CHAPTER - II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In this chapter, an effort has been taken to explore the various aspects of this
study through the review of existing literature. Both theoretical and empirical research is
reviewed. The sources referred include journals, magazines, books, doctoral theses,
reports, working papers, internet sites, newspapers etc.
For ease of reading, it is divided into five sections. The need for WLB of the
working fraternity is dealt in the first section, the second section deals with literature on
the factors determining Work/Family Interface and the third section deals with Work –
Family /Family – Work Conflicts. The fourth section deals with the Strategies to
maintain WLB, the fifth and final section deals with the benefits and policies of WLB.

I. TO STUDY THE NEED FOR WLB OF THE WORKING FRATERNITY

In the current scenario, the working people face a lot of challenges both at their
work place and at their home. Hence, the concept Work Life Balance has become a
burning issue which needs at most care to maintain a proper balance of it. As a result
every organization and each individual started to take necessary efforts and follow few
strategies to maintain WLB. In this forthcoming part, the reviews related to the need for
WLB is highlighted.

Mehta and Kundnani1 (2015) studied, ‘Work – Life Balance at a Glance – A

Synthetic Review’. It was reviewed that, WLB is pervasive due to changing work – life
style. The major aim was to bring an insight into various forces surrounding it and that
hinders its equilibrium. It was found that women still are not treated equal to men,
organizations face problems in implementing WLB policies and personality traits played
an important role in reducing stress and Work – Life Continuum. It was concluded that
WLB issue is persisting because of various reasons like work culture, inadequate HR
policies and practices, job insecurity and low compensation.

1
Dr. Pallavi Mehta and Neera Kundnani (2015), ‘Work – Life Balance at a Glance – A Synthetic Review’,
Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research, Volume 4, No.1, pp 49 – 53.
 Varanasi and Ahmed 2 (2015) examined, ‘Factors Affecting Work Life Balance
of Medical Professionals’. The objective of the study was to understand the factors
influencing work life balance of medical professionals and organizational climate in
Government and Private Hospitals in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hypotheses
were framed to study the significant relationship between type of organization
(Government/Private) and sufficient facilities for relaxation, spending time with family,
stress at work, job satisfaction, disturbance of professional work often with personal
works, and work life balance. A structured questionnaire was designed with 42 questions
and administered to the medical professionals in the Government and Private hospitals in
Riyadh. Doctors and nurses of Government Hospital (32) and private hospital (46) were
considered for the purpose of the study. Cronbach’s alpha test, KMO Bartlett’s test,
Factor analysis was used for analyzing the data. The results indicate that hospitals should
have empathy with medical professionals and aid them in providing work life balance.
Vyas et al3 (2015) analysed, ‘A Study on Work Life Balance among KSRTC
Employees’. The main objective of this study was to examine the importance of the
factors influencing the Work Life Balance of male bus drivers and conductors. A well
constructed questionnaire was used for collecting the data. 100 was the sample size used
for the study. Percentage analysis was applied to find the results of the study. It was
found that only 30% of the employees were able to balance their work life and personal
life and the remaining employees sought the support from their employers to balance
their WLB.
Singh4 (2014) studied, ‘Measuring Work – Life Balance in India’. She strived to
develop a reliable and valid scale to measure the work/life balance among the

2
Varanasi . P and Ahmed. S, (2015), ‘Factors Affecting Work Life Balance of Medical Professionals’,
Recent Advances On Economics And Business Administration, Proceedings of the International
Conference on Economics and Business Administration (EBA 2015), Barcelona, Spain, April 7-9, pp 56 60

3
Brijmohan Vyas, Vijayshree Sajjan, Sanjay V, Hanji (2015), ‘A Study on Work Life Balance among
KSRTC Employees‘, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Management
Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp366 -373.

4
Smitha Singh Dr. (2014), ‘Measuring Work – Life Balance in India’, International Journal of Advance
Research in Computer Science and Management Studies, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 35 – 45.
professionals working in north India. The data collected from 114 service sector
professionals. The analysis, resulted in a 24-item scale with Cronbach alpha value 0.908
and the reliability of subscales ranging from 0.968 to 0.798. The questionnaire consists of
four dimensions such as Work Spillover in Personal Life and vice versa, Work/Life
Behavioural Enhancers and Work/Life Behavioural Constrainers. The validity of the
scale was provided through content, convergent and discriminant validity. Lastly, the
paper discussed the issues of applicability of the scale.
Goud and Nagaraju 5 (2013) conducted as study on, ‘Work Life Balance of
Teaching Faculty with reference to Andhra Pradesh Engineering College’. The issues
connected with work life balance of faculty members in educational institutions and the
factors that determine work life balance were highlighted in this study. 210 respondents
from 14 engineering colleges of Rayalaseema region and Andhra Pradesh were selected
using Stratified Random Sampling method. The major objective of this study was to
examine the effect of work life balance on faculties’ performance and work attitude.
Percentage Analysis and Factor Analysis were used as tools of analysis. The main finding
of this study was that the faculty members undergo severe stress as they try to balance
their work life and personal life and it was suggested that the management can offer
family-friendly policies to enrich the work – life of faculty members.
Karthik6 (2013) intended, ‘A Study on Work-Life Balance in Chennai Port Trust,
Chennai’. The performance of any organisation was based on the performance of its
employees. The relationship between personal and work life can be achieved through
emotional intelligence. Convenience sampling technique was used to select 80 employees
from the various departments of Port trust. Statistical tools such as Chi-square test, ‘F’
test and t’ test were used to derive the results. The findings of the study revealed that the
majority of the employees felt comfortable in their work place irrespective of their
personal and work place irritants.

5
Madhusudhan Goud. V and Nagaraju .K (2013), ‘Work Life Balance of Teaching Faculty with
Reference to Andhra Pradesh Engineering Colleges’, Global Journal of Management and Business
Studies, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 891-896
6
Karthik R. (2013), ‘A Study on Work-Life Balance in Chennai Port Trust, Chennai’, Advances in
Management, Vol. 6, No. 7, pp. 26 – 31.
 Suguna and Vandhana7 (2013) extended, ‘A Study on Work – Life Balance
among Teachers’. The major objective of this study was to know the level of work life
balance among teaching professionals. The data was collected through primary data by
circulating questionnaires to 74 sample respondents belongs to different professional
colleges. Percentage analysis was used to analyse the impact of WLB practices adopted
by the institutions. It was found that majority of the respondents were not clear about the
WLB policy in their institutions and feel stressed about balancing both personal life and
work life. It was concluded that the teaching fraternity of India, both from affiliated to
government and private sector institutions, was not much exposed to WLB practices.
Fatima and Sahibzada8 (2012) examined, ‘An Empirical Analysis of Factors
Affecting Work Life Balance among University Teachers: the case of Pakistan’. This
paper analysed the determinants of work and life imbalance of male and female
university teachers. Responses of 146 teachers from both private and public sector
universities were included in the study. Independent sample t-test was used to analyse the
effect of independent variables on work life balance. It was indicated that spousal
supportiveness at home and colleague supportiveness at work contribute towards the
positive work life balance, whereas child care problems, elder dependency at home and
unfair criticism at work place caused negative work life balance.
Jyotbi and Jyotbi9 (2012) studied, ‘The relationship between Role Efficacy and
Emotional Intelligence related to Work- Life Balance of Career Women’. It was
explained that the demands and pressure of work made it difficult to stretch time to
balance the work-life activities. Women taking up work life balance challenge had an
impact on women's advancement. Organization also created work place culture and
climates that reflected the concern for employees' life outside of work. The present study

7
Dr, Konda Suguna and Vandhana R (2013), ‘A Study on Work-Life Balance among Teachers’,
Personnel Today, July – September 2013, pp 15 – 22.
8
Noor Fatima, Dr Shamim A.Sahibzada, (2012) , ‘An Empirical Analysis of Factors Affecting Work Life
Balance among University Teachers: The case of Pakistan’, Vol. 12, No. 01, Journal of International
Academic Research, pp. 16 – 29
9
Jyotbi Sree V. and Jyotbi P. (2012), ‘Assessing Work – Life Balance: From Emotional Intelligence and
Role Efficacy of Career Women’. Advances in Management, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp 35 – 43.
focused on the sample of sixty three working women in Andhra Pradesh, India. The
results showed that there was a significant impact of factors affecting Role efficacy on
Emotional Intelligence.
Lalita10 (2012) analysed, ‘Employees Perception on Work Life Balance and its
Relation with Job Satisfaction in Indian Public Sector Banks’. Quota sampling technique
was followed. Survey was conducted and the data was analysed on the basis of responses
provided by 350 respondents. Statistical tools like factor analysis, descriptive statistics,
mean, t-test and Karl Pearson’s correlation were used to derive the results. The findings
of the study emphasized that the WLB factors were the predictors of job satisfaction and
there was a significant gap among the female and male respondents job satisfaction with
reference to various factors affecting WLB.
Mihir Dash11 (2012) studied, ‘Perceptions of Work – Life Balance among IT
Professionals’. It was dealt with the issue of balancing work life and family life of IT
professionals. Studies suggested that stress levels amongst IT professionals were high
because of long working hours and forgone holidays, leading to imbalances in work and
personal life. The first part of the study focused on establishing the psychometric
properties of the scale that has been used for measuring work-life balance. The factor
structure and the reliability of the scale were discussed. The second part of the study
examined the issue of work-life balance from various demographic perspectives. The
findings indicated that there is no significant difference between the perception of work-
life balance ad the demographic factors.
Nayeem and Tripathy12 (2012) focused on, ‘Work-Life Balance among Teachers
of Technical Institutions’. Many organizations and employees seek approaches to manage
the conflict and tensions between work and non-work activities. Among other

10
Lalita Kumari (2012), ‘ Employees Perception on Work Life Balance and its relation with Job
Satisfaction in Indian Public Sector Banks’, IJEMR, Vo. 2, Issue 2, pp 3 - 56.
11
Mihir Dash, Vivek Anand and Ashwini Gangadharan, (2012), ‘Perceptions of Work – Life Balance
Among IT Professionals’, The IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. XI, No. 1, pp 51 – 65.
12
Mohd Abdul Nayeem & Manas Ranjan Tripathy (2012), ‘Work-Life Balance among Teachers of
Technical Institutions’, The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 724 - 736
occupations, teaching has both positive and negative experiences about work-life. This
study examined the relationship of Job satisfaction and Work-Life Balance (WLB),
turnover and burnout of teachers. This study provided empirical evidence to prove the
relationship and ascertained the predictors of Job satisfaction among the technical
teachers. WLB was a major contributor toward Job satisfaction. The key finding of this
paper was that male teachers felt more burnout compared to female teachers.
Senthilkumar et. al. 13 (2012) in his ‘Empirical Study on Teaching Professionals’
Work Life Balance in Higher Learning Tamil Nadu’ reviewed WLB in general and aims
at bringing out the relationship between the demographical variables, such as age, gender
and level of stress in balancing work and personal life of teaching professionals. The
author tried to bring out the satisfaction level of teaching professionals in balancing the
work and personal life. the sample used for the study was 197 teaching professionals.
Two way table, Garrat ranking and chi-square test were used for the analysis. The results
of the analysis illustrated that there is a close relationship between the demographical
factors used for the research and the stress level in balancing work and family life.
Swarnalatha et. al.14 (2012) studied ‘Work Life Balance of Women Employees –
A Contribution to Organizational Excellence’. Work life balance does not mean an equal
balance, and the right balance of today will be different for tomorrow. The best work life
balance would be the one in which important areas of an individual’s life should not be
neglected for work-related goals and responsibilities. A changing and growth in
workforce looking for more work life balance opportunities. Success of the organization
depends on the satisfaction of their employees, and vice versa. To ensure the success of
both, alternative work arrangements should be provided. In the mean time women as a

13
Senthilkumar. K. G.,Dr. S. Chandrakumaramangalam and Dr. L. Manivannan (2012), ‘‘An Empirical
Study on Teaching Professionals’ Work – Life Balance in Higher Learning Institutions with Special
Reference to Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu’, Bonfring International Journal of Industrial Engineering
and Management Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3, Sept. 2012.
14
Dr. Swarnalatha*; S. Rajalakshmi (2012) MBA, ‘Work Life Balance of Women Employees – A
Contribution to Organizational Excellence’, Excel International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management
Studies, Vol.2 Issue 11, pp 45 – 62.
workforce, is increasing at high rate which in turn it has drawn attention of the corporate
to provide proper work life balance to achieve organizational excellence.
15
Khairunneezam (2011) extended a study on, ‘Work-Life Balance and Intention
to Leave among Academicians in Malaysian Public Higher Education Institutions’. The
study analysed the relationship between perceived work-life balance satisfaction of
academicians in Malaysian public higher education institutions and their intention to
leave the organization. The results indicated that perceived work-life balance satisfaction
was correlated negatively with intention to leave the organization among academicians.
The results of the simple mediation analysis indicated that job satisfaction and
organizational commitment were partial mediators for the relationship between work-life
balance and intention to leave.
Mordi16 (2011) investigated, ‘Work – Life Balance Practices in the Banking
Sector: Insights from Nigeria’. The main objective of this study was to examine the
barriers and reasons for adoption of work – life balance policies in the Nigerian Banking
Sector. The questionnaire was administered to 69 men and 83 women employees who
were selected on stratified sampling method. Simple Percentage analysis was used to
find out the correlation between demographical characteristics of respondents and their
work life balance and to find out the perception of both employees and employer’s
towards work life balance policies. It was observed that there was a general sense of lack
of awareness of work-life balance policies.
Jennifer and Susan17 (2010) studied, ‘Female Part-Time Managers Work-Life
Balance’. It was found that the part-time managers of the sample chosen in the study held
varied careers while working full-time, but careers stalled once a transition to part-time
work was made. The majority of the women was career-focused, worked intensively and

15
Khairunneezam Mohd Noor (2011), ‘Work-Life Balance and Intention to Leave among Academics in
Malaysian Public Higher Education Institutions’, International Journal of Business and Social Science
Vol. 2 No. 11, pp 240 – 248.
16
Chima Mordi, ‘Work – Life Balance Practices in the Banking Sector: Insights from Nigeria’,
www.niitpgpit.com , September, 2011.
17
Jennifer Tomlinson and Susan Durbin (2010), “Female Part-Time Managers Work-Life Balance”,
Aspirations and Career Mobility, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol. 29, No.
3, pp. 255-270.
felt frustrated with their lack of mobility and career progression while working part-time.
The majority worked in excess of their contracted hours and did not experience an
appropriate reallocation of work when they reduced hours.
Navjot et.al.18 (2010) studied ‘Emotional Intelligence as a Factor in Creating
Work Life Balance’. The major objective of the study was to draw the correlations
between work life balance and emotional intelligence. A sample of 308 randomly
selected professionals working in IT and ITES companies operating in the National
capital region in Chandigarh area were considered. Factor analysis was done using
Likert’s Five point scale to assess three dimensions of work life balance like work
interference with personal life, personal life interference with work and work/personal
life enhancement. It was observed that individuals found it difficult to meet the
commitments both at work and at home. This resulted in dissatisfaction in life and job,
and thus increased absenteeism, high turnover, stress and other health related problems.
Vikas19 (2009) studied on the topic, ‘Balancing the See-Saw of Work and Life’. It
was insisted to attain equilibrium between professional work and other activities, so as to
reduce friction between official and domestic life. It was found that, if the Work-life
balance enhances efficiency, the productivity of an employee also increases. Factors like
Work Environment, Job Satisfaction, and Family Background etc. were identified as
factors influencing Work Life Balance and suggestions like Time Management and Stress
Management were also offered to maintain Work Life Balance.
Hari Babu20 (2008) studied, ‘Work – Life Balance Amongst IT Professionals’. A
survey was conducted among 278 software professionals including both men and women.
Percentage analysis was used to find out the respondents worries about balancing work
and family. It was found that Work – family balance was the top concern for both men

18
Navjot Kaur and Parminder Walia (2010), ‘Emotional Intelligence as a Factor in Creating Work Life
Balance’, Indian Management Studies Journal, Vol. 14, pp43 – 53.
19
Vikas Shrotriya, “Balancing the See-Saw of Work and Life”, HRM Review, June, 2009, pp. 42 – 45.

20
Hari Babu. V (2008), ‘Work – Life Balance Amongst IT Professionals’, HRD Times, December 2008,
pp. 44 – 45.
and women respondents. Attractive compensation, flexible work environment and
flexible work schedules etc. were the important factors that influenced the successful
balance between work and family.
Kelly et al.21 (2008) examined, ‘Research on the Effects of Work-Family
Initiatives on Work-Family Conflict and Business Outcomes’. This study extended
recent research on the work side of the work-family interface by investigating whether
changes in workplace policies and practices reduce work-family conflict and improve
work-family fit. Previous research relied almost exclusively on cross-sectional data,
studies have not demonstrated that work-family conflicts can be reduced by changing
work conditions, nor have scholars evaluated which workplace changes are most
promising.
Sara22 (2008) conducted a study on, ‘Work-Life Balance in the Australian and
New Zealand Surveying Profession’. It found that awareness of the WLB issues and
options were unevenly spread amongst professionals. With shortage of professionals and
an active economy, the pressure on existing employees set to rise and therefore this was
an area which needs to be benchmarked and revisited with a view to adopting best
practices throughout the sector. The implications were that employers would ignore WL
B issues at their own peril.
Brad Harrington23 (2007)in his study, ‘Career Management and Work-Life
Integration: Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary careers’, concluded that
the work life evolution study intended to help understand field better. It also showed
where it has been and where it needs to go. Its goal was to define the critical areas of

21
Kelly Erin L, Kossek Ellen Ernst, Hammer Leslie B, Durham Mary, Bray Jeremy, Chermack Kelly,
Murphy Lauren A, Kaskubar Dan. ‘Getting There from Here: Research on the Effects of Work-Family
Initiatives on Work-Family Conflict and Business Outcomes’. The Academy of Management Annuals,
2008; 2: pp 305–349.
22
Sara J Wilkinson (2008), ‘Work-Life Balance in the Australian and New Zealand Surveying
Profession’, Structural Survey, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 120-130.
23
Harrington, B. and Hall, D.T. (2007) ‘Career Management and Work-Life Integration: Using Self-
Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers’. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
focus for the field and outline the skills essential to moving these initiatives forward.
Three key conclusions was drawn from this study: Tremendous progress has been made
in implementing innovative work-life policies and programs over the past 20 years,
especially in leading companies. The critical areas of focus in making the transition to a
cultural change perspective were influencing senior leaders and line managers and
helping employees make and negotiate effective career choices.
Jean Marise Bailey24 (2005) studied, ‘Work and Life Balance: A Study of
Community College Occupational Deans’. This study investigated work/life issues faced
by community college occupational deans. The goal was to understand how occupational
deans in Midwestern state, manage both their work and personal lives. The study
revealed strategies, support structures, and coping mechanisms that used as well as
provided insight into the nature of responsibilities of occupational deans and the multiple
roles they played both at and away from work.
Greenhaus et. al.25 (2003) studied, ‘The Case for Work/Life Balance’. It
explored and measured three aspects of work-life balance namely: Time balance, which
concerns the amount of time given to work and non-work roles; Involvement balance,
meaning the level of psychological involvement in, or commitment to, work and non-
work roles; and satisfaction balance, or the level of satisfaction with work and non-work
roles.
Hyman et al.26 (2003) examined the evidence for extensions of work into
household and family life in two growing employment sectors: call centres and software
development. Samples consisted of 1131 respondents. Extensions were identified as
tangible, such as unpaid overtime or intangible, such as exhaustion and stress. The study
found that organizational pressures combined with lack of work centrality results in

24
Jean Marise Bailey (2005). ‘WORK AND LIFE BALANCE: A Study of Community College
Occupational Deans’, A Dissertation Submitted to Michigan State University, pp 76 – 89.
25
Greenhaus J.H., Collins K. M. and Shaw J.D. (2003), ‘The Relation between Work – Family Balance
and Quality of Life’, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp 510 – 531.
26
Hyman J. Baldry, Scholarios, D., Bunzel, D, (2003), ‘Work Life Imbalance in the New Service Sector
Economy’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 41, pp 215 – 239.
work intruding into non work areas of employee lives, though intrusions manifest
themselves in different ways according to the type of work, levels of the worker
autonomy and organizational support.
Duxbury and Higgins27 (2001) examined, ‘Work-Life Balance in the New
Millennium: Where are we? Where do we need to go’? It countered that all stakeholders
must work towards work and family balance. Moreover, the authors proceeded to explain
that work-family conflict negatively affected the different members of the work
organization as well as members of the family. Furthermore, the upshots of work-family
conflicts were poor work performance and decrease in productivity due to tardiness,
absenteeism, excessive use of the telephone, absence in meetings, difficulty in
concentrating and all these resulted in higher turnover, lower commitment, and poorer
work morale.

II. TO IDENTIFY THE FACTORS DETERMINING WORK/FAMILY

INTERFACE
In this section, an effort is taken to bring out the reviews related to the factors
determining the Work and Family Interface of the respondents from the earlier literature.
Based on the occupation the factors affecting WLB differ. But basically they are
Excessive working hours, Multiple roles, Restricted holiday, Dependents care, Family
support, Supportive Work Environment, Work / Family Conflict, etc.

Sailaja28 (2015) examined, ‘Assessment of Contributory Role of Factors in

determining the Work Life Balance of Software Professionals’. This study tried to assess
the role of variables at work and family, in determining Work Life Balance. Different
factors causing work and life imbalance with reference to software professionals in
Bangalore City was study with the help of three hundred sample respondents working in

27
Duxbury, L. & Higgins, C. (2001), ‘Work-life balance in the new millennium: Where are we? Where
do we need to go?’ Canadian Policy Research Networks, pp 98-105.
28
Sailaja Ankireddy, Dr. Kumar D. Pradeep, Dr. Reddy T. Narayana, (2015), ‘Assessment of Contributory
Role of Factors in determining the Work Life Balance of Software Professionals ‘, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 65 –
75.
various IT companies in Bangalore City. Descriptive analysis, Correlation and regression
analyses were used to find out the extent of work to family and family to work conflicts
determining the work life imbalance. The conciliatory role of family support and work
support to the work life imbalance presents the curious inputs to the study of WLB were
also studied.
Deepak Chawla & Neena Sondhi29 (2011) examined, ‘Assessing Work-Life
Balance Among Indian Women Professionals’. Work-Life Balance is an area of concern
for organizations and individuals alike. An experimental survey of 75 school teachers and
75 BPO women professionals was carried out. Both the sectors were evaluated on six
sub-scales – job autonomy, fairness of rewards, organizational commitment, work
exhaustion, perceived work over-load, work-family conflict. A composite and sector wise
regression analysis demonstrated that organizational commitment, job autonomy and
perceived work overload were strong contributors to a sense of balance for an employee.
Indian professional was looking for supportive work places that help them manage their
multiple roles. This would have a spillover effect on the commitment and low attrition
rate and at the same time enhance an individual's Work-Life Balance.
Lata and Sapna30 (2011) studied, ‘Work – Life Balance Issues of Women at Call
Centres: A Study’. It attempted to investigate and identify the factors which affect the
work sphere and personal life of women working in call centers. The various health,
family and work-related problems and other variables encountered by women in call
centers were studied.
Rincy et al.31 (2011) examined ‘An Exploratory Study on the Work-Life Balance
of Women Entrepreneurs in South India’. The major objective of the study was to

29
Deepak Chawla & Neena Sondhi (2011), ‘Assessing Work-Life Balance Among Indian Women
Professionals’, The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 47, No. 2, October 2011, pp 341 – 352.
30
Lata and Sapna (2011), ‘Work – Life Balance Issues of Women at Call Centres: A Study’, The IUP
Journal of Management Research, Vol. X, No. 4, pp. 69 – 79.
31
Rincy Mathew and Panchanatham (2011) “An Exploratory Study on the Work-Life Balance of Women
Entrepreneurs in South India”, Asian Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2, July 2011, pp
77–105.
develop and validate an appropriate tool to illustrate the work-life balance (WLB) issues
faced by women entrepreneurs of South India. This study revealed that role overload,
dependent care issues, quality of health, problems in time management and lack of proper
social support were the major factors influencing the WLB of women entrepreneurs in
India.
Divya et. al.32 (2010) illustrated, ‘Work Life Balance of IT Women Professionals
Belonging to the Age Group 20-35 in India’. The current workplace conditions are some
of the reasons causing imbalances in work and life in the IT industry in India. This study
mainly focused on the working women in the age group 20-35 and the problems they
faced at work and family life. Results obtained from using factor analysis suggested that
organizations may mitigate voluntary turnover among women belonging to IT sector and
increased workforce diversity.
Alam et al33. (2009) explored, ‘A Test of association between working hour and
work family conflict: A glimpse on Dhaka’s female white collar professionals’. It
explained the correlation between working hours and work family imbalance, for three
focused groups, namely, teaching professionals and two groups from corporate houses. It
was found that respondents working for 5-7 hours a day did not consider working hours
as a factor to affect work and family balance. On the other hand, women managers in
corporate sector, having long working hours (9-10 hours a day) agreed that time was a
crucial factor for work family imbalance. The study approved the association between
working hour and work family conflict. 99 per cent of women managers reported to have
work family conflict because of 9 -10 hours work every day.
Haar and Bardoel 34(2008) examined, ‘Positive spill over from the work- family
interface: a study of Australian Employees’. It used structural equation modeling to test

26
Divya D., Suganthi L. & Samuel Anand A. (2010), "Work Life Balance of IT Women Professionals
Belonging to the Age Group 20-35 in India," Advances in Management. 3(1): pp 37 – 46.
33
Alam, M.S., Biswas, K., & Hassan, K. (2009), ‘A Test of association between working hour and work
family conflict: A glimpse on Dhaka’s female white collar professionals’, International Journal of
Business and Management, 4(5), pp 27-35.
34
Haar and Bardoel (2008), ‘Positive Spill Over from the Work- Family Interface: A Study of Australian
Employees’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Vol.46, No.3, pp 275-287.
positive spillover on 420 Australian public and private sector employees. They found
work-family positive spillover was negatively associated with psychological distress and
turnover intentions, while family work positive spillover was negatively associated with
psychological distress, and positively associated with family satisfaction. Data was
obtained from 160 employees at a small national architectural firm. The results suggested
that family identity salience acts as a buffer between family interference with work and
job satisfaction and job distress. It was found that increase in family interference wit/h
work was related to more job distress and less job satisfaction. It was further seen that the
buffering effect of family identity salience on the negative aspect of family interference
with work on job-satisfaction was stronger for women than for men.
Karakas and Lee35 (2004) offered ‘A Qualitative Investigation into the Meaning
of Family Well-Being from the Perspective of Part-Time Professionals’. It explained
work life balance issues as spending good time with family members, getting free time to
relax for emotional wellbeing and health of family members, having good
communication and support from the fellow colleagues, obtaining high quality child care
and education and being satisfied with the work load. Work-life balance refers to
people having enough time to have balance in their job and home life.
Jeff Hyman et. al (2003)36 studied, ‘Work-life imbalance in the new service
sector economy’. It evaluated the centrality of work to employees in two growing
employment sectors, call-centres and software development. It then examined evidence
for extensions of work into household and family life in these two sectors. Extensions
were identified as tangible, such as unpaid overtime, or intangible, represented by
incursions imported from work, such as exhaustion and stress. The study found that
organizational pressures, combined with lack of work centrality, resulted in work

35
Karakas, F. and Lee, M. D. (2004) ‘A Qualitative Investigation into the Meaning of Family Well-Being
from the Perspective of Part-Time Professionals’, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 23, No.1, pp.
57-77.
36
Hyman, Baldry, Scholarios and Bunzel (2003), ‘Work-Life Imbalance in the New Service Sector
Economy’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.41, No. 2, Pp. 215-239.
intruding into non-work areas of employee lives, though intrusions manifest themselves
in different ways according to type of work, levels of worker autonomy and
organizational support.
Gilbert37 (2002) studied, ‘Facilitating or Resisting: Patterns of Satisfaction and
Spousal Attitudes in the Family Life of Highly Educated Workers ‘. It was stated that
longer working hours though reduced general family satisfaction, but workers who were
more committed to their work reported significantly higher family satisfaction as
compared to the workers who were less committed to their work. So it was not only the
work timings that affect family but the behaviour of workers towards their jobs that affect
their family life.

Greenblatt38 (2002) studied, ‘Work/life Balance: Wisdom or Whining’. Social

forces have altered the needs of both employers and employees. In the past, the two –
parent households typically supplied a male to the workforce and a female caregiver to
the home. Today, the number of traditional two-parent households has decreased.
Extended families were often too geographically dispersed to help with child and elder
care and the costs of preparing the children for professional success and nursing infirm
have increased sharply. As a result, employees' family-related financial, temporal and
social burdens have increased dramatically.
Kanungo and Misra39 (1988) explained, ‘The bases of involvement in work and
family contexts’. It was revealed that, growth needs were most important, followed by
affinitive and subsistence needs. Involvement in work and family context was found to
be influenced by the need satisfaction potential of the respective context. It was seen for
the married respondents, the relationship with their spouse have had a positive effect on

37
April C. Gilbert (2002) ‘Facilitating or Resisting: Patterns of Satisfaction and Spousal Attitudes in the
Family Life of Highly Educated Workers’, Working pp. 44.
38
Greenblatt, E., 2002,.’ Work/life Balance: Wisdom or Whining’, Organizational Dynamics, 31: pp 177 –
193.
39
Kanungo, R. N., Misra. S (1988), ‘The bases of involvement in work and family contexts’, International
Journal of Psychology, 23, pp 267 – 282.
their ability to deal with the immense work pressure. Thus, the respondents who were
unmarried and staying alone were missing family support to balance their work life and
family life’.

III. TO ANALYSE THE WORK-FAMILY AND FAMILY-WORK CONFLICTS

Family related variables such as spouse support, spouse work hours, couple’s
employment status, number of children, parental responsibilities, and home
responsibilities have been studied in relation to work life balance/ conflict. In addition to
this, relationship between work related variables, viz., role conflict, work schedule
flexibility, number of hours worked and work life balance/ work family conflict have
been studied.

Joseph et al40 (2015) empirically tested the aspect, ‘Contributing to Work –

Family Conflict among Young Employees in the IT Companies’. This study tested the
factors generally understood as contributing to the Work Family Conflict of employees in
IT companies through a comparative study of men and women. Since majority of IT
employees in India are young it is important to understand whether the earlier parameters
to WLB were relevant in the present context. The analysis revealed that the work family
conflict has a definite impact in both men and women in Indian IT companies. It was
found that women suffer more from WFC as they have dual responsibility. To analyse
the data linear regression model using Excel and SPSS. The analysis revealed that the
gender difference do not impact greatly on the WFC. It was also suggested that it is the
time to rethink on the concept of WFC.
Jayanthi and Vanniarajan41 (2012) studied, ‘Work – Life Imbalance among
Executives: A Gender Focus’. It was stated that working environment is growing a high

40
Shaji Joseph, Bhavna Goutam and Vijaya Kumar Bharathi (2015), ‘Contributing to Work – Family
Conflict among Young Employees in the IT Companies’, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol
8 (S6), pp 50 - 60.
41
Jayanthi and Vanniarajan (2012), ‘Work – Life Imbalance Among Executives: A Gender Focus’ Global
Management Review, Vol.6, No. 2, pp. 24 – 36.
pressured environment especially after the globalization. The executives were highly
affected by their work pressures and also by their work-life imbalance. This study has
made an attempt to identify the important factors leading to work-life imbalance. It
identified that the lack of role autonomy, role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload
are the important factors leading to work-life imbalance. The level of above said stressors
were identified as higher in private sector than in public sector organization.
Erin et al.42 (2011) analysed, ‘Changing Workplaces to Reduce Work-Family
Conflict: Schedule Control in a White-Collar Organisation’. It was confined that work-
family conflicts were common and consequential for employees, their families and work
organizations and it was assessed that workplace policies or initiatives succeed in
reducing work-family conflict or increasing work-family fit. Using the data collected
from 608 employees of a white-collar organization, analysis clearly demonstrated that the
workplace initiative positively affects the work-family interface, primarily by increasing
employees’ schedule control.
Rabia Aslam et al. 43 (2011) studied, ‘Work-Family Conflicts: Relationship
between Work-Life Conflict and Employee Retention – A Comparative Study of Public
and Private Sector Employees’. In this paper, relationship between work-family conflict
(WFC), family work conflict (FWC) and turnover intentions of employees in three public
and three private sector organizations from services sector of Pakistan was investigated.
This study found positive but insignificant relationship between work-family conflict
(WFC), family-work conflict (FWC) and turnover intention of employees. Both public
and private sector employees were neutral regarding these variables.

42
Erin L. Kelly, Phyllis Moen and Tranby (2011), “ Changing Workplaces to Reduce Work-Family
Conflict: Schedule Control in a White-Collar Organisation”, Unpublished resource of National Institute
of Health, US., pp 90 – 109.
43
Rabia Aslam, Sadaf Shumaila, Mahwish Azhar and Shama Sadaqat (2011), “Work-Family Conflicts:
Relationship between Work-Life Conflict and Employee Retention – A Comparative Study of Public and
Private Sector Employees”, Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business Vol. 1, Issue. 2, pp.18-29.
 Hassan44 (2010) studied, ‘Work-Family Conflict in East Vs. Western Countries’.
It showed that Malaysians are significantly lower on work interference with family (WIF)
than westerners. Nevertheless, Malaysians scored significantly higher on family
interference with work (FIW) than all (14) western samples. Within the Malaysian
sample, FIW also has a stronger negative relationship with all facets of satisfaction and
WIF has a positive relationship with family satisfaction. The study showed that the
importance of family in an individual’s life in eastern cultures was different from the
importance the family has in western cultures. Therefore, Hassan argued that
multinational companies operating in eastern settings would be well-advised to take
cultural aspects such as collectivisms into consideration.
Gregory and Milner45 (2009) analyzed, ‘Work–life balance: a matter of choice’?
It has focused on role conflict, role strain, work-home conflict and most recently work-
life balance. Rather than work and home being conceptualized as separate domains that
have no bearing on each other, it was recognized that domestic identities and
responsibilities sometimes spill over into the workplace and that organizational identities
and responsibilities often cross into home life.
Rajadhyaksha and Velgach46 (2009) studied, ‘Gender, gender role ideology and
work-family conflict in India’. It was found that women experienced significantly higher
family interference with work as compared to men. However, there were no significant
differences between men and women as far as work interference with family is
concerned.

44
Hassan, Z. (2010), ‘Work-Family Conflict in East Vs Western Countries,’ Cross Cultural Management:
An International Journal, 17, 1, pp30–49.
45
Gregory, A. and Milner, S. (2009), ‘Work–life balance: a matter of choice?’ Editorial. Gender, Work &
Organization, 16,1, pp1–13.
46
Rajadhyaksha and Velgach (2009), “Gender, gender role ideology and work-family conflict in India”,
Academy of Management, Research work, Chicago, IL, USA. , pp 78 – 89.
 Warner and Hausdorf 47 (2009) examined, ‘Understanding Work-to-Family
Conflict: The Role of Organization and Supervisor Support for Work-Life Issues’. It was
attempted to find a solution for resolving the issues of work-life conflict by exploring
resource persons who support work-life issues like supervisors. They acted as facilitators
in resolving WLB conflicts.
Fernando48 (2008) analysed, ‘Work-Family Conflicts among Female Branch
Managers in Private Sector Commercial Banks of Sri Lanka’. The objectives of this
study were to identify the important variables of work-family conflict among female
branch managers, to study relationships between the variables in work family conflict
among female branch managers and to identify equal groups of the work-family among
female branch managers. A sample of 25 managers – branches were randomly chosen
for this study. The primary data collection was done through questionnaire and questions
were scaled using the five point Likert scale. The statistical tools adapted to analyse the
study were factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. All the tests were
carried out at 5% level of significance and all the analyses were carried out using SPSS –
17.0 version. The results of the study indicated that some factors in the work-family such
as work demand and family involvement were higher the priority for work-family
conflicts among female branch managers.
Victor et al.49 (2008) studied, ‘Work – Family Conflict of Banking Women
Employees in Batticaloa District’. The data was collected from 100 married women in
public and private banks who responded to a self-administered questionnaire. SPSS
package was used for the analysis and found that there was a need for greater spouse
support, flexible work schedule, child care centres and family support in order to alleviate

47
Warner M and Hausdorf P (2009), “Understanding Work-to-Family Conflict: The Role of
Organization and Supervisor Support for Work-Life Issues”, Organization Management Journal, Vol. 6,
No. 3, pp. 130-145.
48
Fernanado, W.R.P.K., (2008), ‘ Work-Family Conflicts among Female Branch Managers in Private
Sector Commercial Banks of Sri Lanka’, Unpublished Research Work., pp 90 – 94.
49
Victor. L. D and Thavakumar. D (2008), ‘Work – Family Conflict of Banking Women Employees in
Batticaloa District’, HRM Review, pp 67 – 75.
work family conflict. Maintenance of good marital relations was important in reducing
spouse conflict and increasing well being in women employee were given as the
conclusion for the study.
Joseph et. al.50 (2007) studied, ‘Work–Family Conflict: Experiences and Health
Implications among Immigrant Latinos’. Work–family conflict research has focused
almost exclusively on professional, White adults. The objective was to expand the
understanding of culture and industry in shaping experiences and consequences of work–
family conflict. Using in-depth interview data (n-26) and structured survey data (n-200)
from immigrant Latinos employed in the poultry processing industry, the authors
evaluated predictions drawn from emerging models emphasizing the influence of cultural
characteristics such as collectivism and gender ideology on work–family conflict. Results
indicated that immigrant Latinos in poultry processing experienced infrequent work-to-
family conflict; both the level and the antecedents of work-to-family conflict differed by
gender, with physical demands contributing to greater conflict for women but not men.
Kinnunen and Mauno51 (2007) explored, ‘Antecedents and Outcomes of Work
Family Conflict among Employed Women and Men in Finland’ collected data from a
sample of 501 employees working in four organizations, i.e., municipal and social
healthcare, manufacturing for exports, a bank and a supermarket. The results indicated
that interference from work to family was more prevalent than interference from family
to work among both sexes. However, there were no gender differences in experiencing
either work to family or family to work conflict.

Nirmala et. al.52 (2007) studied, ‘Linkage between Work-Life Balance and Stress
Levels: A Study of Women Employees in Chennai’. It examined the heavy workload and

50
Joseph G. Grzywacz, Thomas A. Arcury, and Antonio Marı´n, Lourdes Carrillo and Bless Burke and
Michael L. Coates and Sara A. Quandt (2007), ‘Work–Family Conflict: Experiences and Health
Implications Among Immigrant Latinos’, Journal of Applied Psychology’, Vol. 92, No. 4, 1119–1130, pp.
1119 – 1130.
51
Kinnunen, U., & Mauno, S. (2007), ‘Antecedents and Outcomes of Work Family Conflict among
Employed Women and Men in Finland’ Human Relations, 51(2), pp 157-177.
52
Nirmala Venkataramani and K. Maran, (2007), ‘ Linkage between Work-Life Balance and Stress
Levels: A Study of Women Employees in Chennai’, Anvesha, Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 12 – 20.
long hours at work left little time for women employees to attend family and household
work. The woman employee finds it difficult, to balance office work and household
work to achieve some degree of ‘work-life balance’. This was further compounded by
lack of help from spouse, children and relatives. The woman employee herself
sometimes had an unrealistic estimation of her capabilities, forgetting that her time and
effort were limited. This is also led to further imbalance in ‘Work – Life Balance’ and
causing stress for the woman employee.
King53 (2005) examined, ‘Research Review: Work-Family / Family – Work
Conflict’. It was stated that balancing the demands of work and the responsibilities of the
family is an ongoing concern in organizational leadership. The researchers defined that
the incompatibility between the domain of work and domain of family as work-family
conflict. It was concluded that conflict between these domains also occurred when the
amount of control over their job was limited and flexibility was minimal.
Venkataramana54 (2005) stated, ‘Work and family Interface: Its results on Stress
and Strain Relationship of Executives’. It was found that both work life and family life
were important to executives in any business organization. If they were not maintained
properly, might create stress and strain in work life and in turn resulted in various
diseases. In this regard, a survey on work life and family life interface and its effects on
the work stress and strain was conducted. A Bangalore based public sector unit was
selected for the study. This study was carried out by collecting secondary data from
various books on stress and strain management and collecting data from 50 executives
selected on random sampling method. Percentage analysis was used for analysis and
found that the executives of the selected public sector unit were happy with their family
life and work life just because of proper planning.

53
Jacque L. King (2005), ‘Work-Family/Family – Work Conflict’, International Journal of Leadership
Studies, Vol. 1 Iss. 1, 2005, pp. 102-105.
54
R. Venkataramana Rao (2005), “Work and Family Interface: Its Results on Stress and Strain
Relationship of Executives”, The ICFAI Journal of Organisational Behaviour, July 2005, pp. 26 – 44.
 Gunavathy55 (2004) examined, ‘Work-Life Balance Interventions Prevalent in the
Indian Industry’. The increasing prevalence of work-life conflicts and increasing concern
about work-life issues in the corporate arena present both a challenge and opportunity for
Human Resource (HR) professionals. Work-life balance initiatives designed to help
employees balance their work and personal lives were not only an option, but also a
necessity for many employers today. The study was carried out among a cross-section of
leading corporate entities (N = 30) in Chennai representing equally the three industrial
sectors, namely manufacturing, information technology and services. The results revealed
the commonalities and differences in work-life balance provisions across the three sectors
and also the impact of global economic slowdown on the same.
Jane Sturges and David Guest56 (2004) reported on, ‘Working to live or living to
work’? The relationships between work/life balance, work/non-work conflict, hours
worked and organisational commitment among a sample of graduates in the early years
of their career were considered. It concluded that, although graduates seek work/life
balance, their concern for career success draws them into a situation where they worked
increasingly long hours and experienced an increasingly unsatisfactory relationship
between home and work. The article discussed the causes and potential consequences of
this predicament and in particular how work/non-work conflict was linked to hours
worked, the state of the psychological contract and organisational commitment. It
highlighted the role of organisations' policy and practice in helping to manage the
relationship between work and non-work and the development of organisational
commitment.
Mohsin Aziz57 (2004) studied, ‘Role stress among women in the Indian
information technology sector in India’. It focused on stress that woman IT Professionals
faced in their workplace. A survey on 400 women from Indian IT organizations was done

55
Gunavathy (2004), ‘Work-Life Balance Interventions Prevalent in the Indian Industry’, South Asian
Journal of Management, Volume 18No.2, pp. 108 - 127
56
Jane Sturges and David Guest (2004), ‘Working to live or living to work? Work/life balance early
in the career’, Human Resource Management Journal, Volume 14, Issue 4, pp 5 – 20
57
Mohsin Aziz, (2004), ‘ Role stress among women in the Indian information technology sector’,
Research Paper, Women In Management Review, Vol. 19 Iss: 7, pp.356 – 363
and the results obtained showed that married women felt higher stress than the unmarried.
This study implied that among the women, work-related stressors present were:
Perceiving no career progression, Feeling overloaded, Lacking linkage of one's role and
other roles in the organization, Facing conflicts of self-values and self-concepts with the
requirements of the organizational role.
Bharat58 (2003) examined, ‘Women, Work and Family in Urban India: Towards
New Families’? Conflict between career and family roles can be a potential source of
stress for both women and men managers, it affects women in India more than men
because of many reasons. While social, legal and economic reforms have helped women
to join the workforce in India. The continuing influence of normative attitudes and values
has prevented them from altering the perceptions of the society as well as their own
regarding their sex-roles.
Michael White et. al.59 (2003) analysed, ‘High-performance Management
Practices, Working Hours and Work–Life Balance’. Alongside long hours, which were a
constant source of negative job-to-home spillover, certain ‘high-performance’ practices
have become more strongly related to negative spillover during this period. But dual-
earner couples were not especially liable to spillover than single-earner couples.
Additionally, the presence of young children has become less important over time.
Overall, the results suggested a conflict between high-performance practices and work-
life balance policies.
Carikci60 (2002) studied, ‘Gender Differences in Work Family Conflict among
Managers in Turkey: non Western Perspective’. The study was based on gender and
domain differences in work family conflict among men and women managers in Turkey.
The sample consisted of 110 men and women. The study found that women considered

58
Bharat. S (2003), “Women, Work and Family in Urban India: Towards New Families?” in Berry, J W;
Mishra, R C and Tripathy, R C (Eds), Psychology in Human and Social Development: Lessons from
Diverse Cultures, New Delhi, India Sage, pp 155 – 169.
59
Michael White, Stephen Hill, Patrick McGovern, Colin Mills and Deborah Smeaton (2003), ‘High-
performance’ Management Practices, Working Hours and Work–Life Balance’, British Journal of
Industrial Relations, Volume 41, Issue 2, pp 175 – 195.
60
Carikci I lker, (2002), ‘Gender Differences in Work Family Conflict among Managers in Turkey: non
Western Perspective’ Paper presentation at EURAM, Stockholm.
their families and family activities much more than men. Women undertake most of the
family responsibilities from child care to parents. These results referred to greater
responsibility of women for family matters than men.
Erdwins et al.61 (2001) examined, ‘The relationship of women’s role strain to
social support, role satisfaction and self-efficacy’. The relationship of social support, role
satisfaction and self efficacy to measures of work/family conflict and role overload were
those factors. Participants included 129 married women, all of whom had at least one
preschool-aged child. The researchers hypothesized that self-efficacy in work and family
roles would be associated with work/family conflict, role overload and maternal
satisfaction.
Friedman and Greenhaus62 (2000) studied, ‘Work and Family: Allies or
Enemies’. It revealed that women in workforce have increased considerably, however
women face a lot of issues and challenges. They were seen as the primary caretakers of
the home and family, even if they work just as much as men. Work role was often seen as
secondary to family roles. Not just men but women also held themselves and other
women to the homemaker standard. Women spent more time on housework, child care
and family responsibilities. Women used to spend almost 24 percent of their time on
housework in 1966 to 30 percent of housework in 2005. However women miss more
work for child care. 20 percent of women took care of both children and elders.
63
Hobfoll (1989) examined, ‘Conservation of resources: A new attempt at
conceptualizing stress’. The antecedents and outcomes of inter-role conflict were
proposed. Specifically, burnout was discussed as a strain based antecedent of work-
family conflict and marital satisfaction as an outcome of work-family conflict. Finally,
gender differences in the hypothesized relationships were explored.

61
Erdwins, C.J., Buffardi, L. C., Casper, W. J., O’Brien, A. S., (2001). ‘The relationship of women’s role
strain to social support, role satisfaction and self-efficacy’, Family relations, 50 (3), pp 230 – 239.
62
Friedman S.D. and Greenhaus J.H., (2000) "Work and Family: Allies or Enemies?" What happens
when business professionals confront life choices, New York, Oxford University Press
63
Hobfoll, S.E. (1989), ‘Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress’,. American
Psychologist, 44, pp 513 – 524.
IV. TO IDENTIFY THE STRATEGIES TO BE ADOPTED TO MAINTAIN WLB
In this section, the different strategies to be followed by the respondents of
various research studies and articles were discussed. They may be Emotional Balance,
Stress Management, Frequent Training Programmes, Family Gatherings, hobbies, leisure
activities and etc.

Prokreeti64 (2015) studied, ‘The Determinants of Organisational Stress and Work

Life Balance: A Review of Literature’. The primary objective of this review was to find
out the root cause of stress happening in employees and to find out the remedies for the
work-life imbalance faced by dual career couples. It was found that stress and Work Life
Balance were some severe issues faced by both the individual and the organization. It
was concluded that if the employees were not able to sustain the changes denotes that
they were not emotionally ready to accept the changes and which may lead to Work Life
Balance problems.
Gupta and Sharma65 (2013) have undergone, ‘An Empirical Analysis of Work
Life Balance of Corporate Employees with Special Reference to Marital Status in
Moradabad Region’. The major objective of this study was to compare the work life
balance between married and unmarried people. The samples of the research study were
the senior corporate executives of age between 22 - 45 years from corporate sectors in
and around Moradabad region drawn on the basis of random sampling. Their
designations were general manager, manager, assistant manager, senior executive officer.
The research study was based on the data interpreted from the questionnaire of the
samples. Their feed back as the response of the questionnaire were quantified by using
Likert –Scale as data and these were analyzed and interpreted by using statistical
techniques. The variables determined were level of Work Life Imbalance, Occupational
stress on the basis of marital status. It was concluded from the study that work life
imbalance and occupational stress are obvious in the present life style.

64
Prokreeti Mishra (2015), ‘The Determinants of Organisational Stress and Work Life Balance: A
Review of Literature‘, International Journal of Innovative Research and Develpoment,Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 391
– 396.
65
Ms. Yuvika Gupta and Ms. Nandita Sharma (2013), ‘An Empirical Analysis of Work Life Balance of
Corporate Employees with Special Reference to Marital Status in Moradabad Region‘, Asia Pacific
Journal of Marketing and Management Review, Vol. 2, No. 9, pp. 114 – 119.
 Preethi66 (2011) studied, ‘Work – Life Balance – The HR Perspective’. It was
stated that Stress, Physical problems, Relational Problems, Hangover, Unethical
Practices, Disturbed Families and Decreased Performance were the outcomes of
imperfect WLB. To overcome these problems the HR should implement the decisions
like planning the work, Job analysis, Specifications and Descriptions, Providing a Flexi
approach towards work, being empathetic towards the employees, Family gatherings at
work place, Conducting frequent training programmes and Allowing workers to
participate in the management. It was concluded that the HR department of the
organization and the employees together must work out strategies to help attain WLB
which makes the organization the happiest place to work in.
Shiney67 (2011) analysed, ‘Work-Life Balance in Employees’. Work life and
personal life are the two sides of the same coin and the respondent professionals surveyed
said that they were not able to find a balance between their personal and professional
lives. The technological blessings like e-mail, text messaging and cell phones which
were thought of as tools to connect them to their work when they were away from their
workplace. It actually integrated their personal and professional lives and the ever-
increasing working hours leave the individuals with less time for themselves and to
pursue their hobbies or leisure activities. It was concluded that it might hinder the growth
of the person as an individual in terms of his personal and spiritual growth.
Shyodan and Aheli68 (2007) studied, ‘Understanding Work Life Balance: An
Empirical Study of IT Sector’. It endeavored to articulate the demands and pressure at
work, home and strategy used to make balance between work and life in IT sector. The
results indicated that respondents felt work pressure and demand of work as ‘unrealistic
deadlines’. They also felt pressure and demands of family duties, such as childcare and
care of elderly relatives. Support from the family and organization was the best coping
strategy used by these IT professionals. They also narrated that the flexi time/hours of

66
S. Preethi Priscilla (2011), ‘Work – Life Balance: The HR Perspective’, HRM Review, pp 10 – 15.
67
Dr. Shiney Chib, ‘Work-life Balance in Employees’, Personnel Today, July – Sep, 2011, pp. 03 – 10.
68
Shyodan Singh and Aheli Chowdhury (2007), ‘Understanding Work Life Balance: An Empirical Study
of IT Sector’, Global Journal of Business Management, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 1 – 9.
work were big help to balance the work and life. It was suggested that counseling for the
IT professionals also played an important role in better work life balance.
Indradevi and Kamalapriya69 (2006) studied, ‘Women in Indian BPO: Problem
and Stress’. Women working in call centers were personally affected in the family and
social life and faced stress due to various reasons like night shifts, and less autonomy at
work. Finally, the authors have identified that poor work environment also added to
stress.
Crosbie and Moore70 (2004) studied, ‘Work-life balance and working from
home’. Data were collected through interviews and group discussions. 70 percent of the
respondents were females. They carried out paid work at home for 20 hours or more per
week. The study concluded that working from home was not the solution for modern
working life. Personality skills and aspirations should be given careful consideration by
those who were thinking of working from home. Those who have tendency to work long
hours outside the home might find that home life was even further marginalized by work
life.
Karakas and Lee71 (2004) examined, ‘A Qualitative Investigation into the
Meaning of Family Well-Being from the Perspective of Part-Time Professionals’. It was
explained in the study that work life balance issues as spending good time with family
members, getting free time to be able to relax for emotional wellbeing and health of
family members, having good communication and support from the fellow colleagues,
obtaining high quality child care and education; and being satisfied with the work load.
Thompson72 (2002) studied, ‘Managing the Work-Life Balancing Act: An
Introductory Exercise’. It classified the work-life initiatives as time-based strategies,

69
Indradevi R and Kamalapriya M (2006), “Women in Indian BPO: Problem and Stress”, Management &
Labour Studies, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 332-348.
70
Crosbie and Moore (2004), “Work-life balance and working from home”, Social Policy and Society,
Vol. 3, No.3, Pp. 223-233.
71 Karakas, F. and Lee, M. D. (2004) ‘A Qualitative Investigation into the Meaning of Family Well-Being
from the Perspective of Part-Time Professionals’, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 23, No.1, pp.
57-77.
72
Thompson C A (2002), "Managing the Work-Life Balancing Act: An Introductory Exercise", Journal
of Management Education, Vol. 26, No, 2, pp. 205-220.
information-based strategies, money-based strategies, direct services and culture change
services. Thus, a work-life balance friendly culture was a productive work culture where
the potential for tensions between work and other parts of employees' lives was
minimized. This means having appropriate employment provisions in place and
organizational systems and supportive management reduced the Work Family Conflict.
Moen and Yu73 (2000) studied, ‘Effective work/life strategies: working couples,
work conditions, gender, and life quality’. It was stated that work-life balance was
perceived as a personal issue to be dealt with using individual strategies and not as a
structural problem caused by lack of flexibility in the workplace and a lack of affordable
childcare and eldercare. It was important to bear in mind that their individual choices
were constrained by their socioeconomic resources and cultural norms about family,
work and gender.
Becker and Moen74 (1999) studied, ‘Scaling Back: Dual Earner Couples Work –
Family Strategies’. It was identified that a number of externally oriented methods of
lowering work-family conflict (postponing children, hiring assistance with childcare and
household duties and scaling back work and non work). The framework presented here
contributes to previous research in three ways: (a) by focusing on externally oriented,
structural strategies for reducing the level of work – family conflict instead of internal
coping mechanisms; (b) by illustrating how work – family management strategies impact
new venture performance; and (c) by providing guidelines for choosing among these
strategies.
Loscocco75 (1997) examined, ‘Work – Family linkages among self-employed
women and men’. It was found that men saw the flexibility of their working hours as a
symbol of the control they had through being their own boss, but tended to use it only
occasionally, while women used flexibility as a key resource in trying to achieve a work

73
Moen, P. and Yu, Y. (2000) , ‘Effective work/life strategies: working couples, work conditions, gender,
and life quality’. Social Problems, 47,3, pp 291–326.
74
Becker. P., and Moen. P., (1999), ‘Scaling Back: Dual Earner Couples Work – Family Strategies’,
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61 (4), pp 995 – 1007.
75
Loscocco, K. A. (1997), ‘Work – Family Linkages among Self – employed Women and Men’, Journal
of Vocational Behaviour, 50(2), pp 204 – 226.
life balance. It was concluded that women fulfill gender norms when they accommodate
work to family life, while men fulfill them when they put their business first.

V. TO EXAMINE THE WLB BENEFITS ENJOYED BY AND POLICIES

EXTENDED TO THE RESPONDENTS
Various benefits may be enjoyed by the respondents if WLB is being properly
maintained. This section deals with the benefits out WLB from the earlier literature
reviews. The benefits may be like Cordial relationship both at family and at the
workplace, relief from tension and stress, concentration at work, increase in loyalty, job
satisfaction and etc.

Palki and Pankaj76 (2015) investigated, ‘Impact of Flexible Working Hours on

Work Life Balance’. The purpose of this study was to identify the benefits to employees
due to flexi working hours. It was identified from the study that greater employee
productivity and higher organization profitability are the most common benefits. Flexible
working hours also promote and facilitate Work Life Balance. Reduced stress and
increased employee well being are the outcomes of proper WLB.
Niraj and Virendra (2013)77 examined, ‘Work-Life Balance Benefits: From the
Perspective of Organizations and Employees’. The purpose of this study was to find out
the benefits of Work-Life Balance (WLB) from the perspective of organizations and
employees. A survey was conducted on 100 call center employees in Gurgaon. The
sample t-test was conducted to find the significance of the benefit variables. The
organizational perspective revealed that reducing absenteeism and turnover, improving
productivity and image, and ensuring loyalty and retention were the benefits of WLB,
whereas the employees’ perspective highlighted that job satisfaction, job security,

76
Palkisetia and Pankaj Shah, (2015), ‘Impact of Flexible Working Hours on Work Life Balance’,

International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 3567 – 3569.

77
Niraj Kishore Chimote and Virendra N Srivastava, (2013), ‘Work-Life Balance Benefits: From the
Perspective of Organizations and Employees’, The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 1,
pp 62 – 74.
autonomy, stress reduction and improving health were the benefits of WLB. However,
correlation analysis indicated that both the perspectives were poorly correlated.
Rupashree and Shivganesh78 (2010) studied, ‘Work-Family Enrichment as a
Mediator Between Organizational Interventions for Work-Life Balance and Job
Outcomes’. It was reported that supervisor support and work-family culture were
positively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment. No significant association
was found between work-life benefits and job outcome measures. Job characteristics and
supervisor support were positively related to work-to-family enrichment. Work-to-family
enrichment mediated the relationship between job characteristics and job outcomes and
between supervisor support and affective commitment.
Lowe79 (2007) examined, ‘Under pressure: Implications of work-life balance and
job stress’. It explained the meeting of stimulating trends in the early 21st century that
enabled employers to re-think their human resources strategies. As such, it was not
merely coincidence to transform work-life balance strategies as strategic focus in
business and public policy priority. The trends and challenges were as follows: the aging
workforce, increased labour market competition, advancement in information technology,
and rising costs associated with employee benefits. These have created new frontiers for
employers to attain organizational performance.
Liz80 (2004) studied, ‘Work-Life Balance Initiatives: Implications for Women’. It
explored the main barriers to women’s progression and highlighted the long hours
associated with managerial roles as a major problem. The research presented a voluntary
approach to WLB which may only deliver positive benefits to women when the labor
market was tight, and even then, the benefits for women in management were far from
demonstrated. A stronger equal opportunities approach was also shown to be

78
Rupashree Baral and Shivganesh Bhargava (2010), “Work-Family Enrichment as a Mediator Between
Organizational Interventions for Work-Life Balance and Job Outcomes”, Journal of Managerial
Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 274-300.
79
Lowe, G.S.(2007)’ ‘ Under pressure: Implications of work-life balance and job stress’ Human
Solutions Report, www.grahamlowe.ca.
80
Liz Doherty (2004), “Work-Life Balance Initiatives: Implications for Women”, Employee Relations,
Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 433-452.
problematic, as it drew attention to women’s ‘difference’ to men and their need for
special treatment. It was further argued that more work needs to be done with male
managers in order to humanize the workplace for men and women who wish to lead
rounded lives.
Greenhaus et al81 (2003) explained, ‘The Relation between Work – Family
Balance and Quality of Life’. The authors have delved into the multiple roles definition
of WLB with a focus on equality of time or satisfaction across an individual’s multiple
life roles. WLB was therefore defined as “the extent to which an individual is engaged in
– and equally satisfied with – his or her work role and family role consisting three
components of work family balance, involvement balance and satisfaction balance”.

Ramesh and Nagapriya82 (2012) analysed, ‘Work-Life Balance Amongst

Teachers’. The purpose of this study was to highlight the necessity of adopting Work-
Life Balance (WLB) policies for teachers teaching at different levels. It examined
different elements of WLB, especially with reference to government and private
institution teachers. Based on the empirical evidence, the study proposed that there was a
necessity of adopting WLB policies for teachers. The data for the study was collected
from 100 teachers working for government and private schools, colleges, universities and
professional courses. The findings of the study indicated that there was a need for
designing WLB policies and programmes for the teaching community to enable them to
balance their work and life needs.
83
Beauregard (2011) studied, ‘Direct and indirect links between organizational
work-home culture and employee well-being’. Data collected from public sector
employees in the UK indicated that a supportive work-home culture was significantly
associated with lower levels of psychosomatic strain among employees. For women, this

81
Greenhaus J.H., Collins K. M. and Shaw J.D. (2003), ‘The Relation between Work – Family Balance
and Quality of Life’, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp 510 – 531.
82
Ramesh Kumar Miryala and Nagapriya Chiluka (2012), ‘Work-Life Balance Amongst Teachers’ IUP
Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. XI, No. 1, pp.38 – 50

83
Beauregard T A, (2011), ‘ Direct and indirect links between organizational work-home culture and
employee well-being’, Research paper, British Journal of Management, Volume: 22 Issue: 2 pp. 218-237.
relationship was mediated by reduced levels of work-home interference. Different types
of support demonstrate different effects for men and for women: managerial support has
a more beneficial impact on women's well-being, and organizational time demands have
a more detrimental impact on men's well-being. Recommendations for managers to boost
employee well-being include shifting the focus away from presenteeism, to improve
attitudes towards flexible work practices, incorporating work-home supportiveness into
the managerial performance appraisal process, and compensating or recognizing
employees taking on absent colleagues' workloads.
Amita Singh84 (2010) analysed, ‘A Study on the Perception of Work-Life Balance
Policies among Software Professionals’. With recruitment becoming a cause of concern,
attrition within the sector was giving rise to problems of employee engagement within
this sector. Hence, the present study focused on software professionals to find out their
perceptions regarding Work-Life Balance (WLB) policies. A total of 133 respondents
were covered in this study. A major contribution of this study was the provision of an
approach for the management of these organizations to assess the awareness of WLB
policies and to measure their perceived importance.
Lazãr et al.85 (2010) examined, ‘The Role of Work-Life Balance Practices in
Order to Improve Organizational Performance’. It highlighted the quality relationship
between paid work responsibilities and unpaid responsibilities. It also showed how WLB
initiatives and practices affect the performance of the employees of an organization by
extending these policies not only to the employees but also to their families. The concept
of work-life conflict was associated with lack of engagement, absenteeism, turnover
rates, low productivity and poor retention levels which may compromise the availability
and use of these practices.

84
Amita Singh (2010), ‘A Study on the Perception of Work – Life Balance Policies among Software
Professionals’, The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. IX, No. 2, pp. 51 – 79.
85
Lazãr I, Osoian C and Ratiu P (2010), “The Role of Work-Life Balance Practices in Order to Improve
Organizational Performance”, European Research Studies, Vol. XIII, No. 1, pp 34 – 51.
 Leora Lawton and David O. Tulkin86 (2010) studied, ‘Work-Family Balance:
Family Structure and Family-Friendly Employer Programs’. It was said that for those
employees who were most engaged in their work, a healthy situation means a policy of
encouraging these employees to take time off for families before they hit a burn-out
stage. Flexibility allowed employers and employees to maintain balance, and employee
engagement programs make work more attractive. Used judiciously in combination,
employees and employers alike can benefit, and the relationship between management
and employees becomes supportive rather than adversarial.
Singh87 (2010) examined, ‘A Study on the Perception of Work-Life Balance
Policies among Software Professionals’. It explored an approach for the management of
software organizations to assess the awareness levels of work-life policies and measure
their perceived importance. The variables employed in the study were not occupation
specific and can be used to assess the WBL policies in other occupations too.
Hammer et al.88 (2009) analyzed, ‘Clarifying the construct of Family-Supportive
Supervisory Behaviours (FSSB): A Multilevel Perspective’. One facet of organizational
culture that has gained much attention was the perception of work-family specific
workplace support, which represented the various ways an organization can show to care
about employees’ management of both work and personal roles. A supportive work-
family culture can manifest itself through available work-life policies, and employee
perceptions of work-family support from the organization, the managers, and fellow co-
workers.

86
Leora Lawton, David O. Tulkin, (2010), ‘ Work-Family Balance: Family Structure And Family-
Friendly Employer Programs, presented in Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America,
Dallas, TX.
87
Singh, Amita (2010), "A Study on the Perception of Work-Life Balance Policies among Software
Professionals", lUP Journal of Management Research, IX(2): pp 51 – 79.
88
Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Zimmerman, K., & Daniels, R. (2009), ‘ Clarifying the construct of
family-supportive supervisory behaviors (FSSB): A multilevel perspective.’ P. L. Perrewé, D. C. Ganster,
P. L. Perrewé, & D. C. Ganster (Eds.), Exploring the Work and Non-work Interface, pp. 165-204.
 Rajesh89 (2009) examined the concept ‘Work Life Balance’. It was stated that in
today’s scenario the need based and refined programmes of Work Life Balance to suit the
life style of employees should be identified. Paternity leave, Child care, Telecomm uting
and working hours were the programmes offered by the management to their employees.
Rama90 (2009) examined, ‘Work – Life Balance’. It was observed that
individuals need to strike a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives.
The factors like pace of job, too little time to personal interests, financial pressures and
goals etc. were influencing the work and life interface of the individuals. It was
suggested that proper planning and time management may help the individuals to
maintain the balance. The organization was also offered the provisions like flexi-work
timings, necessary leaves and child care provisions to maintain WLB of employees.
Mohammad Niaz et al.91 (2008) studied, ‘Work-Life Balance Practices and the
Gender Gap in Job Satisfaction in the UK’. It examined the role of work-life balance
practices (WLB) in explaining the “paradox of the contented female worker”. The results
proved that WLB practices increase the likelihood of reporting higher satisfaction but
similarly for both demographic groups, thereby reducing the gender gap in job
satisfaction slightly.
Whitehouse et al.92 (2008) examined, ‘Returning Too Soon? Australian Mothers'
Satisfaction with Maternity Leave Duration’. It was suggested that senior staff and
managers who have greater autonomy and decision discretion and more access to
supportive resources were better able to achieve a positive Work-Life Balance.

89
Rajesh Sharma (2009), ‘The journal of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance’, Bank Quest, Vol. 80,
Oct – Dec 2009, pp 33 – 40.
90
Rama Subramanian (2009), ‘ Work – Life Balance’, HRM Review, September, 2009, pp 36 – 43.
91
Mohammad Niaz Asadullah and Rosa Fernández (2008), “Work-Life Balance Practices and the Gender
Gap in Job Satisfaction in the UK”, Matched Employer-Employee Data - IZA Discussion Paper No. 3582
July 2008. pp 1 – 39.
92
Whitehouse, G, A Hosking & M. Baird (2008) "Returning Too Soon? Australian Mothers'
Satisfactions with Maternity Leave Duration", Asia Paciftc Journal of Human Resources. 46(3):pp 188-
302.
 Fiona93 (2007) studied, ‘WLB: Contrasting Managers and Workers in an MNC’.
It was stated that flexible working practices were good for WLB and managers were
better able to maintain a good WLB than workers. It was suggested that the development
of an appropriate WLB policy assists in ensuring company loyalty and positive attitudes
to work.
Fleetwood94 (2007) studied, ‘Why Work- life Balance Now’? It discussed the
inevitable connection between WLB and other kinds of flexible working practices, and
their discharge. These practices were 'employee friendly' and sought by employees to
enhance their WLB. 'Employer friendly' approaches were sought by employers to
enhance profit and then to enhance employees' WLB. The data reflected that flexible
working practices were characterized as much by not so employee friendly working
practices that tend to constrain WLB.
Straub95 (2007) examined, ‘A Comparative Analysis of the Use of Work-Life
Balance Practices in Europe: Do Practices Enhance Females’ Career Advancement’? A
comparative analysis of WLB practices in 14 European countries was done to test
whether these practices actually enhance the career advancement of women to senior
management positions. It was noted that there were certain differences in the provision of
WLB practices and women’s participation in the labour force among European
companies. A positive influence of WLB practices on women’s career advancement to
senior management positions was confirmed in only one case – the payment of an
additional amount of maternity leave. All other practices have no significant impact on
relationship.

93
Fiona Moore (2007), “WLB: Contrasting Managers and Workers in an MNC”, Employee Relations,
Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 385-399.
94
Fleetwood, Steve (2007), "Why Work- life Balance Now?" Human Resource Management Journal, 18-3,
March 2007: pp 387-400.
95
Straub, C. (2007), ‘A Comparative Analysis of the Use of Work-Life Balance Practices in Europe: Do
Practices Enhance Females’ Career Advancement?’ Women in Management, 22, 4, pp 289–304.
 Armstrong96 (2006) studied, ‘WLB employment practices’. It was concerned
with providing scope for employees to balance what they do at work with the
responsibilities and interests they have outside work. It suggested the ways to reconcile
the competing claims of work and home by meeting their own needs as well as those of
their employers.
Holland97 (2006) studied, ‘Family-friendly policies from family-friendly
companies’. It was found that smart companies know that keeping employees happy in
and out of the workplace through family-friendly policies which translated to business
success. Many organizations were now focusing on creating family-friendly programs
and a company culture that allows for better work life balance, including flexible
schedules and generous family-leave policies.
Redmond et al98 (2006) offered, ‘Literature review of issues related to work-life
balance, workplace culture and maternity/childcare issues’. The term work-life balance
has evolved to encompass not only what can be described as ‘family-friendly policies’
but including those policies which took into account the wide implications of family
responsibilities. Now-a-days, work-life balance pertains to policies such as flexible
working arrangements that bestow upon the employees working provisions that will be
able to strike a balance in both responsibilities at work and at home.
Ahuja and Thatcher99 (2005) studied, ‘Moving beyond Intentions and Towards
the Theory of Trying: Effects of Work Environment and Gender on Post-adoption
Information Technology Use’. It was found that IT based jobs permitted more flexibility

96
Armstrong M (2006), ‘A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice’, 10th Edition, Kogan
Page, London, pp 23 – 34.

97
Holland, C. C. (2006), ‘Family-friendly policies from family-friendly companies’, San Francisco, CA:
CNET Networks.
98
Redmond, J. Valiulis, M., & Drew, E. (2006), ‘ Literature review of issues related to work-life balance,
workplace culture and maternity/childcare issues’ Ireland: Crisis Pregnancy Agency, pp 789 – 810.

99
Ahuja M & Thatcher J. (2005), "Moving Beyond Intentions and Towards the Theory of Trying: Effects
of Work Environment and Gender on Post-adoption Information Technology Use", MIS Quarterly, 29:
pp 427 -459.
amongst the professionals and thus the employees could better balance the competing
demands of work and personal lives.
Aryee et al.100 (2005) studied, ‘Rhythms of Life: Antecedents and Outcomes of
Work-family Balance in Employed - Parents’. It was found that female professionals
experienced a higher level of parental overload than men. Hence the authors decided to
investigate the impact of the perceived work load as a predictor of Work- Life Balance
rather than looking at the actual work overload.
Chalofsky101 (2003) examined, ‘Meaningful Work’. It was observed in this study
that the best employers were not great because of their perks and benefits, but because of
their organizational culture and policies that promote meaningful work. These
developments strengthen the search of companies for better ways of accommodating
some of the expectations of the employees with regard to both family and professional
lives.
Comfort et al.102 (2003) examined, ‘Part-time work and family practices in
Canadian workplaces’. It provided a descriptive analysis of the 1999 of the workplace
and employee survey, which revealed that only 36percent of females Vs. 44 per cent of
males use flexible time schedules; 49 per cent females work from home as a part of their
regular schedule Vs. 5.3 per cent males. Additionally, families with dependents and
single parents should benefit more from these benefits and higher rate of use were
anticipated for these groups. While flexible work arrangements and family friendly
benefits might be assistance to some families that may not be useful to many others.
Perry-Smith and Blum103 (2001) reported on ‘Work-family human resource
bundles and perceived organizational performance’. They found that isolated family-
friendly practices will have little impact but a comprehensive bundle of practices were
associated with superior ratings of corporate performance. It was interpreted that a bundle

100
Aryee, S, Srinivas, E. S. & Tan, H. H. (2005), "Rhythms of Life: Antecedents and Outcomes of Work-
family Balance in Employed- Patents", Journal of Apllied Psychology, 90 (1): pp 132-46.
101
Chalofsky, N, (2003) “Meaningful Work”, Training and Development, 57(12), pp. 54 – 58.
102
Comfort, Johnson and Wallace (2003) “Part-time work and family practices in Canadian workplaces”
The evolving Workplace Series Human Resources Development Canada, pp 678- 690.
103
Perry-Smith, J. and Blum, T. (2001). “Work-family human resource bundles and perceived
organizational performance”. Academy of Management Journal, 43,6, pp 1107-1117.
of practices have become embedded in the organizational culture whereas isolated
practices operate on the margin. This reinforced the importance of considering
organizational culture/climate as a key unit of analysis as much as the specific practices.
Thomas and Ganster104 (1995) studied, ‘Impact of Family-supportive Work
Variables on Work Family Conflict and Strain: A Control Perspective’. It found a
positive association between flexitime policies and job satisfaction. It was concluded that
flexible time policies enhanced employee productivity by decreasing absenteeism and
turnover, and positively served families by decreasing depression in employees and
families get more time to spend together which reduced work/ family conflict.

RECENT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WLB IN THE LEADING DALIY:

ECONOMIC TIMES

105
Basu (2016) reported that, 72 per cent women in India expect better work-life
balance compared to 53 per cent in Asia Pacific: Survey. MUMBAI: Even as India
continues to ramp up the action on diversity policies, women continue to feel the pinch in
terms of salary. The study analysing responses from around 300 women employees from
mid-senior level, across organisations and sectors, and drawing a comparison between
their male counterparts. Around 28 per cent women are not satisfied with their current
salary, higher than the 23 per cent Asia Pacific average. 17 per cent women are not
satisfied with their job security, lower than their male colleagues (21 per cent) and the
Asia Pacific average (22 per cent). 32 per cent women are satisfied with their opportunity
for promotion in the next 12 months, higher than their male colleagues (26 per cent) and
54 per cent of women in India are not considering working overseas in the near future.
"Interestingly, more Indian men are looking for better work-life balance than women.
There also continues to be a gap in salary between men and women, as sabbaticals post
marriage and child birth tend to take a toll on their career, placing them on the back foot

104
Thomas, L.T. and Ganster, D.C. (1995) ‘Impact of Family-supportive Work Variables on Work
Family Conflict and Strain: A Control Perspective’, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.80, No.1, pp.6–
15.
105
Sreeradha Basu (2016), ’72 per cent women expect more Work Life Balance compared to Men’, ET
Bureau, 7th March, 2016.
in terms of pay parity. However, the government's agenda to promote gender diversity
has definitely enhanced optimism about job security, as more organisations revamp their
policies to be women-centric.

106
Rashmi (2016) interviewed N. Chandrasekarn, CEO and MD, TCS on the
topic ‘Work-life balance? Doesn’t exist:’ and reported that, actually their exist no WLB
instead the people should maintain single list instead of list of priorities. Building a
strong team will help them to get the things possible but not maintaining WLB. In
addition to that, he said that people should make their task simpler instead of
complicating them. To take the things lighter they have to nurture their interest on music
and photography.

107
Chaturvedi (2016) reported that, ’69 per cent of talent in India sees flexible
work arrangements as positively impacting work-life balance’. To retain and attract top
talent in India, employers will need to offer more than traditional inducements such as
competitive salaries and linear career paths. Workers are increasingly looking to "design"
the perfect balance between their personal and professional lives. 69 per cent of talent in
India sees flexible work arrangements as positively impacting work-life balance. In India,
workers nominated different elements that they considered important to achieve work-life
balance. Key findings include flexible work schedules and arrangements such as working
remotely or telecommuting (69 per cent), limitations/restrictions on working outside
typical business hours (45 per cent), wellness programmes such as on-sit. Additionally,
workplace flexibility is also no longer a gender issue. Based on the findings from the
survey, employers in India will need to show their employees how they help them thrive
professionally and personally to remain competitive in attracting the best talent. Kelly
suggests employers should consider the following to foster a work-life design mindset:
make flexibility the norm, encourage downtime, ensure the work is meaningful, help
keep skills current, create a culture and brand to be proud of and provide lifestyle support
options.

106
Rashmi Menon (2016), ‘Work – Life Balance? Doesn’t Exist’, ET Bureau, 11th March, 2016.
107
Anumeha Chaturvedi (2016), ‘69% of Talent in India sees Flexible Work Arrangements as positively
impacting Work-Life Balance: ‘, ET Bureau, 22nd March, 2016.
Research Questions

 How to understand the effects of WLB on the Job performance of College

Teachers?
 How do work and family related factors influence the work – family balance of
teaching fraternity?
 What challenges do they face to achieve their work life balance?
 In what way the organizational policies and schemes are helpful to enrich their
work environment?

Research Gap

In the earlier studies, emphasis was given only on Stress Management, hobbies &
entertainment, maintaining cordial relationship at work place to avoid work conflict and
not covering all the aspects related to WLB. But in addition to the above, in this study
much emphasis was given for the factors like deriving Support from both family
members and from colleagues and superiors, Time management to schedule both
personal activities and official obligations to avoid conflicts both at work place and at
family, Stress management through yoga, meditation, counseling from experts to
maintain both physical and mental health, Insisting on policy formation on the part of
management to help their employees to work better and insist on the benefits to be
achieved by the respondents by achieving proper WLB.