Identifying Solutions

to suit the staff group and the business

Every organisation and individual faces different work-life balance issues. Correspondingly, there are work-life balance solutions that will suit different situations and address different needs. Organisations need to customize the range of options offered to from the options to fit their environment and to have the most impact in addressing the work-life balance needs of their employees.

The matching of business needs and employee needs requires careful planning and analysis. The resulting framework for understanding work/life in the organisation and the suite of options offered needs to be communicated clearly to managers and staff.

Example Of A Method Of Communicating Life Work Options Building Commission, Victoria
Life Balance Spectrum http://www.buildingcommission.com.au

The following list of work-life balance solutions is categorized under five broad categories:

  • flexible working arrangements (the organizing of work time and location )
  • leave (time out of the workplace) 
  • child and elder care (assistance with family needs)
  • health and wellness initiatives (preventing and managing the stress from work and life) 
  • community involvement
  • work-life balance culture/environment

Under each of these categories is a range of options.

FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

  • flexible hours (change the start and end times of the work day)
  • job share (share a full-time position with another employee)
  • compressed work week (work full-time hours in fewer than five days)
  • part-time (reduce the number of hours worked each day or week)
  • time banking (work extra hours in advance and take equivalent time off at an agreed time)
  • work reduced hours for a specified period of time (temporarily reduce to part-time hours)
  • term-time work (divide full-time hours across school term weeks and take leave during school holidays)
  • gradual retirement
  • work away from the office (work from home or from a remote office, teleworking ) Tips for Home Based Workers.pdf
  • self-roster (staff schedule their working day times)
  • Annualized hours scheme (distribute staff hours to meet changing levels of need across the year, e.g. winter may be busier than summer).


LEAVE (TIME OUT OF THE WORKPLACE)

  • carer Leave
  • parental leave (including allied organisational strategies aimed at ensuring staff on parental leave do return to the workplace - for instance, inviting them to work social functions, sending them a regular newsletter, keeping them up to date with significant changes)
  • transition-to-retirement leave
  • community leave (leave provided to undertake voluntary work)
  • bereavement leave
  • purchased leave or 48/52 scheme, where an employee can buy additional leave through a proportional reduction in salary
  • breaking leave entitlements into hourly blocks (e.g. to allow for time off during the day to attend school functions)
  • employment breaks (short-term leave without pay)
  • leave banking or sabbatical leave, where an employee takes a reduced salary for a defined period of time and 'banks' the reduced amount toward an extended period of leave for purposes such as further study or travel. This is a long-term approach - e.g. staff work for four years at 80% of salary and have the fifth year off on 80% of salary.


CHILD AND ELDER CARE (ASSISTANCE WITH FAMILY NEEDS)

  • on-site childcare
  • emergency carer leave or back-up childcare
  • dependant leave (additional sick leave)
  • childcare expenses in relation to work travel
  • school holiday programme
  • after-school care programme
  • breastfeeding room (private area with appropriate facilities).
  • child care/ elder care Information and referral services resource material for new parents (e.g. information on pre-school options)
  • advice seminars
  • access to phone to make and receive calls from family members, or to make confidential calls, e.g. to doctor
  • ‘Keep in touch’ programs for staff on maternity or extended leave
  • work-based support groups for staff with care responsibilities


HEALTH AND WELLNESS INITIATIVES
(MANAGING THE STRESS FROM WORK AND LIFE)

  • good health and safety practices
  • gym membership or subsidy
  • quit smoking initiatives
  • employee assistance programme
  • medical check-ups
  • flu shots
  • showers and changing facilities
  • bicycle parking
  • study assistance
  • time management and planning skills
  • stress management training.
  • Community Involvement
  • community leave (leave provided to undertake voluntary work)
  • corporate volunteer program
  • ceremonial leave
  • jury duty
  • corporate giving program
  • military leave


SUPPORTIVE CULTURE/ENVIRONMENT

  • Remember work/life approaches are designed to ensure a culture which supports people being able to be effective in their work and non- work roles- which recognizes that ideally people find satisfaction at work and can “have a life” outside of work.
  • develop a positive culture supportive of work/life balance- for example, examine the messages that staff receive (what behaviours are being role modelled?) and look at what behaviours are rewarded (are people being rewarded for their visibility or for what they achieve?)
  • identify and remove systemic obstacles to combining work and carer roles
  • ensure that accessing work/life policies is not a “career limiting” move
  • develop accountability measures for supportive management
  • core hours meeting guidelines (avoid scheduling meetings early or late, if possible)
  • family sensitive travel guidelines
  • design work to ensure fair and transparent workloads
  • ensure adequate staffing levels (to allow staff to take time off and not have to work extra hours).
  • recognise the work-life balance needs of all staff (not just those with family responsibilities
  • monitor the amount of overtime worked
  • improve workload management
  • encourage the taking of annual leave

The solutions that result from looking at the work environment are possibly the most influential in terms of the employee's work-life balance. The fostering of an environment that is more 'work-life balance friendly' requires support. Ways of supporting this change are:

  • making improvements to the quality of the management training and support in the work-life balance area (for experienced managers, to give them a focus on new ways of looking at things; for new managers, to provide endorsement for those who may be nervous about exercising discretion)
  • ensuring leadership and role modelling from the leaders of the organisation
  • rewarding managers who encourage and achieve good work-life balance for their employees and who have a good work-life balance themselves.


RESOURCES AND TOOLS

Checklist for a Family Friendly Workplace
Work and Family Balance Manual
Industrial Relations
Business Victoria
www.business.vic.gov.au

Employers for Work-Life Balance, UK
Business Problem Solver
www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk

State Services Commission, New Zealand
www.ssc.govt.nz

CategorIes of Work Life Effectiveness
www.awlp.org

Worldatwork
Work Life Self Audit
www.worldatwork.org

Events

Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector

You are invited to attend a special forum on the topic of Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector arranged by the Work/Life Association in conjunction with Monash University's Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work (ACREW) and Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association.

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For presentations from the Right to Request Flexible Work business forum held on 19 May click here.

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+ Previous Events
 

What's News

President Obama and Michelle Obama are taking a keen interest in workplace flexibility

The Obama Administration announced plans to hold a Forum on Workplace Flexibility on March 31st at the White House.

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Towards flexibility being the “new normal” in the American workplace

A recently released US report from Workplace Flexibility 2010, a Georgetown Law-based think tank, outlines a comprehensive set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs) such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telework. The common-ground solutions described in the report can benefit both working families and businesses.

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Australian men yearn for work/life balance

This article reports on a growing trend among males in the workforce to be wanting to better match their work and family responsibilities.

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Flexibility for men and women and all ages

Perhaps one the key to normalizing flexibility in the workplace is for men to speak up about their desire to have the same flexibility for family time as many women have been expressing and acting on for years.

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