Essay about Work-Life Conflicts

If the workplace of today could be characterized by a single theme, it would most likely focus on the continual presence of change. Dramatic changes in technology, the marketplace and the workforce have compelled organizations to re-evaluate not only the competitiveness of their products, but also the core ways in which work is performed. It is out of this pursuit for continued survival that organizations have been faced with the notion of varying work-schedules beyond the traditional hours of nine to five. This paper will explore the societal and business changes that have led to a proliferation in flexible work patterns. This paper will also address the benefits and disadvantages of flexible work patterns for

Work-life balance has been a popular topic for employees across all age and occupations for years, representing a rising concern of contemporary human resource management and labor policies. This topic has attracted the attention from the millennium generation, who is stepping into the market and beginning to grow a career. Therefore considering the increasing demand, well-designed workforce planning with diverse scheduling options offered to employees appears to be extra credits for most companies. This research paper aims to communicate the positive effects of four-day workweek, and providing support for why employers should adopt this schedule for employees and themselves through 1) introducing background and history of four-day workweek as a work schedule option and 2) demonstrating benefits of four-day workweek from both employer and employees’ perspectives.

Long working hours have both disadvantage and advantages (Kuriger, 2004). The advantage being the extra working hours can be used to create employment. However, if this is not the case and the same workers are overworked then it becomes a drawback to both the workers and the organization. Employees will want to work the extra hours so as to earn more pay and some it is due to job insecurity. Some organizations will not pay the extra hours arguing that its part of the job description, but this poses a threat to the employee’s health and safety. This is brought about by exhaustion hence reduced concentration at work. The work performance will reduce and the organization will stand to lose. To deal with this, the company may decide to create a policy where overtime working is voluntary depending on the individual capacity of the employees. The company might also decide to employ more workers, and then divide them in such a way that some are assigned those shifts that would have otherwise been overtime (Poole, 2000).

Hill, E.J., Erickson, J.J., Holmes, E.K. and Ferris, M. (2010). Workplace flexibility, work hours, and work-life conflict: Finding an extra day or two. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(3),

They state that shorter workdays require a level of intense focus that can be damaging to ones health, however if ten minute breaks were implemented for every hour of work, people would have enough time to recharge before resuming their task. Others are worried that with shortened hours, people will lose income, and the health benefits that come with a full time job. If the workday is shortened, then insurance and wages will naturally adapt to fit the new hours.

In an office job, perhaps shorter, six-hour workdays would be plausible. However, if a job such as construction or something else requiring physical labor were to have six-hour shifts, many more people would have to be employed to complete the job on time. This means it costs an employer more money, and that could be quite dangerous for his

The importance of work life balance and related legislation concerning holidays, rest periods, working hours and night working

My position on later work day is as followed, American should work part time or full time. the stander work week in the U.S. is a 40 hours. Also a part time work week is 32 hours and you can work less. In addiction to working a 40 hours week you can work more and make more money. This is my option on a work week and how it will benefit us in the long run.

Hill, E. J., Hawkins, A. J., Ferris, M. and Weitzman, M. (2001), Finding an Extra Day a Week: The Positive Influence of Perceived Job Flexibility on Work and Family Life Balance*. Family Relations, 50: 49–58. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2001.00049.x

Additionally, productivity seems to plateau after a certain amount of weekly working hours. One study found that increasing working hours to over 60 per week caused productivity to increase for three to four weeks, then decline sharply (Covert, 2014), while another found that productivity declined after 49 hours per week, regardless of the weeks worked (Pencavel, 2014 as cited in C.W., 2014). By studying data from World War I munitions workers, the latter study provided a direct, concrete measure of productivity, while the former focused on more modern, white collar work, suggesting that decreases in productivity with increased work hours can be observed across a broad spectrum of career fields. In addition, Ng, Sorenson, & Feldman (2007) reported that although working longer hours led to greater job performance in the short term, it took a toll on performance in the long term because of the decline in employee health.

A shorter working week would equal a fairer distribution of available work, which would reduce the number of people that are over worked and the number of people that are unemployed. (Thomas, Anna) good of reduced work

Realign work schedules and ensure that employees do not work more than 40-hours per week. This solution may require hiring of additional staff to meet deadlines and work requirements.

In the article, Six-Hour Days Will Never Work, it explains how shorter shifts did not actually benefit the employee or the company, in fact it caused health problems for workers. It also cost the company money becuase they were forced to hire new employees to cover for those who were sick. These kinds of drawbacks have to be considered when deciding on whether or not to change the workday schedule. There are, as explained, many drawbacks to having a six hour workday, however there are also benefits. According to the first article, studies have been made that prove how most people do their best during late mornings and late afternoons. Having a shorter work schedule can not only increase productivity, but it can also create more jobs. Less hours per employee means more open shifts, which in turn creates more jobs. This can definetly improve the economy. More jobs means more taxes, which means more money to put into things such as the community or the education system.

Six-hour workdays have a good imapct to a small amount of people. It has some good impacts such as more productivity and shorter work days. The impact it would have in reality would be far worse, than a positive change. In the article explaining why shorter workdays cause issuse, it states that because of every worker working harder and faster to keep up with buisness requirements, it is causing the workers to become sick. The reasoning is for the two hours you dont have to work, you have to push your body to another level to get the two hours caught back up too.

number of hours (e.g., 35 hours or more per week) has adverse consequences. It is