Work-Life Balance Implications
By: Zachary Hickman, Human Resource Generalist
January 21, 2012
In the beginning, individuals seek out employment for different reasons, while organizations hire individuals based on a set of skills required for a specific job profile. This could be described as a classic win-win for both the employee and organization. The organization got the individual(s) it needed to fill a certain role, and the individuals were able to provide a living for themselves and/or their families. However as time passes after the hiring, it often becomes clear the "honeymoon" between the organization and the employee is coming to an end. A common reason for this turn-around is the employee is working longer hours and has less personal time to spend and enjoy with family. The organization then has to deal with the employee's decreased productivity and increased absenteeism.
By looking at reasons for negative impacts such as lower productivity and absenteeism, we examine and explain the implications on organizations from a work-life standpoint. As one example, employees often view mandatory meetings as a barrier to work-life balance. Meetings reduce time the employee can spend more productively handling specific job responsibilities; the overwhelmed individual requests schedule modification and time off. The organization's productivity goes down and absenteeism goes up costing the organization not only production time, but money as well. In the end, the organization has to modify how it handles meetings.
Then, the government stepped-in to address work-life balance dilemmas in the American workplace. In 1993, the United States passed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The Act was originally proposed to help individuals and families "balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of family" (FMLA, 2008, p. 605). For many individuals this Act allowed them to help care for their or a loved one's serious illness and provided the only job protection available. The FMLA was "designed to accommodate the need for a more flexible workplace" (FMLA, 2008, p. 604). Additionally, the FMLA allows individuals to take protected and unpaid leave for various health-related conditions. One of the major provisions of the FMLA is "an unpaid job protection statute, it grants employees the choice to use, or employers the right to require that employees use, paid accrued leave in place of unpaid leave" (FMLA, 2008, p. 604). Ideally, new legislation will be able to drive and enforce the work-life balance initiatives proposed by the different governments around the world.
Reference
EMPLOYMENT LAW -- FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 -- DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGULATIONS ALTER SUBSTITUTION OF PAID LEAVE PROVISION UNDER THE FMLA. -- FMLA Final Rule, 73 Fed. Reg. 67, 934 (Nov. 17, 2008) (codified at 29 C.F.R. pt. 825 (2009)). (2009). Harvard Law Review, 123(2), 604-611. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.