Work-Life Balance in a Policy?
Many people see work-life balance as an individual goal, and it will remain an individual goal if more groups don’t start offering individuals systemic, policy-grounded support and solutions.
“The only way that anyone can balance work and family or work and personal life, is if everyone within an organization agrees that ‘life balance’ is critical to the overall well-being of employees and the productivity, and effectiveness of the company,” says Kim Jabal, CFO of Weebly
The resources below will help you start, or even just propose, comprehensive policies to promote work-life balance across the office.
How-To Guides
- Work/Life Balance: Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety
- Work-Life Balance Policy: University College London
- SHRM: Case Study Series on Work-Life Balance in Large Organizations
Common Offerings in Work-Life Balance Policies
- Health and wellness programs
- Generous leave policies
- Paid sick leave
- Company-wide daily communication cutoffs
- Medical leave
- Bereavement leave
- Childcare
- Dependent care
- Elder care
- Emergency childcare assistance
- Telework
- Alternative work schedules (AWS)
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Flexitime
- Planned remote working
- Compressed hours
- Career Breaks
- Job share
- Job splitting
- Part-time working
- Parental leave
- Family leave
- Leaves of absence (such as educational leave)
- On-site seminars and workshops
- Training opportunities
Additional Reading