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     Put simply Work Life Balance (WLB) is about striking the right balance between what we can achieve in our work and our social lives.  Effective WLB policies and practices benefit individuals, families, employers and society; supporting the combination of working, family and private lives.

    WLB, though, is not just for people who wish to spend more time with their families or have other caring responsibilities. It provides an opportunity for all people to achieve and maintain a ‘balance’ between their paid work and their life outside work, whatever their ‘life’ involves, from childcare and housework to leisure or self-development.

     
      At the same time it must be recognised that work is a part of ‘life’; there are many social aspects to ‘work’ and some people enjoy working for long hours. So the idea of ‘balance’ is not simply one of time – making sure that we spend ‘balanced’ time between ‘work’ and ‘life’. Effective WLB is often thought to be related more to ‘how we feel we have ‘control’ over what we do things in our work and social lives – how we do them,  where we do them, with whom we do them, and when we do them.
 

    Employers who introduce and manage WLB effectively find that they can improve recruitment and retention, increase motivation and loyalty, achieve better productivity and reduce absenteeism and stress.  Businesses that operate flexible working practices are often better equipped to deal with fluctuations in the economic climate.

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