scholarly journals Work-life balance and the legal right to request flexible working arrangements

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Dancaster

In 2003, eligible employees in the United Kingdom acquired the legal right to request flexible working arrangements. The government believes that this new right will provide parents with greater choice and support in balancing work and childcare, whilst being compatible with business efficiency. This article critically appraises this new right and examines how it is applied in relation to other UK legislation on discrimination and unfair dismissal. An overview of international studies on corporate efforts to introduce family-friendly arrangements, and an overview of governmental efforts to address the reconciliation of work and family-life is provided in this article, with a view to arguing that there is a need, in South Africa, for state policy regarding work-life balance and for further research into corporate efforts to introduce family-friendly work arrangements.   

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-346
Author(s):  
David Cabrelli

This chapter analyses the statutory employment ‘family-friendly’ rights contained in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the subordinate legislation which has a bearing on the work–life balance of employees, workers, and other individuals providing personal services. These include the protection of pregnant workers, and the statutory arrangements for maternity leave and maternity pay. It also examines family-friendly measures which seek to achieve a more equal division of family responsibilities between couples, such as the statutory rights to shared parental leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and parental leave, as well as the rights to request flexible working and to take time off work to deal with dependants.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ackers

This article reviews the burgeoning literature on work–life balance and family-friendly policies in European countries, noting the new interdisciplinary dialogue between traditional ‘work’ and ‘family’ disciplines. It examines the findings from interviews with economic actors, suggesting that, while work–life balance and family-friendly policies are an issue everywhere, progress is very uneven. Overall, strong traditional family policies have not contributed to work–life balance, since they are predicated on a traditional male breadwinner model. A combination of strong demand for female labour in the service sector and equal opportunities policies is, however, causing employers and government to address the issue.


2018 ◽  
Vol 151 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heejung Chung ◽  
Tanja van der Lippe

AbstractThis special brings together innovative and multidisciplinary research (sociology, economics, and social work) using data from across Europe and the US to examine the potential flexible working has on the gender division of labour and workers’ work–life balance. Despite numerous studies on the gendered outcomes of flexible working, it is limited in that the majority is based on qualitative studies based in the US. The papers of this special issue overcome some of the limitations by examining the importance of context, namely, family, organisational and country context, examining the intersection between gender and class, and finally examining the outcomes for different types of flexible working arrangements. The introduction to this special issue provides a review of the existing literature on the gendered outcomes of flexible working on work life balance and other work and family outcomes, before presenting the key findings of the articles of this special issue. The results of the studies show that gender matters in understanding the outcomes of flexible working, but also it matters differently in different contexts. The introduction further provides policy implications drawn from the conclusions of the studies and some thoughts for future studies to consider.


Author(s):  
David Cabrelli

This chapter analyses the statutory employment ‘family-friendly’ rights contained in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the subordinate legislation which has a bearing on the work–life balance of employees, workers, and other individuals providing personal services. These include the protection of pregnant workers, and the statutory arrangements for maternity leave and maternity pay. It also examines family-friendly measures which seek to achieve a more equal division of family responsibilities between couples, such as the statutory rights to shared parental leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and parental leave, as well as the right to request flexible working and right to take time off work to deal with dependants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-213
Author(s):  
Anita Maharani ◽  
Salsabila Intan ◽  
Siti Afifah Mahlani ◽  
Christian Wahyu Berlian

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of Flexible Working Arrangement (FWA) and Stress toward Work-Life Balance (WLB). The effect of those two variables, however, is strengthened by motivation. The goal is to provide a better understanding of the Work-Life Balance of Postgraduate students who fulfil multiple roles in their life, managing between academic, work, and family life. The survey used questionnaires for data collection in this research. A quantitative approach uses to analyze the data. The subjects of our sample were postgraduate students at a private university, with a total of 96 respondents. To analyze the data, PLS (Partial Least Square) analysis technique was used through the SmartPLS software. Also, to test the second and third hypotheses, a robustness test was performed to assess between items in the independent, dependent, and moderator variables. Findings. The results indicated that the Flexible Working Arrangement (FWA) is not proven to have a significant effect on the Work-Life Balance of postgraduate students. This research suggests the need to see the role of motivation, and the present of motivation in individual who fulfils multiple roles in life.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203195252110382
Author(s):  
Lisa Waddington ◽  
Mark Bell

The 2019 Work-life Balance Directive creates a new right for parents and carers to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes. The significance of this innovation has been heightened by the pandemic because it includes the right to request remote working arrangements. This article undertakes a contextual and comparative analysis in order to understand better the strengths, limitations and opportunities created by the Directive. It compares the right to request flexible working arrangements to provisions found in existing Directives on parental leave and part-time work, as well as protections that may be derived from EU equality law. It looks also at examples of existing legislation in two jurisdictions, the Netherlands and Australia, in order to illustrate the options available to Member States when they implement this right within domestic law. The article concludes that the full potential of this right can only be understood when it is viewed as part of a wider range of legal provisions that assist in the reconciliation of work and family life.


2021 ◽  
Vol specjalny II (XXI) ◽  
pp. 189-207
Author(s):  
Justyna Czerniak-Swędzioł ◽  
Ewelina Kumor-Jezierska

In this article the authors submit thorough analysis a new Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers as well as the repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU that entered into force on August 1, 2019, paying special attention to adjusting domestic regulations to it. The solutions adopted in this Directive lay down minimum requirements designed to achieve equality between men and women regarding labour market opportunities and treatment at work, by facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life for workers who are parents, or carers. To that end, this Directive 2019/1158 provides for individual rights related to the following: paternity leave, parental leave and carers’ leave, flexible working arrangements for workers who are parents, or carers.


The study explores the adversities faced by wompreneurs (Women Entrepreneurs) of Odisha and talks about their work-life balance issues. The paper presents the viewpoint (motivation) of wompreneurs as to why they think of starting an enterprise of their own. Focus is also laid onthe supportive factors of wompreneurs and factors that disrupt maintaining their work-life balance.The present exploratory paper is the outcome of a pilot study that has been performed using thematic investigation & analysis to find out solutions for the above-mentioned issues. For this paper, Qualitative research is used, which is conducted by assimilating data from personal interviews and thematically analyzing it. Suggestions for better work-life balance are given at the end. The area of work-life balance is devoid of studies in India, where wompreneurs are expected to have a better work-life balance as they are their own “boss”, the paper tries to explore the authenticity of such assumptions. The model has been devised with the above research objectives to provide insight into motivating factors and work-life balance issues of wompreneurs, which can help the Government, policy-makers, research fraternity and other training counselling institutions to emphasize such emerging issues that would lead to empowered women as well as an empowered Nation. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Wompreneurs, Case study, Work-life balance, Role conflict


Author(s):  
Simon Burnett ◽  
Caroline Gatrell

This chapter analyses methodological issues experienced in the employment of audio teleconference focus groups in fatherhood research. It cites a research project entitled ‘Work Life Balance: Working for Fathers?’, which explores how men with dependent children combine work and family commitments. As part of this research, when recruiting fathers for face-to-face interviews and focus groups proved difficult, scholars utilised the medium of recordable teleconferencing technology. In the context of research on fatherhood, the chapter evaluates the emergent complexities integral to the entire process of running ‘teleconference’ (telecon) focus groups. The first part of the chapter describes the technological and procedural challenges in the commissioning of telecon focus groups, while the second reflects on fathers' confession-like admissions.


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