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Work - life balance

Work life balance is about helping you to get the most out of your work and your home life by giving you some control over  

  • the number of hours you work
  • the pattern of hours you work
  • where you work - thanks to the internet, an increasing number of people are able to work from home. 

Government, industry and the trades unions recognise that introducing family friendly work-life balance policies is likely to result in a more motivated, productive and less stressed work force.

 

Employer benefits include:

  • reduced absenteeism
  • better employee retention
  • increased productivity
  • encouragement for applicants such as mothers of young children, older part time workers and carers, resulting in:
  • a more diverse workforce which understands diverse customer needs better.

A 2005 survey of employers, which the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) undertook, highlights the importance of flexible working practices in particular: 

  • 75% of those contacted indicated that they have a positive effect on staff retention
  • 70% said that they had a positive effect on staff motivation.

Employee benefits include:

  • greater control of your working life
  • more time to enjoy life outside work
  • an increased sense of ownership and responsibility.

A survey carried out jointly by Lloyd’s TSB and Working Families in January 2005 revealed that the top New Year resolution for two thirds of employees was to get a better work life balance, whilst only one in five had higher pay or promotion at the top of their list. Since then a lot of progress has been made.

 

In 2003 parents with a child aged under six (or parents of a disabled child under the age of eighteen) gained the right to request flexible working arrangements from their employer. In April 2007 this right was extended to the carers of adults.

 

In  2006 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (now known as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) carried out the third of a series of Work-Life Balance Employee Surveys into the patterns of working hours amongst employees living in various parts of Great Britain. This revealed the following trends:

  • a clear increase in the rate of flexible working, with the majority of employees having worked flexibly in the past year
  • a decrease in the number of employees who wanted flexible working hours but who were not allowed this
  • little evidence of resentment from workers still on fixed hours towards their colleagues who enjoyed flexible arrangements.

In fact, the indications are that flexible working hours are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

 

Another major influence on work-life balance is the number of hours of overtime worked, or the amount of annual leave entitlement not taken. Overtime can be either unpaid or unpaid, and it can be either voluntary or in effect compulsory because of the culture of the organisation concerned.

 

The DTI Employee survey of 2006 found that the most common reason which employees gave for working overtime (44%), or for foregoing some holiday leave entitlement (26%), was that there was too much work to finish within the normal hours. On the other hand the same survey showed that 69% of employees were satisfied with their current working hours.

 

If you are interested in following up on some specific aspects of work life balance, have a look at the separate articles on Family friendly employment law, Homebased working, Job sharing and Flexible and part time working.

Useful Websites

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

www.flexibility.co.uk

www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk