Work-life balance becoming harder

Western Australians are working longer and harder and balancing work and life is becoming more difficult, a Department of Consumer and Employment Protection survey has found.

The survey of 1,750 workers between 18 and 65 years found a significant portion were finding it difficult to manage their work-life balance.

Centre for Labour Market Research director and report co-author Professor Charles Mulvey said the study was a benchmark to evaluate the impact of industrial relations reforms.

“Different people have different perceptions of what is desirable and what isn’t in their lives, but evidence shows a steady increase in the hours that people have been working,” Professor Mulvey said.

“In some occupations and industries, that increase has been very significant.”

The survey found that long working hours were a factor in work-life balance, with employees who were unsatisfied with the balance between work and home life working longer hours on average than those who were satisfied.

A total of 16 per cent of employees surveyed work between 50 and 60 hours per week, and 12 per cent more than 60 hours per week.

Professor Mulvey said some people would interpret longer hours as erosion of quality of life but, on the other hand, people primarily concerned about maximisation of income would welcome longer hours.

Professor Mulvey said that, while a majority of workers were satisfied with their current working hours, flexibility in workplaces was absolutely crucial to addressing work life balance.

A total of 60 per cent of employees had access to some type of flexible working arrangements, with 34 per cent having access to paid parental leave and 32 per cent of people taking time off for caring.

“Flexibility allows workers to increase their overall living standards and make choices which they weren’t able to do in the past,” Professor Mulvey said.

In relation to casual employees, 41 per cent said they would rather have paid leave entitlements than casual loading. Professor Mulvey said he believed the Federal Government’s proposed industrial relations reforms would not impact negatively on work-life balance and that, generally, workers would be able to better achieve that balance under Australian Workplace Agreements.

Anna Harris and Associates has recently been selected as the preferred supplier to the State Government for all career management services and outplacements.

Managing director Anna Harris, a registered psychologist, said work-life balance was an issue she regularly confronted with clients. “People often don’t even realise the balance has gone, and there are multiple levels of imbalance for different people, but it seems that especially the high achievers and very talented people tend to focus on just work and lose sight of the rest,” Ms Harris said.

“It is quite endemic and needs to be evaluated on a consistent basis to be on top of what is going on – when people become aware of an issue,  they can then do something about it.”

Ms Harris said she believed employers had a duty of care to address the issue with employees, and that statistics showed only the tip of the iceberg.

Sydney-based Managing Work|Life Balance director Barbara Holmes set up the company 15 years ago and consults to many big national organisations.

Ms Holmes said there had been a significant shift in the past few years towards flexible workplaces and that, while many employees might have access to flexible arrangements, the real question was how many of those employees used the arrangements.

“The thing that is driving companies to consider the issues of work-life balance is the recruitment and retention of employees,” she told WA Business News.

“While more progressive employers realise its value, there are still other organisations who only give the notion lip service.”

The issue of work-life balance is not only relevant to big organisations but also small business owners.

Owner and manager of Sands Chemmart Pharmacy in Mandurah, Josephine Jennings, who was a 2005 WA Business News 40under40 award winner, has three children under four years old and is planning to have a fourth.

“Being a female sole proprietor of a busy retail pharmacy, it was imperative that I put in place an organisational structure that allowed me to oversee the business from a distance,” Ms Jennings said.

“I am able to plan short visits to the business between the babies’ feed and sleep times, and technology has enabled me to dial into the pharmacies computer system from home.”

She said that her wages to sales percentage sat a little high because she had employed a managing pharmacist but this did not bother her as the business can easily pay its bills and enabled her to be a semi-housewife.

Ms Jennings said it was important not to get caught up in criticising whether you are a good mum or a good business person, but just to have faith in yourself and always make decisions that you know are right in a given circumstance.