Top Research Papers on Work Life Balance

Our roles in life demand that required time, energy and commitment. Conflicts occur when the demands of work and non-work roles are incompatible in some respect or the other hampering our participation in other roles. Hence, there needs to be some balance between our work life and personal life. Traditionally, we see work and life as competing activities fighting for our time. Modern concept of Work Life Balance is focused on offering the employees the flexibility to work anywhere and anytime. This descriptive paper tries to focus on the need for Work Life Balance in this stressful environment...

This issue of Foundation Focus looks at work–life balance and some of the factors that help or hinder workers in combining working with non-working life. Since average working hours have been decreasing steadily, it asks whether work–life balance still matters. How can the Working Time Directive help, and what role do flexible working time policies have? What specific supports are needed by those with care responsibilities for children or adults? Work–life balance is connected to other aspects of life, including the need for high-quality childcare, addressing the gender employment gap and maki...

This powerful resource investigates how a positive work–life balance can help create engaged, productive employees, how imbalances in work–life balance create serious issues for workers, and identifies different ways to greatly improve one's work–life balance. Of the 35 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), all except the United States provide nationwide paid maternity leave. This is but one example of how the United States has not made adequate provisions to safeguard the work–life balance of its workforce—to the detriment of the overall economic pros...

Two years ago, when we received the proposal to engage in an editorial project for a handbook on work–life balance research, we were hesitant to accept, aware of the increasingly contested and problematic nature of the very construct of ‘work–life balance’. However, we eventually decided to accept the invitation, with the idea of collating not so much an exhaustive compendium of the research works focused on the relationship between work and other dimensions of the biographical experience of individuals, but rather a text offering both theoretical reflections and empirical research examples il...

There is no perfect recipe to balance work and life in academic research, so everyone has to find their own optimal balance to derive fulfilment from life and work.

The Problem Today’s global workforce is rife with dual-earner couples. For dual-earner couples, finding a suitable balance between work and living is often difficult, creating a need for organizations globally to be aware of the similarities and dissimilarities that exist for dual-earner couples around the world. This article identifies the work–life issues of dual-earner couples and organizational practices in both the United States and India in an effort to help organizations effectively manage work–life policies affecting the gender role dynamics of today’s multicultural organizations. The ...

This chapter explores the role of human resource managers in work-life balance, analysing the evolution of women's role in society and in the labour market. The existence of different barriers that keep women far of managerial positions is pointed out, as well as the factors that could explain why this glass ceiling is still present. Human resource managers play an important role as agents responsible for the profitability and growth of the organization, but also as victims of work-family conflict of their own and as important actors in implementation of family-supportive policies designed to ...

This survey analyses the political context, the legislative frameworks and the policy developments in an area that is now widely termed 'work-life balance' in both the United Kingdom and Germany. It also looks at the theoretical notions of time in relation to work and family life and gives examples of research in the public, private and voluntary sector.

Removal of choice can be subtle or implicit, and professionals can often realise it is their non-professional life that they want prioritised: if the price of caring for family is reducing on-call commitments—and accordingly pay or training progression rates—is that a price you’re willing to pay?

Based on a thorough review of the research on work-life balance, Sirgy and Lee identify a set of personal interventions that selected employees commonly use to increase their work-life balance and life satisfaction. Personal interventions of work-life balance involve five behavior-based strategies and four cognition-based strategies. The behavior-based strategies are engaging in multiple roles and domains, increasing role enrichment, engaging in behavior-based compensation, managing role conflict, and creating role balance. The cognition-based strategies are segmenting roles and domains, integ...

The concept of work-life balance has been studied for decades, but continuous changes in lifestyles, changes in working conditions, changes in the economy and technology, and increasing of demanding jobs always require an examination of the right balance between personal and work life, for the purpose of maintaining the well-being and safety of the employee and the productivity of the company. Exploring the concept helps to optimize the well-being and safety of the employee and the productivity of the company. This study aims to systematically review the research studies’ focus and trends obse...

Even the most dedicated teachers have the right to relax and do something trivial with their time, if that is their choice. Margaret Adams suggests some strategies.

This article discusses the development of the concept of the ‘work-life balance’ as a means of tackling the problem of increasing amounts of stress in the work-place as people try to juggle a wide range of factors in their life/work environment, including: work; family; friends; health; and spirit/self. It is argued that, of the factors involved, work is the one which is most elastic and can be managed in such a way as to avoiding jeopardizing the other factors. A major driver of the trend towards achieving work-life balance is the fact that younger people are not prepared to work in the same ...

Initiatives During 2011/12, the Bank pursued initiatives relating to work-life balance, including the provision of training, access to flexible work arrangements and support facilities. A focus group study conducted during the year provided valuable information in formulating work-life balance strategies for the new Diversity Plan. Training was provided to managers on how to approach flexible work requests, in line with the Federal Government's National Employment Standards under the Fair Work Act 2009. The Standards give an employee who is a parent of a child under school age, or under 18 and...

Often times dentists, along with members of their staff, get so wrapped up in providing the best patient care possible they forget to take some time out of the day to focus on their own health and wellness.

In this article, I contend that the well-intentioned discourse of work/life balance in the popular and scholarly press actually may undermine women's and men's attempts to live fulfilling lives. Drawing on feminist and critical perspectives, as well as my own efforts to find "balance" in a two-career family with two children under the age of 4, I illustrate (a) how the work/life discourse reflects the individualism, achievement orientation, and instrumental rationality that is fundamental to modem bureaucratic thought and action and (b) how such discourse may further entrench people in the wor...

It is not easy to juggle the demands of career and personal life. Between managing work responsibilities and deadlines, school and community activities, household responsibilities, and ongoing care of family members (children, teens, and older adults), schedules fill up without free time to spare. For most people it is an ongoing challenge to reduce stress and maintain balance in key areas of your life.

There are many different ways to define work–life balance. Some scholars emphasize that work–life balance requires balancing demands of both paid work and family responsibilities or maximizing satisfaction by minimizing conflict between paid work and family responsibilities. Others view work–life balance as encompassing the way that boundaries blur between work, family, and leisure time. In attempting to address work–life balance, workers are generally trying to preserve both quality of life, and potential for career advancements, while employers are trying to preserve high productivity and re...

In this article, I contend that the well-intentioned discourse of work/life balance in the popular and scholarly press actually may undermine women’s and men’s attempts to live fulfilling lives. Drawing on feminist and critical perspectives, as well asmyown efforts to find “balance” in a two-career family with two children under the age of 4, I illustrate (a) how the work/life discourse reflects the individualism, achievement orientation, and instrumental rationality that is fundamental to modern bureaucratic thought and action and (b) how such discourse may further entrench people in the work...

Based on data generated in autoethnographic conversations among the three authors, in this article the authors critique the prevailing metaphor of work—life balance. They offer instead a conceptualization of the relationship between work and nonwork aspects of life that is more dynamic and less reductionist and in which emotions, as well as issues of autonomy, control, and identity, are integral features. These conversations elucidate home and work realms not as reified entities but rather as elastic constructions reinforced and also at times changed and redrawn in the course of the authors' i...