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FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

WORK/LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES: PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS IN
AUSTRALIAN ORGANIZATIONS
Helen De Cieri, Barbara Holmes, Jacqui Abbott & Trisha Pettit
Working Paper 58/02
November 2002

ISSN 1327–5216
Abstract
Work/life balance (WLB) is an issue increasingly recognised as of strategic importance to organizations and of significance to employees. We argue that an organization’s need to attract and retain valued employees in a highly competitive labour market is a strong motivating factor for increased organizational awareness and action with regard to implementation and management of WLB strategies. This article reports the findings of three surveys conducted from 1997 to 2000 of organizations in Australia. We explore the range and usage of WLB strategies in
Australian organizations, and identify the barriers to those strategies. It is evident that, while some progress has been made over the years, there remain substantial challenges for the implementation and management of WLB strategies. This paper is a work in progress. Material in the paper cannot be used without permission of the authors.

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

WORK/LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES: PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS IN AUSTRALIAN
ORGANIZATIONS
INTRODUCTION
An organization’s need to attract and retain valued employees in a highly competitive labour market is a strong motivating factor for increased organizational awareness and action with regard to human resource policies and practices that address work/life balance. Work/life balance (WLB) is an important area of human resource management that is receiving increasing attention from government, researchers, management and employee representatives and the popular media (Pocock, van Wanrooy, Strazzari &
Bridge, 2001; Russell & Bowman, 2000).
WLB, from an employee perspective, is the maintenance of a balance between responsibilities at work

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