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Work-life balance
Managing paid work, unpaid work and leisure
is a juggling act for many people – and that’s likely to continue.
The
issues:
- As more women take up paid work, there are more dual income families, more sole parents in the workforce… and greater potential for conflict between work and family life
- Thanks to an ageing population, more of the workforce is likely to be involved in caring for elderly relations
- More workers are putting in long hours, while the advent of cellphones and PCs is making it easy for work to spill over into personal time.
Balancing work and home life is a growing concern for both employers and workers. Improving that balance can help with employee recruitment and retention, match people who wouldn’t otherwise work with jobs, and benefit families and communities. You can read more about these issues in the work-life balance section of our stocktake of New Zealand and international research.
See what the Department of Labour is doing about it...
Why does it matter?
Work-life balance is of growing importance to employers and workers, the New Zealand economy and society in general, as:
Improving work-life balance can:- Aid employee recruitment and retention
(Click here for more on potential benefits) - Reduce absenteeism
(Click here for more on potential benefits) - Improve the quality of peoples' working lives
(Click here for more on potential benefits) - Match people who wouldn’t otherwise work with jobs
(Click here for more on potential benefits) - Benefit families and communities
(Click here for more on potential benefits)
Where we're at
We look at the state of play for New Zealanders in the area of work-life balance, with segments on:
New Zealand work-life balance project
Case studies and best practice
What's in collective agreements – relevant information from the Employment Relations Service’ database of collective agreements (data on individual agreements is not held)
What the government does – key provisions in New Zealand legislation that relate to work-life balance, and other government policies and services which support work-life balance.
Tackling work-life balance
Do the hours your workplace operates conflict with the hours people either want or are able to work?
Do you want to work but have trouble fitting it in with other commitments?
Are you recruiting and keeping the best people for the job?
Are you an employee and want some help with negotiating work-life balance into your job?
Can work-life balance help with health and safety at work?
We look at some of the options:
Flexible work practices different work solutions to the work-life balancing act
Family matters
combining paid work with family commitments
Who can help you find out more if you are a worker or a business
We look at how work-life balance relates to health and safety in the workplace
Further practical resources for tackling work-life balance
Current Thinking
New
Zealand research
Overseas
research
Ideas for change
Guidelines for greater work-life balance in the workplace
More sources
Other places to go for information
Click on the Department of Labour logo to find information about other work related projects.
