Stress and Coping in the Workplace II:

Work-life balance policies and practices

 Overview

1 2 3
Work–life Workplace well- HR policies and
(im)balance being practices intended
• Workplace trends • What is workplace well- to enhance work-life
• Key challenges being? balance
• Strategies • Why is it important?
• Work–life balance  • Fostering workplace well-
work–life integration? being
  “A good work–life balance means you
have harmony between different
aspects of your life, where benefits
gained from each area can support
and strengthen the others” –
Healthdirect Australia
 “…equal engagement (both in terms
Work–life of time and psychological
balance – involvement) in and equal satisfaction
derived from work and family roles”
Definitions (Greenhaus, Collins, & Shaw, 2003)
 Unusually prescriptive in that it
specifies an equal division of time,
involvement, and satisfaction
between the work and non-work
domains as the ideal scenario
  “Satisfaction and perceptions of
success in meeting work and non-
work role demands, low levels of
conflict among roles, and
opportunity for inter-role
enrichment, meaning that
experiences in one role can improve
Work–life performance and satisfaction in other
roles as well” (Frone, 2003;
balance – Greenhaus & Allen, 2010; Valcour,
2007)
Definitions
 Work–life balance can mean
different things to different people
depending on the demands and
values of their work and the personal
identities that are most salient and
meaningful (Kossek et al., 2012)
 Work–life balance around the world

Read more here: https://hbr.org/2015/02/what-millennials-want-from-work-charted-across-the-world

Work–life balance around the world
 Organisational Barriers
• What barriers do supervisors face in accommodating
employees’ work–life balance requests?

Lauzun, H. M., Morganson, V. J., Major, D. A., & Green, A. P. (2010). Seeking work-life balance: Employees'
requests, supervisors' responses, and organizational barriers. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 13(3), 184-205.
 Individual Barriers
• Neuroticism
Aryee, S., Srinivas, E. S., & Tan, H.
H. (2005). Rhythms of life:
Antecedents and outcomes of work-
family balance in employed parents.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
90(1), 132–146.
• Perfectionism
• Workaholism
• Obsessive Passion
(as opposed to
Harmonious Passion)
 How can we enhance WLB?
Work-Life Strategy is a
Measuring the
business strategy – to
effectiveness of your
make it work, top
work-life programmes
management as a whole
allows you to
needs to buy into it and
determine whether
align organisational
they have met their
processes to it.
objectives.

Organisations with a
Once you know your good understanding of
business and its own business needs
employee needs have and processes will be
been obtained, you better able to customise
can design and a successful Work-Life
implement Strategy.
appropriate work-life
programmes.

Read more here:

https://www.mom.gov.sg/~/media/mom/documents/employment-practices/wlsreport
final.pdf
How can we enhance WLB?
 How can we enhance WLB?

Chan, X. W., Kalliath, T., Brough, P., Siu, O. L., O’Driscoll, M. P., & Timms, C. (2016). Work–family
enrichment and satisfaction: the mediating role of self-efficacy and work–life balance. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(15), 1755-1776.

Self-efficacy: One’s belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a

task
 How can we enhance WLB?

Direnzo, M. S., Greenhaus, J. H., & Weer, C. H. (2015). Relationship between protean career orientation
and work–life balance: A resource perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(4), 538-560.

Protean career orientation (PCO): Individuals as “agents of their own career destinies”
Whole-life perspective: Viewing their career broadly within the context of their entire life
 How can we enhance WLB?

Hirschi, A., Shockley, K. M., & Zacher, H. (2019). Achieving work-family balance: An action
regulation model. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), 150-171.
 How can we enhance WLB?

Hirschi, A., Shockley, K. M., & Zacher, H. (2019). Achieving work-family balance: An action
regulation model. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), 150-171.
 How can we enhance WLB?

Hirschi, A., Shockley, K. M., & Zacher, H. (2019). Achieving work-family balance: An action
regulation model. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), 150-171.
Work–Life Balance  Work–Life Integration

“…the traditional image of a scale associated with work/life

balance creates a sense of competition between the two
elements. Work/Life Integration instead is an approach that
creates more synergies between all areas that define “life”:
work, home/family, community, personal well-being, and
health.” – Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
Workplace Well-being as a Facilitator

Danna, K., & Griffin, R. W. (1999). Health and well-being in the workplace: A
review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of Management, 25(3), 357-384.
 How does WLB contribute to
workplace well-being

Zheng, C., Molineux, J., Mirshekary, S., & Scarparo, S. (2015). Developing individual and organisational
work-life balance strategies to improve employee health and wellbeing. Employee Relations, 37(3), 354-379.
 Family-friendly workplace provisions negotiated
between an employer and its employees may
include:
 accessing annual leave in single or part-day
periods
 taking time off in lieu of overtime payments
 working additional hours to make-up for time
taken off
 accessing accrued rostered days off in part-days
Work-life or more flexibly
practices/policies  enabling children to access the workplace (where
in Australia safe) or providing a carer’s room, child care
facilities or information about where parents can
access these facilities near their workplace
 working part-time or creating part-time work
opportunities
 job share arrangements
 telecommuting or home-based work.
 There are a wide variety of initiatives that an organisation can
introduce as part of a flexible family-friendly workplace
strategy. These include:
 ensuring employees and potential employees are informed
of available family-friendly working arrangements at
recruitment and induction
 organising staff meetings when most people can attend
 providing unpaid leave during school holiday periods to
accommodate carer’s responsibilities
Work-life  creating meaningful part-time employment opportunities
practices/policies  providing periods of paid parental leave
in Australia  consenting to an employee working flexible hours to
accommodate their personal circumstances such as
dropping off or picking up children from school or day
care, or assisting elderly family members
 making sure that employees on parental leave are kept up
to date about what is going on in the workplace including
any changes that might occur
 organising professional development or training during
ordinary work hours.
 Checklist for a family-friendly workplace:
 Is the concept of work and family balance and its benefits
positively received and understood by managers and
employees?
 Is it acknowledged that employees have important roles and
responsibilities outside the workplace?
 Are there consultative processes in place that enable staff to talk
collectively and individually about business and employee
needs for work and family balance?
 Are employees aware of what family-friendly entitlements exist
in the workplace and how to utilise the provisions?
Work-life  Are the family-friendly provisions documented in writing and
practices/policies easily accessible to all employees?

in Australia  Are employees who use family-friendly provisions, such as

flexible working hours or parental leave, treated the same as
other employees when assessing opportunities within the
organisation, including promotion and training opportunities?
 Is there an internal process to implement flexible working
arrangements for employees?
 Have you considered using an individual flexibility
arrangement to accommodate an individual employee’s specific
needs?
 Are regular reviews conducted of existing family-friendly
 The National Employment Standards (NES) set out a safety net
of minimum entitlements for most national system employees.
The NES includes:

 A 38 hour working week for full-time employees, plus

reasonable additional hours

 Four weeks annual leave per year (pro-rata for part-time

employees)

 A total of 10 days paid sick and carer’s leave each year, two
Work-life days paid compassionate leave for each permissible
occasion, two days unpaid carer’s leave for each
practices/policies permissible occasion, and five days unpaid family and
in Australia domestic violence leave (in a 12 month period)

 12 months unpaid parental leave after 12 months

continuous service with a right to request to extend the
initial period of unpaid parental leave by a further 12
months. An employer can only refuse if they have given the
employee a reasonable opportunity to discuss their request,
and there are reasonable business grounds to do so. If a
request is refused, the written response must include details
of the employer's reasons
 The National Employment Standards (NES) set out a safety net
of minimum entitlements for most national system employees.
The NES includes:
 community service leave (for an eligible community service
activity)
 public holidays
 the right to make a written request for flexible working
arrangements by employees because they:
 are the parent, or have responsibility for the care, of a
Work-life child who is of school age or younger

practices/policies  are a carer (within the meaning of the Carer

Recognition Act 2010)
in Australia  have a disability
 are 55 or older
 are experiencing violence from a member of their
family or
 provide care or support to a member of their immediate
family or household, who requires care or support
because they are experiencing violence from their
family.