilled jobs and low pay (Giovanna, 2006 p. 1).

This is explained by believable market failures where an increasing number of employees believe that if they request for shorter working hours the boss is likely to assume that they are noncommittal to their jobs, employers may not have the necessary knowledge about recruitment and management of flexible practices like part time work and see such practices as a burden to them.

For many employees’ lives, time has become the new currency and they require more of it. It is exciting for those who know how to spare time for their families and still grow in their career. However, a majority of employees are forced to make tough decisions regarding their life. As the discussions about work-life balance increases, organizations as well as individuals must recognize and pay attention to these vital issues.

Work and life are not mutually exclusive and therefore people should not let the two issues conflict one another. Whether the debate is termed as work-life balance or family-life balance they are all based on life (Reynolds, Callender, & Edwards, 2003 p. 50). All people need a work-life balance even the most promising careers and the highest salaries. The high salaries and promising careers are of little help to the employees if their personal lives suffer because of excessive work.

Currently, when candidates are choosing the organization to work for, their main consideration is whether the organization allows their workers to concentrate on a balance between their work and their personal lives. Individuals should find ways to create the correct balance between their work and life.

The right work-life balance differs from one person to another even between workmates. Working long hours creates a balance and worth for some people while for others this work schedule makes them unproductive and they may not want to maintain it. After some time, the right work-life balance for all people changes. A person starting a career will have a different work-life balance from a person who is about to retire.

Similarly, for a person with a family, their right work-life balance will be different from that of a person with no children (Stone, 2011 p. 60). The correct work-life balance is likely to change over time and while people struggle to create a situation that enables employees to incorporate their personal or family life, the employees must find means of creating the best work-life balance for themselves.

When employers allow workers to work in flexible conditions they improve the lives of the employees by providing the best work-life balance.

This ultimately enables those who provide care to the old and sick to balance their community responsibilities with the organizational roles, reduces the number of people who depend solely on benefits, allows employees who are older to continue staying in the labor market, reduces poverty levels and the statistics of children of working parents who live in poverty, and helps workers to achieve the correct work-life or work-family balance.

A majority of women working on part time basis are working below their potential. Research has indicated that almost half of the women who work on part time basis have held jobs in the past which required higher qualifications or more responsibilities. Part time jobs mostly involve work positions with low pay. This results to lesser opportunities for such employees to enter the labor market leading to high economic losses as well as workplace inequality.

Working part time is one of the various ways of working in a flexible environment. Organizations should raise awareness of the various ways and change the notion that working part time must involve a fixed amount of time or days in a week or that working flexibly means working for lesser hours.

Current outlook of parenting means that more parents and particularly fathers would like to be able to work in a flexible environment so that they can spend some time with their families and be more active in raising their children. Flexibility is important for those who provide care in order for them to balance their responsibilities to provide care with their employment (Probert, 2007 p. 4). Older employees wish to extent their working lives but do not necessarily want to work full time.

In general, workers want to have a better balance between their responsibilities in the office with their obligations at home. Having the best work-life balance can help the organization to retain skilled and experienced employees and preserve quality and reduce recruitment costs. The talent pool of employees is increased when the organization offers flexible hours enabling employers to recruit candidates with better skills, retain committed and loyal employees. This way productivity will improve leading to an increase in organizational profits.

Employers should understand the importance of work-life balance to make sure that customers get quality services. Economic recession has forced employers to adopt more flexible working practices. The disadvantage of the recession in terms of working flexibility is that the number of workers holding part time jobs and who prefer to hold full time work has gone up (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 2002 p. 6).

The advantage of the recession is that the reaction of employers of providing more flexible work is an indication that organizational attitudes can change and organizational capability to embrace and make work-life balance have a long-term impact. Having a better work-life balance enables workers to be in a better position to balance both work obligations and home life.

Today, both parents want to balance between their families, work as well their caring obligations which nowadays are shared more equally (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 2002 p. 14). Flexible working conditions are a significant factor that employees consider when applying a job.

Male and female employees with children and those who provide care to the elderly or sick people consider work-life balance very important in a job. Modern parenting involves both parents making decisions together concerning the management of chores and meeting their family and children needs.

Childcare is no longer viewed as a responsibility of women alone. The role of fathers has become important in the equal division of duties and childcare. However, the desire of parents to spend more time with their families is limited by inflexible working environments.

Job design

Job design is about recruiting and designing a proper workload and the ability to manage employees working in different patterns. Understanding the prospective job responsibility and the necessary deliverables and outputs can convince employers that working full time is not the desired position (Kaila, 2005 p. 15). Advising employers on ways of evaluating if existing or new roles can be worked with work-life flexibility can assist in attracting a broader pool of talent to the organization.

Job design can identify whether working flexibility can apply to a specific job. Managers should put more emphasis on the amount of time required to complete the job or what the job entails instead of taking the view that all jobs are designed on a full time basis. Poor job design may be the cause of the difficulties related to the implementation of flexible working or work-life balance practices.

Conclusion

Line managers have a significant role to play in the implementation of practices that encourage work-life balance. Managers should be trained so that they may understand and be able evaluate if a job can be performed part time and support the workers in the new job practices (Yeandle, Philips, Scheibl, Wigfield, & Wise, p75). When performing job design managers should involve existing workers who want the work-life balance because they are the people who fully understand the job limitations.

It is also important for managers to encourage good practice when advertising job opportunities. In most cases, employers have part time employees in their organizations but do not seem to understand the wide variety of working options available when hiring new employees.

Employers should be encouraged to design and advertise jobs that can offer the right work-life balance. Small and medium size enterprises lack a dedicated human resource function in their organizations and therefore both the employees and employers in such companies do not know where to get advice for debating these matters.

Reference List

Bohl, D.B. (2007). Work-life balance isn’t PR slogan its life. Reflections coaching, LLC. Web.

Bradford, H. (2011). The 10 Countries With The Best Work-Life Balance: OECD. The Huffington Post. Web.

Di Cieri, H, Holmes, B., Abbott, J. & Pettit, T. (2002). Work/life balance strategies: progress and problems in Australian organizations. (Working Paper 58/02, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia). Web.

Giovanna, R. (2006). Reconciling family and work: New Challenges for Social Policies in Europe. Milano. FrancoAngeli.

Greenhaus, J.H. & Parasuraman, S. (2002). Toward reducing some critical gaps in work-family research. Human resource management review. 12, 299-313.

Halbert, T. & Ingulli, E. (2008). Law & Ethics in the business environment. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Kaila, H.L. (2005). Human resource management (in Two Volumes). Delhi: Kalpaz Publications.

Probert, R. (2007). Family life and the law: under one roof. Cornwall, Great Britain: Ashgate Publishing Company.

Stone, R. (2011). Human Resource Management. Australia: John Wiley & Sons.

Reynolds, T., Callender, C. & Edwards, R. (2003). Caring and counting: The impact of mothers’ employment on family relationships. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Yeandle, S., Philips, J., Scheibl, F., Wigfield, A. & Wise, S.(2003). Line managers and family-friendly employment: roles and perspectives. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Introduction

Work-life balance is a top agenda item for human resource managers of most multinational and large organizations. It is even the top priority issue for employees everywhere. Whether to adopt work-life balance or flexible schedules remains a contentious issue especially with times of great business economic threats on one hand and increased family pressure on the other.

Even though organizations globally manage a workforce that is very culturally diverse, they are faced with one similar challenge of managing a more informed workforce which demands for more and more rights even in difficult economic times.

Even the environment itself promotes such demands to arise and thus managers must remain competitively capable of handling this. For instance, a recent survey and report in the UK showed that longer drinking hours have significantly increased work absence (Churchard 2011).

There is a continuous search for ways that will not force people to choose between work and family or friends. In multinationals, the task is not as easy as it may be on local companies. The international human resource managers are faced by an extra task of understanding the various demographic and cultural differences in the countries in which their organizations are to be found.

This means that the HR policies may not be directly transferable among the countries. A policy that may be applicable in one culture without any resistance from staff may face rejection if applied in a different culture if customization is not done.

In this paper, focus is given to personnel policies that relate to flexibility and work-life balance. The human resource practices in some local and multinational companies are addressed and it is sought if a set of policies related to work-life balance in a multinational corporation can be applicable to a subsidiary in a different country.

“Trends of Working Time in Europe”

In Europe, clear efforts to improve on working hours began in the 1980s, even though there had been efforts here and there to achieve the same. In Germany, working time flexibility increased since the compromise in the metal working industry in 1984. Today, over 52% of all the dependent employees work within a flexible organization. (Carl & Maier 2009)

In an experts meeting held in Dublin on 3^rd June 2011, Boulin (2011) suggested that institutions in the European Union adopt policies that favor work/life balance through parental leaves and childcare facilities and also gender mainstreaming. A suggestion was therefore made that revision of working time be done in regards to long working hours, working time options and rules concerning unsocial hours.

On the same meeting, Italian human resource expert Addabbo Tindara suggested that the quality of work dimensions be looked at from six sides namely the “social, economic, work-life balance, complexity, organizational and ergonomic dimensions.”

According to the Norwegian National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI), flexible working hours can be a major hindrance to work-life balance. Data shows that for people working less than 40 hours a week, there is no much work-family conflict.

However, for employees doing over 40 hours there is greater work-family conflict. According to the study by the institute, predictability is better than flexibility as far as work-family balance is concerned. The idea of working hours being flexible is not enough, they should be predictable too.

Flexible contracts can come in form of temporary working, fixed term contracts, sub contracting, and zero hour’s contracts. Other ways of creating flexible work hours are part-time work, flexitime and overtime. People can also do job sharing and compressed hours. Different countries have adopted different forms of flexible work in line with cultural beliefs, religion and moral principles.

Literature Review

Work-Life Balance

There is an increasing rate for the demand for work-life balance solutions by employees and managers (Bird 2006). According to Bird, work-life is a serious concern even to the senior executives for the following reasons. Work-life balance affects growth and profit of the company i.e. on and off-the-job stresses adversely affect bottom line growth and drive down productivity.

There is full engagement in customer service- this creates an unnecessarily stressed and out of balance workforce. There is increased expectation by the current pool of younger workers that there is a life to live other than and out of the job. Health cost solution- there is a rising cost of health care by organizations owing to the increased work related illnesses.

The health perspective

According to Mayo-Clinic, inability to have a good work-life balance has far reaching health effects especially to the worker. Fatigue, suppressed immunity and general unproductivity are just among the many problems the worker experiences. Mayo-Clinic proposes a strategy to strike a better balance. They propose an approach that starts with tracking one’s weekly schedule and cutting or delegating those tasks you cannot handle.

They also advise people to learn to say no when extra work out of schedule is assigned to make room for joy and additional meaningful activities. Work should be left at the workplace. Advice is therefore given, especially with the current technology that could connect home to work, that people should learn to separate work from personal activities. Good time management is especially crucial.

This goes a long way in giving the worker enough time to relax and attend to other personal matters. In addition, it goes a long way in preventing conflicts at home more so for the married workforce.

Above all, a good and healthy nutrition coupled with daily physical activity routines to nurture the physical and emotional wellbeing are recommended. It goes without saying that taking time to engage in regular physical activity in a preventive measure to cardiovascular diseases among other illnesses that are accentuated by living physically inactive life.

This is a trend that is very common among the working class. As such, taking time to do activities that one enjoys could be a good thing to do (Stiles 2009). It is one’s responsibility to evaluate oneself and seek professional help when it is the right time.

Working long hours and working in unsocial hours of the night necessitate frequent medical check ups and other forms of medical attention. Multinationals which have subsidiaries in areas where there is no elaborate legislation on flexible and work-life balance must take this into account. Their human resources management must also create provisions that will ensure they are well trained for health work related life.

This will increase employee retention, reduce days that employees miss job due to work-related sicknesses and in the end company maintains profitability. Taking the health of the workforce with high regard also motivates the employees, which is a gain to the organization.

Flex-time

Mayo-Clinic suggests that one can take advantage of available options like flex hours, job sharing, compressed week and telecommuting among others. Control over one’s hours will give less stress. Flexible working arrangements have widely been advocated for by governments and private institutions. The Australian Government (2011) attaches the following benefits to flexible working arrangements.

To begin with, the Australian government has realized that flex-time improves the firm’s ability to attract skilled and motivated employees, not to mention the effect of enhancing employee retention.

Staffs who are allowed to take flex-time working schedules eventually become loyal to the organization since they feel the organization appreciates them by giving them space to make their choices. The staffs therefore execute their duties as if they are shareholders of the organization.

The government of Australia has also recognized that allowing for flexi-time schedules is a great step towards increasing trust and respect between employees and the management. When employees get flex-time opportunities, they end up contributing positively to the organization by improving productivity.

This is because flexible work schedules can enable staff to execute their office duties even in odd hours which otherwise they would not have been working. It is well identified that flexi-time schedules lead to a reduction in staff absenteeism and labour turnover, eventually raising the company’s productivity and profitability.

The Australian Government (2011) also highlights that flexible work schedules go a long way in reducing stress levels and boosting morale and commitment in employees. Finally, flexible work schedules reduce discrimination at work place.

After recognizing the above benefits of flexible work schedules, the Australian Government (2011) went ahead to propose a three step approach to ease the introduction of flexible work practices. In the first step, new arrangements appropriate to the individual are decided in consideration of available options. The second step is to plan the strategy, especially on how to make the negotiations.

The final one is to engage the actual negotiations with the employer, giving good reasons and explanations on benefits to you and the organization too. To the employer, the government says that this move will increase recruitment of the number of persons with disabilities. These people have an advantage of lower absenteeism, lower cost of hiring them, building staff morale and fewer accidents at work.

In a case study of KPMG UK, a study was done to help in improvement of the performance of its large workforce in the country. The main challenges to be overcome were to cater for the greater expectations of freedom from staff. The real challenge was therefore to create a flexible working strategy that could both meet the staff needs and still improve its competitiveness.

Line managers were therefore set to work along HR to evaluate the requests. The results were glide time, part-time working hours, job sharing, additional holiday purchase, unpaid leave, career break and home working. Time off to deal with child care is also allowed (Giglio n.d).

These are indications that KPMG adopted an approach that favored flex time as opposed to balanced work-life. In the long run, it achieved business benefits through creating a more loyal, motivated and productive staff, reduced recruitment cost due to better staff retention, a diverse workforce was maintained, and reinforced the company’s core values.

Despite the fact that KPMG is a multinational that has subsidiaries in almost every part of the world, the human resource practices that relate to work-life and flexible working do not apply in all subsidiaries. Those in areas where employees are not much into flexible work hours do full time with core working hours being ten to four o’clock but reporting to work at eight in the morning and leaving at six o’clock in the evening (Giglio n.d).

The Ad Council, a private non profit organization with head offices in New York and Washington D.C has an average of 100 employees. All the employees are given liberty to utilize flexible hours provided they show that their productivity will not decline nor will the company incur further financial obligations. This program began with one employee who requested to be allowed to work from home.

The employees hence gain in working in a happy environment spending more time with their children. Employees end up staying while the company remains attractive to job seekers. The company does not have to give several leaves like long maternity or paternity leaves since the parents can work soonest at the comfort of their homes (Vaele 2011).

A furniture company, Ward’s Furniture based in Long Beach, California began to look for flexibility options as a means of taming employee turnover and thereby retain its valuable employees.

The employees are treated like a family while the company still manages to keep its stores staffed. It was able to realize between 5 and 10 percent increase in annual sales in a business unfriendly time while most of its competitors shut their doors with lack of business.

Management of global workforce in relation to flexi-time and work-life balance

It is difficult for organizations that have a global presence to manage a flexible and very satisfied workforce. On the international arena, the managers are faced with a challenge of making flexible schedules for the employees.

Most have therefore adopted a flexible schedule of work at home, which requires commitment both from employers and employees. In a study to search the applicability of this technique globally, it was found that there were more challenges in countries with collectivist cultures. Business Process Organizations and IT firms have gone a mile ahead in establishing such schedules.

In most countries that have effected flexible work hours, the call to have them comes as a result of different employee or employer needs. For instance, employees may call for flexible hours to allow them attend to other personal issues and then compensate with later hours.

The call may also come from the employer in a bid to tame employee turnover, to share work due to inadequate supply of labour or to give chances to more employees or people with disabilities. The policies thus adopted will have a different basis in the effort to meet these demands. Cross border transfer of the policies may therefore not be possible as it will be difficult to meet these demands with just one set of homogeneous provisions.

Perceptions on position, culture and career

This would be one of the greatest variables in determining if transfer of personnel policies across borders will be effective. Surprisingly, this also has to do with the management’s taste as it may determine if these kinds of flexible schedules will be introduced.

A study done on women around the globe showed that 81% of the North American women would make career sacrifices to improve personal life. This compares to 70% Asian women and 55% European (Rudrappa 2005).

Even when academic credentials and other experiences are very important aspects in the selection of the right candidates for a job, an arising criterion is getting the right people in the right place with focus on cultural fit. International companies like Ikea have their selection of candidates more leaning towards cultural fit. Oracle is one other company that will use this criterion even for managerial positions.

Other multinational companies like the Japanese Sony and All Nippon Airways do not let academic documents get in the way of getting the right staff. Internationalization calls for special attention such that the strategies applied are consistent while at the same time being flexible. In the end, the organization is able to meet international standards while at the same time being sensitive to local needs.

In conclusion flexibility of people both in mindset, working hours and other key aspects is deeply etched into cultures. It is one of the reasons international human resource managers will look at cultural affiliation when considering who to consider for a position.

Career women and flexibility

In proportion to the relative number of employed women against employed men, women seem to be the largest group that is affected by lack of flexibility of work. In fact, a study was done to determine this and it was found that 67% of women interviewed would voluntarily leave work to stay at home as a wife or mother.

An overwhelming 79% would quit for family obligations while 38% would do if they were forced to stay at home to be mothers or family custodians. However, challenges are still imposed by technology by bringing a work environment at home. It adversely affects women since they are now expected to balance the life of childcare, professional work and family.

ILO asserts that flexible working could lead to gender balance if well managed. They warn that it could lead to the woman being more oppressed if much work is brought to the home environment while there are lots of other domestic issues to handle (International Labour Organization 2007). As such, career women would end up not being favored by the flexibility of working as expected.

Criticisms

In an effort to achieve maximum productivity of an international human workforce, the focus should not dwell on the culture of the group from which the international organizations draw their workforce from. With the world becoming a global village, most of these hard-line cultures are being abandoned to embrace modern living. There is also a stronger need-based force, stronger than cultural tendencies that defy culture.

For instance, most multinational companies looking for labour force would go where it is cheaper, that is in countries like China, India and generally Africa.

The three are deeply rooted in the connectivism culture and are likely to oppose ideas like night shifts, working on holy days and other special times. However, this is only ideal. Members of these cultural groups have swam against the tide and made an impressively flexible workforce.

With several advances having been made globally in management, it is only evident that either flexible time or good work-life balance is not entirely what is needed to increase sales or acquire a competitive edge; there are a myriad of many other ways.

It would be wrong, therefore, to conclude that because a company used one of these at a certain time and performed well, it is the cause of increased productivity. It is often a complex interaction of these factors. Of major importance is the psychological consideration of individuals as separate entities and identifying each person’s needs.

Transfer of personnel policies across borders

The transfer of personnel policies on flexible and work-life balance is limited by the reasons each country established its statutes as compared to the other than it is by cultural differences.

There is also lots of revision of the statutes as the workers and work demands keep changing and therefore necessitating their constant change. The absence of a very elaborate policy direction from the International Labour Organization is a limitation in itself to a smooth transfer of personnel policies regarding this area among nations.

During its presidency of the European Union, Sweden promoted its working life. It is a clear indication that there is no homogeneous body of social science knowledge about work-life balance which can allow policy formulation and legislation.

The incongruence in the laws formulated and lack of information in certain cases in different countries therefore pose a hindrance to easy transfers of personnel across borders. What may be considered as a bundle of family friendly practices in one country may be the opposite in the other (Tulgan 1996).

Comparative issues have not been adequately dealt with to identify the key issues of work-life balance. There are therefore many cross-national differences in assumptions about the norms of family life and employer’s responsibilities. Divorce rates are a good indicator of this (Guest 2001).

A good example is in what was back in the years, the Soviet Union. It used to have a strong stress on welfare and family support in its factory system but with the collapse of the communist system, a breakdown of these institutions was experienced.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has certain provisions that regard healthy working time and family friendly working time. It thus works towards seeking a solution of the traditional “male bread winner- female home maker” situation. Much of what it proposes falls within the flexible schedule brackets as part of it is part-time jobs and hourly wages for full time jobs (International Labour Organization 2007).

Europe however is a step ahead in promoting some homogeny even though there still arises some disparities in legislation among the member countries. It is for that reason easier to have transfer of these policies within Europe.

The ICT industry has been successful in maneuvering around most legislative and cultural barriers that may come in the way of flexible and work-life balance. The main reason is that much of ICT-related work can be done form whichever point in location. Technology has eased the barriers even though it has not cleared them. Most jobs that can be done online and perhaps have no tight deadlines encourage flexibility.

Other than working as a ‘Flexibility Coach’, the human resource manager of a multinational must orientate himself to understanding of diverse cultures and their attitudes towards all aspects of work. As employees of today focus on improving on their work-life balance, the option of across border transfers is at stake.

Employees want to be either near home or at home, whether working or attending to personal matters. In this perspective, IHRM must focus on the real impact of flexible work-life balance.

In most developing, nations especially of Africa and Asia, the concept of flexibility may be relatively new and if it has been adopted, it is only by a few companies related to ICT, though still to a lesser magnitude.

For instance, choice may be on when to work but not necessarily on where to do it. For multinationals that have expanded to these areas, the use of a common HR policy on all aspects may not be possible, unless the members of the subsidiary group are flexible in their mindset to accommodate it.

The culture of the host nation and donor nation may differ and this will have its share of the reasons transfer of personnel policies will not be efficient. In a case study to compare such cultures, Taiwan and UK were taken into consideration. First, UK is a developed economy while Taiwan is an upcoming economy. Taiwanese principles are based on Confucianism while UK principles are based on individualism.

Duty to family, harmonious attitude and a consensus towards a conflict-free working are some of the guiding principles for Taiwan. For UK, the individualism approach has no such thing as society to regard. The Taiwanese system provides permanent work because of values of Confucianism like “long term orientation”.

On the other hand, at least 64% of UK’s workforce is either home-based workers or part-time workers. On such basis, transferability of the policies is therefore difficult for the two countries (Chang, Wilkinson & Mellahi 2007).

Challenges facing international work time management

One of the greatest challenges a general manager of an international organization would face is managing people of different cultures in relation to productivity for his organization. The manager is left with an option of considering labour cost factors and economic factors as the major determinants.

Even the expansion would need to consider these cultural factors. The prevailing religion could be considered as cultural. Religion affects people’s stands and these would best be factored in consideration of setting up an international business. Selecting managers for various assignments would mean screening them for such cultural factors for the sake of adaptability, self orientation and relational skills.

Agreements on work life and flexible work

Most researchers seem to agree that flex time and work balance must go hand in hand if it is possible for a specific job. Mayo-Clinic seems especially to propose a harmonized balance of the two. There is especially one general agreement in all schools of thought that the number of hours each person works per week could be rescheduled to become more productive and beneficial to the employee.

Scholars of different schools of thought seem to agree that flexible work schedules can be either beneficial or detrimental to the organization. Detriment seems to come from less commitment of work-at-home employees.

Conflicts on work life and flexible work

The greatest conflict arises when the two aspects of work improvement are not differentiated and are addressed as one and the same thing. The Work Foundation (2008) addresses work-life balance as “having a measure of control over when, where and how you work leading to ability to enjoy an optimal quality of life” (para 5). In this definition, more of the issues addressed would rather fall on flexible work than work-life balance.

It does not address the internal adjustment of the individual in terms of preparedness, personal schedule and attitudes towards work in an effort to make sure that work does not stall personal affairs or the other way.

Some scholars depict work-life balance and the right to ask for a flexible working as impossible to overcome owing to the differences in cultures. They suggest that it could only be handled like subsidiaries requiring totally independent practices and policies.

Other scholars imply that with the globalization of management, everything else concerning the working environment could be ‘globalized’ and enable transfer of personnel policies internationally.

Summary

There is diversity amongst European countries concerning the basis on which statutes on flexible working were introduced. UK, for instance, introduced them in response to labour market shortages and to eliminate work-family conflict that became a barrier to employment.

Other countries introduced theirs in response to unemployment and therefore it was a means of work sharing. The compatibility of personnel policies of such countries is therefore capped by these facts and is difficult to effect.

The internationalization of HRM is limited by social cultural factors. Some of these factors are issues like common age, size, and norms of behavior, presence of customs, influence of labour unions, labour market and perceptions of different stakeholders. When looked at from a flexibility dimension, many other factors like pay and benefits, communication, transfers and business environment come into play.

It is becoming increasingly important for multinational enterprises to globalize their human resource practices. How best to do it on a culturally diverse workforce depends on the continued innovativeness and creativity of the managers. Gaps between strategic management and international human resource management function must be bridged.

Despite its difficulty, it has proved possible with several multinational companies effectively effecting flexible schedules to all their subsidiaries. German companies are known, for instance, to expand to Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia and still successfully implement their personnel policies in all of them.

International human resource management is faced with such emerging issues and must be competitive enough to cater for it to overcome such challenges and retain a competitive edge. The disparities in how such policies evolve must be catered for because the rate of changes may not be the same. It will even mean constant revision of the policies in a fast changing world.

Countries that are technologically advanced are easier to manage because infrastructure supports such changes. The human resource management team will however experience a higher demand from employees of such countries.

Competent international human resource managers will, according to this research, be open-minded so as to accommodate different cultures in the work-life balance requests. In the long run, the human resource manager seeks to help the employees achieve personal satisfaction as they achieve organizational goals.

He may not be able to put into effect these flexible schedules for managers since their roles are more demanding and options like sharing will be out of question even with much delegation. Differences in cultural factors are partially a hindrance to the transferability of personnel policies, but not a block never to be overcome.

List of References

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