Working Time and Work-Family Balance: A Review of Employees' Preferences

Abstract

In discussions about how HR policy can facilitate work-family balance, working time arrangements are a critical issue. Recent research in Europe, North America and Australia has shed light on the preferences of employees who are ‘juggling’ work and family in regard to three key aspects of working time - total working hours, access to part-time work, and flexibility. This article compares data from a number of these studies on working time preferences in order to explore the relative strength of different preferences, the factors underpinning differences among employees, areas of strongest unmet demand, and the implications that these findings suggest for HR policy.