Work-life balance

The participants highlighted especially the importance of awareness of managers and their willingness to take actions towards achieving good work-life balance. The results will not only be beneficial to workers but also to the company. It was stressed that social dialogue is absolutely critical to accomplishing work-life balance in the workplace.

The difficulties in career development experienced by women who are trying to combine family and working life were also discussed. Working women often need to choose between a higher position in a company and being able to manage their family life. The danger is that a “glass ceiling” may be created and women do not even try anymore to attain higher positions in a company. They just “accept” the situation and adapt to the reality. Additionally, some women refuse jobs that are known to be very difficult to combine with family life. In this way, the barriers are sustained. Employer willingness to facilitate work-life balance (both for men and women) often depends on the situation on the labour market. If there is a certain scarcity of qualified workers in a given area, and employers try to keep highly qualified workers in the company, their attitudes towards work-life balance are more positive. Companies in sectors that find workers more easily are less “open-minded” to this subject. The experts indicated that in terms of work-family balance the situation of migrant workers and those employed informally or in ‘undeclared work’ may also be especially difficult. It was proposed that special incentives (for example tax deduction) could be awarded to companies that are introducing policies towards work-family balance. It would motivate other companies to take similar actions. Also media attention could be a very good way to increase the awareness and sensitivity of companies in this respect.