Work Life Balance
Griffith University
1011IRL Employment Relations
Essay
Work-life balance 1. April 2009
Table of contents
Table of contents p. 1
Introduction p. 2
Definitions p. 2
Work-life Balance p. 3-4
Conclusion p. 5
References p. 6
Topic:
Work-life balance has become an important social issue. Critically analyze the contributions of business, unions and government towards promoting work-life balance.
Introduction:
To balance work and leisure is an important issue for all employees and employers. The three main influencers on work-life balance is the government, unions and businesses. The linkage between work and family has been studied as far back as the 1960s (Gregory 2009). These initial studies mainly focused on women and work-family stress. Later other concepts emerged. It was not until the 1970s the concept of “work-life balance” occurred (McIntosh 2003). This essay will critically analyse the contributions of business, unions and government towards promoting work-life balance.
Definition:
Alan Felstad (2002 p. 56) defined work-life balance as: ”The relationship between the institutional and cultural times and spaces of work and non-work societies where income is predominantly generated and distributed through labor markets”.
Work-life balance Work-life balance became a big issue during the 1970s when large numbers of women started entering the workforce. Housework and childcare were no longer just women’s work. This gradually changed industrial relations and the concept of ‘work-life balance’ was born (McIntosh 2003).
The two largest domains of peoples life is work and family. “In fact, the most substantial source of conflict in an individual’s life is often conflict between these two roles” (Stepanski 2002 p. 70). There are many different explanations of conflicts associated with work-life balance. The rational view states that work-family conflicts emerge from limited
1011IRL Employment Relations
Essay
Work-life balance 1. April 2009
Table of contents
Table of contents p. 1
Introduction p. 2
Definitions p. 2
Work-life Balance p. 3-4
Conclusion p. 5
References p. 6
Topic:
Work-life balance has become an important social issue. Critically analyze the contributions of business, unions and government towards promoting work-life balance.
Introduction:
To balance work and leisure is an important issue for all employees and employers. The three main influencers on work-life balance is the government, unions and businesses. The linkage between work and family has been studied as far back as the 1960s (Gregory 2009). These initial studies mainly focused on women and work-family stress. Later other concepts emerged. It was not until the 1970s the concept of “work-life balance” occurred (McIntosh 2003). This essay will critically analyse the contributions of business, unions and government towards promoting work-life balance.
Definition:
Alan Felstad (2002 p. 56) defined work-life balance as: ”The relationship between the institutional and cultural times and spaces of work and non-work societies where income is predominantly generated and distributed through labor markets”.
Work-life balance Work-life balance became a big issue during the 1970s when large numbers of women started entering the workforce. Housework and childcare were no longer just women’s work. This gradually changed industrial relations and the concept of ‘work-life balance’ was born (McIntosh 2003).
The two largest domains of peoples life is work and family. “In fact, the most substantial source of conflict in an individual’s life is often conflict between these two roles” (Stepanski 2002 p. 70). There are many different explanations of conflicts associated with work-life balance. The rational view states that work-family conflicts emerge from limited
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