A common factor in all work-life balance solutions is that they all recognise the different needs of different people.

The old ways of working are simply not flexible enough to meet the pressures on people’s time, the changing balance of the population and the demands of service users.

Absenteeism and sick leave are sometimes the last resort for disabled people or those who have to care for children, people with disabilities and/or ill health, or aging parents.

If organisations want people to work for them or do business with them they need to acknowledge those people’s individualities.  One of the best ways to do this is to give people some control over their lives.  Organisations should build flexibility into their processes so that a culture of choice can be created.

Where to start

Many smaller organisations often have work-life balance practises in place, without realising.  Managers know their staff and volunteers and often make allowances to help them cope with certain individual situations.

• First, look at what is already in place and the functioning needs of the organisation.
• Distribute a survey to all staff and volunteers to see what they want and how they view the organisation’s procedures.
• Evaluate information received from the survey. Some answers may include:
  • Could there be somewhere suitable to do my prayers?
  • School holidays are sometimes difficult.
  • Lack of organisational communication causes misinterpretation.
  • Core hours with flexibility around start and finishing times would help me.
• With this information, different types of working procedures can be looked at.

Prepare and Plan

See if policies and practices of the organisation cover the needs of the employees/volunteers and the operational needs.

Make sure the organisations policies and procedures reflect the practices.

Look at where flexible work patterns can be introduced.

Organise an Away Day for all staff, volunteers and Trustees so that everyone understands the working arrangements that the organisation wishes to incorporate into its work-life balance policy.

Involve everyone and be open.

Planning and Control

• Keep an open mind.
• Listen to creative thinking.
• Look at the whole business.
• Keep staff in the picture.
• Make any conditions and clauses crystal clear.
• Policies to cover new working practises can be written and adopted.
• Encourage staff, where practical, to become multi-skilled so that they can cover for one another to accommodate various working patterns.
• Employees must work together with colleagues and management to ensure the needs of the service and its users are met.

Possible Solutions

Job Share

Job sharing is an arrangement where two people share one full time post. Each person is employed on a part-time basis but, together, they cover a full-time post and divide the pay, holidays and other benefits between them pro-rata.

Part-time

Part-time is working fewer hours than a full-time post.  There are no set criteria of hours worked for the term “part-time”.  All part-time employees are entitled to the same employment rights as full-time employees.

Flexi-time

A flexi-time pattern of work can be a useful way to provide employees some flexibility of how and when they work their normal hours in a week.

Home Working

There may be times when an organisation may feel it appropriate for the employee to work at home on a permanent, regular or occasional basis.  A risk assessment should be carried out within the employee’s home office. Employees must be aware of confidentiality of documents and must ensure safety and security of paperwork.

Annual Hours

Working time is organised on the basis of the number of hours worked over the year rather than weekly or monthly.  This could accommodate different hours of service, particularly with seasonal fluctuation demands.

Term time working

Term-time working means that an employee has a contractual right to work during school terms and have unpaid leave of absence during the school holidays.

School Hours Working

This is usually when an employee works between 9.15 am and 2.45 pm to accommodate drop off and pick up times of their children from school.

Compressed Hours

This means that a week’s worth of hours can be worked in fewer days.

Voluntary Reduced Hours

This can be for an agreed period and the right to return to work is available after that period.   It is where time off can be taken with a pro-rata reduction in pay.  For example, this could be reducing hours by working two days a week, then gradually building up to five days a week because of a long period of illness and getting back to work gradually would be beneficial.

Time off for Dependants

Employees are entitled to take a short amount of time of unpaid leave to deal with emergencies or unexpected problems relating to dependants.

Special Leave

There are times when an employee may need to take longer periods off work than the standard leave period.

Communication

Communication in any organisation is vital.  Lack of good clear communication at all levels of an organisation leads to misunderstanding and bad feeling.

This could be in the form of emails, memos, staff meetings or one-to-ones.

Summary

Advantages of organisations introducing work-life balance into the working practises are:

• Helps to reduce stress levels.
• Less staff absenteeism and sickness leave.
• Helps with staff retention.
• Attracts a more diverse range of candidates because of part-time, job share or flexible working hours.
• Gives employees/volunteers a healthy balance between work and their personal lives.

 The success of work-life balance is that all interested parties must have benefits.

Work-life balance can make a difference to staff’s health, loyalty, performance and the organisation’s business costs.