management-issues work-life balance report

Once slammed as being "anti-business", the work-life balance agenda is now firmly in the mainstream and on the political agenda. But better work-life balance comes at a cost to both employers and the government, and some are arguing that this is all going too far.

But across the world, most of us would jump at the chance to work more flexible hours with only one in five keen to stick to the traditional nine-to-five.

Such enlighted 'compressed hours' policies are still rare. Until employers and employees can find a common ground this issue is unlikely to be resolved.



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Inspire yourself: craft a work-life vision

If you want to do more than just dream about having a completely different type of life, you need to start with a well-crafted vision that brings your dream into focus and under your control. Something like this . . .

Barriers scupper better work-life balance

Whether it's an over-developed work ethic, peer pressure, worries about money or just hostility from bosses, huge barriers continue to stand in the way of Americans achieving anything resembling a decent work-life balance.

Flexible working or just a new treadmill?

Flexible working with its 24/7 access to company emails and information via phones and BlackBerries could simply translate into round the clock working for some employees, a new report has warned.
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Max McKeown talks about work-life balance. See more of Max's videos here

Inspire yourself: craft a work-life vision

If you want to do more than just dream about having a completely different type of life, you need to start with a well-crafted vision that brings your dream into focus and under your control. Something like this . . .

Barriers scupper better work-life balance

Whether it's an over-developed work ethic, peer pressure, worries about money or just hostility from bosses, huge barriers continue to stand in the way of Americans achieving anything resembling a decent work-life balance.

Flexible working or just a new treadmill?

Flexible working with its 24/7 access to company emails and information via phones and BlackBerries could simply translate into round the clock working for some employees, a new report has warned.

Work-life balance key to being the best

Organisations in the U.S. that want to be seen as "employers of choice" need to be far more flexible and supportive of employees' lives outside the office than many were a decade ago.

High-flyers curb their ambition for better quality of life

With senior executives complaining that work is encroaching ever more on their personal lives, almost nine out of 10 say that work-life balance considerations are now critical in their decision whether to join, or remain with, an employer.

Adapt or die – the management challenges of flexible working

The revolution in flexible working could lead to more than half of Britain's middle managers facing the axe if they fail to adapt to the changing nature of work.

Latest on Work-Life Balance

Australians shun the barbie to stay late at the office

On TV they're always be hanging about the barbie in shorts, but in reality Australian managers work harder and for longer - and suffer more illness than their counterparts in the UK.

Job woes fuelling Blackberry breaks

Whether it's because they are worried about redundancy or simply fear they won't be missed, this summer will see more managers than ever "working flexibly" on the beach.

UK workers shunning cars as fuel prices bite

With fuel prices at a record high, more and more British workers are looking at ways of getting to work other than by car, with some even considering moving jobs to be closer to home.

Too many managers abusing their positions

Half of American workers believe their boss regularly abuses his or her position to take time off during the working day, while keeping everyone else chained to their desks.

Duvet days are a sign of being over worked not work-shy

U.S. workers take duvet days not because they are lazy or work-shy but because they are either feeling completely burnt out or frantically dealing with a family or relationship crisis.

The future of work. At home, looking after grandma

Forget about juggling work and kids. The biggest challenge for workers over the next decade will be holding down a job while looking after ageing relatives.

Flexible working does not mean being work shy

When most Americans say they want better work-life balance they aren't asking to take their foot off the career accelerator, they simply want to work differently.

Americans demand better work-life balance

Amid all the predictions of economic doom and gloom for 2008, you might have thought that American workers would want to be seen spending time in the office. But not a bit of it.

Attraction of flexible working ignored by HR

It's not rocket science. When employees are deciding whether or not to take a new job, being able to work flexibly or remotely will often swing the balance. But try telling that to HR.

Getting a grip on my workload

Every time Diane tries to figure out a better work-life balance, she hits the same brick wall: the unbelievable amount of work she has to do. Cali Yost has some tips to help her get to grips with an all-too common dilemma.

Averting a generation war

A new crop of college hires has started at Donna's company and they seem to have unrealistic expectations about the amount of time they are going to have for their life outside of work. How can she avoid a clash of generations?

Work and children

How has your career been affected by your children? Has being a parent changed your attitude towards work or altered the way you work?

Vacation stress is getting us down

Nearly five months into the working year and the holiday season is starting to loom large. But if you expect to come back from vacation refreshed and recharged, you might want to think again.

Not waving, but drowning

Ellen works long hours and spends most of her days in meetings. But now her boss wants her to take on even more projects. She feels like she can barely keep her head above water as it now stands. What should she do?

Stop the office, we want to get off

Millions of people in the UK are planning to take a career sabbatical thanks to a growing acknowledgement by employers that taking an extended break from the rat race can actually be a good thing.

Top talent demands better work-life balance

Even five years ago, the idea that a senior executive would turn down a job because it meant too much travel, or demanded too much of their time would have been seen as absurd. Not any more.

Business travel shows no signs of slowing

Despite the endless queues, airport chaos, security scares, lost luggage and environmental concerns, there appears to be no sign of any decline in business travellers' appetite for punishment.

US way behind on family-friendly policies

The U.S. lags far behind every other developed economy when it comes to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave and paid sick leave, a new report has found.

Fatigue hits U.S. productivity

New research has found that almost four out of 10 Americans suffer from fatigue at work, a problem that is costing the economy more than $1000 billion in lost productivity.

Forwarding emails home puts security at risk, workers warned

Companies spend millions trying to keep their corporate emails safe, only for their workers to forward sensitive messages to personal email accounts that are much more vulnerable to security breaches.

Workers put in extra day a week in unpaid overtime

British managers and workers put in £23 billion of unpaid overtime a year, in the process putting their health and family lives at risk.

Holiday bonuses becoming a rarity at Christmas

A bonus in your pay packet to fund a bit of pre-Christmas shopping always goes down well – but is in fact becoming increasingly rare in the modern workplace.

No escape from the office

Most of us need little reminding that there's no longer any escape from the office. In fact thanks to the ubiquitous Blackberry and its ilk, nine out of 10 executives now feel they have to be available outside of working hours.

'Holiday? What Christmas holiday?' warn U.S bosses

Nearly half of American workers can expect a better than average year-end gift or bonus this Christmas and New Year, but don't expect much in the way of paid time off over the holiday period in return.

Irish up in arms about childcare costs

The lack of affordable childcare could become an election issue in Ireland as a new poll finds overwhelming dissatisfaction with the government's response to what many people view as a growing crisis.

The rise and rise of the reverse commuter

With seven out of 10 City of London workers happy to commute to an out-of-town location, large companies relocating to greener pastures are spawning a growing trend in reverse commuting.

The changing face of American commuting

More Americans are commuting to work by car than ever before, more are stuck in their cars for over an hour and more are having to leave their houses at an ever-earlier time in the morning just to get in on time.

Telecommuting hits the corporate mainstream

Two thirds of HR managers in the U.S. believe that working from home will soon become commonplace as remote working options become part of standard operating procedure in most companies.

For U.S. workers, small is beautiful

You might make more money working for a large company, but if you want something resembling a personal life, don't want to be unhappy on the job and like to be treated fairly, you'd be much better off with a smaller employer.

UK businesses breaking law over shift breaks

British workers will no longer be able to work more than six hours without a break, after the government yesterday lost a battle over working hours in the European Court of Justice.

Britons back the Blackberry

Shunning the risks of Crackberry addiction, British executives are keeping a tight grip on their mobile life-support systems even if it means dealing with work emails when they are supposed to be relaxing on the beach

Fathers want flexibility, not fewer hours

Fatherhood might be a life-changing experience, but it has little effect on men's working patterns. Indeed men continue to work the same hours after they become fathers and show no desire to spend more time at home.

Trapped in electronic slavery?

If you can't live without your Blackberry, you may be suffering from an addiction that is every bit as damaging and hard to break as one to hard drugs – and one that employers might one day be held liable for.

Half of Britons resent curbs on working hours

More than half of Britons believe governments should not restrict the number of hours employees can work, with resentment against working time regulations growing in other EU countries too.

Asking for paternity leave is career death

New fathers are reluctant to ask to take paternity leave because they fear being ridiculed by their bosses, have their request turned down or, worst of all, put on the career slow track as a result.

U.S workers unhappy with their lot

Pressures at work are escalating, job satisfaction is falling and Americans are feeling increasingly stressed and dissatisfied about they way their organisation treats them and the gulf between what employers say and what they actually do.

Insomnia reduces job satisfaction

As America becomes a nation of caffeinated insomniacs, a new study has found that lack of sleep not only makes people tired and bad-tempered but also causes them to dislike and even hate their jobs the next morning.

Is work becoming the new home?

Working from home may have become almost a mainstream activity in today's modern workplace but, increasingly, workers are also taking their home into work, according to a new British survey.

Desk-bound managers too busy for holidays

Almost two-thirds of desk-bound UK executives are failing to take their full holiday allowance and nearly half lose up to two weeks holiday each year because they fail to book time off.

U.S. employers wise up to the realities of family life

There are signs that corporate America may be becoming more attune to the needs of parents as a new survey finds that employers are catching onto demands from dads to have a work environment that is supportive of their dual role as employee and parent.