What is work-family conflict (WFC)? WFC is the experience of having tension between a person’s role as an employee and a person’s family responsibilities. Read this post from Forbes to learn how work-life employee benefits can help with WFC.
The challenge of maintaining a healthy work-life balance is a neverending one. For parents, in addition to balancing career and home, are fighting the perceptions of parents in the workplace. One study found that parents were seen as being less assertive and less committed to employment than non-parents. Many parents will tell you that their boundaries became even more solidified after they had children, and their ability to get work done has actually increased since they have more structured schedules. However, the bias remains.
Work-family conflict (WFC) can cause a variety of difficulties for parents. First, WFC tends to be more severe for mothers than for fathers, especially in countries or cultures with stricter gender roles. WFC is the experience of having tension between a person’s role as an employee and their family responsibilities. It occurs particularly when an employee has long work hours, a lack of administrative support, younger children, parents or a sibling that needs caregiving, workplace discrimination, not enough employer support, lack of partner support, and inflexibility of either one’s employer or job requirements. WFC can lead to an increased rate of stress-related illnesses, depression, anxiety, divorce, and burnout.
There are factors that mitigate WFC. One of the most effective ways to decrease WFC is work-life employee benefits. These benefits help reduce the stress associated with the work-personal balance. One work-life employee benefit includes access to counseling services, many times through an employee assistance program (EAP). In an EAP, employees are offered short-term counseling and assessments for mental health concerns. Information that employees discuss with an EAP counselor is confidential and is not shared with the employer. There are exceptions, such as an employee requesting the counselor disclose information to his or her employer, accompanied by a release of information.
Other work-life employee benefits include having a gym on-site, or membership at a reduced rate to a gym near the office. On-site childcare may also be offered to employees, along with emergency childcare. Granted, these services are usually offered from larger employers, as they can be quite expensive for employers, but these benefits make a big difference in the hiring process. A parent is much more likely to accept a job with a company that offers services that improve not only their quality of life but that of their children’s lives as well.
One of the biggest, and most lauded of work-life employee benefits are extended maternity and paternity leave. For example, Google offers up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave. In addition to paid leave, employees’ stock continues to vest, and they continue to receive bonuses during that time. This benefit extends to all parents. They also have on-site medical services, amongst other benefits. This is not without its issues, however. The treatment of Google’s non-employee workforce has been called into question, although Google will now require companies that supply employees to have twelve weeks of parental leave, amongst other qualifications.
Not only do work-life employee benefits lead to a decrease in WFC, but they also create a more positive relationship between employee and employer. An employee is less likely to quit if a business has work-life employee benefits and a workplace culture that supports a healthy balance between work and home. An employee that feels a sense of loyalty and investment from their workplace is a happier employee, and in turn, a more productive one as well.
Employees can benefit from work-life employee benefits even when they do not have children. Many employees are in a caretaking role for a parent or sibling. Work-family benefits such as extended leave can, and should, extend to employees that also function in the role of caregiver for an adult family member.
This is not to say that using work-life employee benefits don’t have consequences for employees. Employees may be erroneously viewed as being “entitled,” or “not pulling their weight” when using benefits – even when work-life employee benefits are meant to be used to improve quality of life. This negative perception greatly depends on how employers present work-life employee benefits. If an employer frames these benefits as the right of employees, the employee is more likely to use these benefits without negative comments from others.
The more employers see work-life employee benefits as a wise investment and one that pays dividends in the workforce, the greater reduction there will be in WFC. Work-life employee benefits lead to employees that are healthier and more productive. Most importantly, these benefits help give employees more meaning and satisfaction in their lives, which is then passed on to their families.
SOURCE: Sarkis, S. (12 May 2019) “How Work-Life Employee Benefits Can Actually Save You Money” (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/05/12/why-work-life-employee-benefits-actually-save-you-money/#1742d3c41104