Search results for "Work–life balance"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Adoption and use of work-life initiatives: Looking at the influence of institutional pressures and gender
2015
Under the lens of Institutional Theory, this paper examines how coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on employers encourage the adoption and use of work-life balance. Analyzing a sample of Spanish private firms, we find that the diffusion of work-life practices may be explained as an isomorphic process in which particular normative pressure significantly influences the adoption and use of work-life programs, while mimetic pressures only affect the level of use. Interestingly, the presence of women in organizations is found to be relevant to the adoption and use of work-life benefits only when this presence refers to managerial positions.
Are Spanish SMEs good places to work?
2012
PurposeThis paper aims to perform a descriptive analysis of the current degree of development and application of work‐life balance policies in Spanish SMEs, examining the differences that arise due to ownership structure (family owned business versus non‐family owned business) and presenting an in‐depth analysis of the variables that influence managers' attitudes towards work‐life balance policies.Design/methodology/approachStructured interviews with SME managers were performed.FindingsThe presence of those polices is small, although the situation differs depending on the type of policy. Differences in ownership structure do not imply significantly different behavior with regard to the intr…
Gender and Work-Life Balance: a Contest Analysis on Nursey Schools in Palermo
2018
This paper reflects on the gender inequalities and their influence in the access to labor market and, on the other one, to reproductive process. Maternity and work often arise as choices excluding one another due for the inadequacy of care services. The essay reviews some laws of the last years for encourage the work-life balance and analyzes the presence of the services for children in Palermo. The “case study” of the municipality of Palermo shows a general lack of services and a progressive reduction of public nurseries and kindergarten, despite the economic investments of the last decades at institutional level. It points out how many obstacles persist that discourage female participatio…
The Impact of Family and Work-Life Balance Policies on the Performance of Spanish Listed Companies
2014
Work-life balance has become a topic of great relevance in today's business world. In this work we present both a theoretical review on the state of art in this issue and an analysis testing the validity of the positive impact of work-life balance policies in firm performance. For the empirical analyses of these policies on performance we evaluated a sample composed of firms listed in IBEX-35. Findings provide support for the idea that introducing work-life balance practices benefits the company with respect to talent retention and higher employee engagement, as well as achieving a positive impact on productivity, costs and business results.
Gender Differences in the Relationship between Work–Life Balance, Career Opportunities and General Health Perception
2021
Although gender equality is increasingly promoted both in the workplace and in society, and women have now fully entered the workforce, the issue of gender differences in relation to career advancement still seems open. Although gender roles no longer clearly define who is responsible for home care and who is responsible for job duties, some research shows that the conflict between family and work life appears to be a greater problem for women than for men. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between career opportunities, work–life balance, and well-being perception separately in both female (n = 499) and male (n = 557) respondents in order to shed light on the role …
Work-life balance during the COVID-19 outbreak: the case of Latvia
2020
This paper aims to shed light on work-life balance in Latvia during the state of emergency The COVID-19 outbreak has led many governments to introduce lockdowns While imposed restrictions may help to contain the spread of the virus, they may also result in substantial damage to population well-being The COVID-19 outbreak in Latvia demonstrates the extent and ways in which socio-demographics factors have determined different patterns of behaviour, attitudes, employment changes and harmonised work and life balance The study describes the chronological development of COVID-19 in the country It describes labour migration to and from Latvia before the COVID-19 outbreak It provides geographical f…
In search of a theoretical framework of factors influencing work and life balance
2021
Work and life balance (WLB) has gained noticeable attention amid the pandemic. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, the increasing pace of life encouraged the investigation of individual and organisational aspects of WLB. Physically and mentally healthy people help society develop and grow. Health issues caused by work and life imbalance lead to dissatisfaction with both work and life, which, in turn, leads to higher stress and stress-related illnesses, for instance, burnout. From the organisational point of view, WLB is a factor in analysing the efficiency of an enterprise. The consequences of a work-life imbalance are intentional or unintentional absence, high employee turnover, low prod…
The Nordic difference: Job quality in Europe 1995–2010
2012
Previous empirical research has pointed out that Nordic countries are distinguished from the rest of Europe in terms of job quality. On the other hand, it has been debated whether, in the longer run, the Nordic welfare state is able to insulate workers from globalization effects. This article investigates whether Nordic countries have retained their advantageous position concerning job quality compared with other EU countries. Empirical analyses are based on the European Working Conditions Survey collected in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. We use data on employees in the 15 member states of the EU prior to enlargement in 2004 (n = 61,457). The results partly confirm previous findings of high j…
Patterns of Working Time and Work Hour Fit in Europe
2018
The requirements for more flexible and lean forms of production that are able to adapt to demand cycles, both quantitatively and functionally, are common in all advanced economies. At the same time, the flexibilization of working times and work places has become an increasing focus for the analysis of quality of work and life (i.e. work-life balance). This chapter approaches flexibilization as a transition from an industrial to a post-industrial working time regime. The new post-industrial working time regime is usually characterized by deregulation of collective norms, diversification of the length (short and long hours) and pattern of working time (unsocial hours), increasing work intensi…
Consolidation of working hours and work-life balance in anaesthesiologists - A cross-sectional national survey.
2018
Currently, healthcare management fosters a maximization of performance despite a relative shortage of specialists. We evaluated anaesthesiologists' workload, physical health, emotional well-being, job satisfaction and working conditions under increased pressure from consolidated working hours. A nationwide cross-sectional survey was performed in Austrian anaesthesiologists (overall response rate 41.0%). Three hundred and ninety four anaesthesiologists (280 specialists, 114 anaesthesiology trainees) participated. Anaesthesiologists reported frequently working under time pressure (95%CI: 65.6-74.6), at high working speed (95%CI: 57.6-67.1), with delayed or cancelled breaks (95%CI: 54.5-64.1),…