The Second WorkLife Balance Study: Results from the Employer Survey

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The Second Work-Life Balance Study Results from
the Employer Survey

• Stephen Woodland
• National Centre for Social Research
• DTI Working Hours Work-Life Balance Seminar
• British Academy, London24 September 2003

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Background

• Employer survey part of a wider programme of
  research into work-life balance which also
  included a quantitative study of employees (MORI,
  2003)
• Represents a follow-up of an earlier study
  conducted in 2000 - the first work-life balance
  survey (WLB1)
• Aims of the employers survey
• to measure the extent to which the key attributes
  of work-life balance from an employers
  perspective have changed since WLB1
• establish a robust baseline for future
  evaluation, in terms of the provisions brought in
  under the Employment Act 2002

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Background

• Sample of establishments in Great Britain with 5
  or more employees taken from the IDBR
• Interviewing from December 2002 til early April
  2003
• conducted by telephone with senior person
  responsible for employee relations issues at the
  workplace
• 1,509 interviews achieved
• response rate of 60

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Employer attitudes to work-life balance

• High level of support for work-life balance among
  British employers
• However for many, the business still comes first
• A majority of employers found it difficult trying
  to accommodate employees with their different
  patterns of work
• Employers were split as to whether work-life
  balance policies were unfair for some employees
• Few employers thought that an employee working
  flexibly damaged his/her chances of promotion

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Employer attitudes to work-life balance

• There was some variation in the level of support
  for work-life balance across different types of
  establishments
• Small employers were still generally supportive
• Little evidence of any change in employers
  support for work-life balance
• already at high levels in 2000

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Employer support for work-life balance

• Collected information covering a large number
  of flexible working practices and leave
  arrangements

• flexible working hours
• flexible working time practices such as job
  sharing, flexi-time, annualised hours, term-time
  working, compressed working weeks and reduced
  hours working
• home working

• allowing employees to change from full-time to
  part-time working
• additional maternity rights
• paid paternity leave
• additional parental leave
• paid time off for emergencies
• support for working parents

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1. Flexible working hours

• Just over two-thirds of employers reported that
  their employees were allowed to vary their hours
• Evidence suggests that the proportion of
  workplaces where this is allowed is increasing
• This informal arrangement was more commonly
  used in small establishments, in particular those
  belonging to small organisations

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2. Flexible working time practices

• Just under half provide any of these
• Provision defined in terms of at least some
  employees using the practice in the past 12
  months

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2. Flexible working time arrangements

• Restrictions on eligibility to use these
  practices varied across the different practices
• Managerial employees were the most likely group
  to be restricted
• Few employers restricted the use of these
  practices to just employees with children

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2. Flexible working time arrangements

• The proportion of employees using these practices
  (take-up) varied considerably across the
  practices
• Evidence suggests that there has been an increase
  in employers provision of flexible working time
  arrangements

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3. Home working

• Just over one-in-seven workplaces reported
  providing home working that had been used by
  employees in the past 12 months
• Most employers restrict who can work from home,
  usually on practical grounds
• Take-up of home working also modest
• Evidence is mixed as to whether provision has
  increased

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4. Allowing employees to change from full-time to
part-time working

• Employers tended to treat requests from women
  returning from maternity leave more favourably
  than those from other employees
• more likely to be able to make this change and
  also keep her existing job and level of seniority
• In the past year, one in four establishments have
  had a request to make this change
• In almost every establishment, managers reported
  that they would give consideration to such a
  request
• practical business issues such as the impact on
  the business, current workload and availability
  of cover were the main factors behind the
  decision to accept or reject such a request

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4a. Requests to work flexibly

• Almost one-fifth (17) of employers had received
  such a request in the past 12 months
• Childcare or having to care for some other
  dependant were the most likely circumstances
  under which a request was made
• Almost all employers said they would consider
  such a request
• When deciding how to deal with such requests, the
  main factors taken into consideration were the
  impact on the business, the availability of cover
  and the circumstances behind the request

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5. Additional maternity rights

• Three-fifths allow women to return to their job
  beyond 29 weeks
• A quarter have maternity benefits which included
  more than the 18 weeks statutory minimum
  maternity provision regardless of their length of
  service
• A fifth provide women with more maternity pay
  than is required by law
• In total, a tenth have extended rights on all
  three, while a third did not provide any extended
  rights
• In most cases, all women were entitled to
  extended maternity rights where they applied

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6. Paid paternity leave

• In total, just under a third of establishments
  allow fully paid paternity leave of five or more
  days
• Where available it was available to all
  employees, not just some
• One-in-five establishments reported that any
  male employees had taken paternity leave in the
  past 12 months
• less then one-in-ten reported that two or more
  employees had taken paternity leave

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7. Additional parental leave

• One-in-ten employers provide parents with
  parental leave entitlements that go beyond the
  statutory minimum
• A quarter (or 3 of all establishments) reported
  giving pay for all or some of this additional
  parental leave
• The most commonly reported additional benefit was
  the allowance of more flexibility over how it is
  taken
• Parental leave was taken in around a sixth of
  establishments in the past year

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8. Paid time off for emergencies

• Just over a quarter of establishments provide
  special paid leave to cover emergencies with
  dependants that is fully paid
• employers more likely to provide this paid leave
  now than in 2000
• Almost always available to all employees at the
  establishment

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9. Support for working parents

• The provision of specific support for parents by
  employers was not commonplace
• fewer than one-in-ten employers provided such
  support
• Support was most commonly in the form of on-site
  childcare facilities, family-friendly working
  arrangements or financial assistance
• however, no more than 3 of employers provided
  any of these

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Employer support for work-life balance
Practices are allowed to vary hours allows
moving from full- to part-time provides flexible
working time arrangements home working
additional maternity rights, paid paternity
leave additional parental leave paid time off
for emergencies and support for working parents.
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Employer support for work-life balance

• Those establishments more likely to provide
  greater numbers of these practices include larger
  workplaces and those in the public sector
• Less likely to provide these include small
  independent workplaces and those involved in
  Construction, Manufacturing and Transport,
  Storage and Communication
• Much greater variation in actual practice across
  establishments than in the attitudes shown
  towards work-life balance
• Some evidence to suggest an increase in the
  number of practices provided since WLB1

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Impact of work-life balance practices and leave
arrangements

• The overriding benefit reported by employers was
  undoubtedly a happier workforce
• Other benefits include positive effects upon the
  recruitment and retention of staff and higher
  levels of motivation, commitment loyalty
• The most common problem arising from providing
  these practices was to do with staffing
• A majority of employers reported that their
  work-life balance practices had a positive impact
  on their employee relations, employee commitment
  and motivation, and labour turnover

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Impact of work-life balance practices and leave
arrangements

• Relatively few employers reported that there were
  ongoing costs resulting from the provision of
  flexible working practices and leave arrangements
• where ongoing costs were reported, two-fifths
  said these costs were minimal, with a further
  two-fifths reporting moderate costs
• Two-thirds of employers that reported having any
  of these practices said they thought these
  practices had been cost effective

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Conclusions

• Employers attitudes are generally supportive of
  work-life balance
• However, their support is not always matched by
  actions
• Found considerable variation in the provision of
  flexible working practices and leave arrangements
• There is some evidence that provision has
  increased since WLB1
• Study supports earlier work on the business
  benefits to be had from providing work-life
  balance practices
• No evidence to suggest that employers see
  work-life balance as only applicable to employees
  with children