Work-Life Balance with

Focus on Family Life

Saviour Rizzo
Workers Participation Development Centre (WPDC)
University of Malta
In collaboration with
Malta Employers Association (MEA)

Work-Life balance stems from the fact that

workers as human beings have other
needs beside the economic ones.
The metaphor implies that there should be
an equilibrium between work and nonwork domains

Relationship between work and non-work

domains is defined in terms of :
the significance people assign to specific
domains
meaning and values that shape and
influence ones perception of time

Methodology
Focus Group Discussion
Questionnaire to members of the Malta
Employers Association about working time
arrangements of their employees
A questionnaire to 480 workers
A questionnaire sent electronically to
employers asking them to explain the rationale
of the working time arrangement of their firms
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Points that emerged during focus group discussion:

Work Schedule involving irregular hours can reduce
joy and satisfaction family life can offer
Instrumental orientation towards working time was
evident
They are able to manage time to make it
commensurate to their psycho-social needs
Relative deprivation is felt more during summer
when there are more occasions for fun late at night
They are conscious of some positive aspects about
their working time schedule

Work and Family Life

(a) Enjoyment of family life and pressure of work. Do the
exigencies of work allow workers to enjoy family life?

Most significant variables:

Age
16- 24
60%

25- 39
56%

40- 49
54.3%

50+
74%

Occupational status

Working Time Arrangement

Standard
Working
Week
67.5%

Shift Basis
54.2%

No fixed
Work on
starting and Saturday
finishing time
37.1%
50.6%

Work on
Sunday
46.5%

Family Life
(b) Work- Family Commitments: Can these two be
reconciled or do they lead to a feeling of being
squeezed between the two?

Feeling squeezed between Work and Family Gender

Female
41.8% Male
27.2%
and
Civil Status
Married

37.0%

Unmarried

22.2%

Married with Children

37.9%

Childless married persons 28.0%

Work- Family Squeeze by Age

16-24

25-39

40-49

50+

31.6%

37.0%

40.2%

20.7%

Work- Family Squeeze by Sector

Services

Manufacture

State Run or Owned

41%

30.5%

32.2%

Work-Family Squeeze Working Hours per week

Work-Family Squeeze Working Time Arrangement

Standard Week

Shift Work

31.1%

29.5%

No fixed starting and

Finishing Time
55.9%
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Family Life
(c) Participation in Home-Based Social Activities.

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Often

Rarely

Never

40-48 hours per week

13.4%

46.8%

39.8%

48+ hours per week

12.5%

63.5%

24.0%

2.3%

48.8%

48.9%

Shift Work

29.6%

57.4%

13.0%

Hours not fixed

30.6%

52.8%

16.6%

Work on Saturday

26.0%

57.1%

16.9%

Work on Sunday

34.9%

54.0%

11.1%

Standard working week

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Family Life
(d) Child Parent Interaction

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*There were only 6 respondents who work less than 40 hours per
week

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Workers Perception of Working Time

Workers perceptions of working time were
analysed in terms of :
(a) Time for leisure
(b) Belief in the concept of management of time
(c) Attitude towards working time
(d) Advantages perceived in work time schedule
(e) Willingness to change job for one with
a better working time arrangement
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Workers Perception of Time

(a) Time for Leisure
Workers claiming that they do not have enough
time for Leisure
Overall Percentage 37.1%
Working Time Schedule
40 hours per week

26.4%

40 -48 hours per week

38.9%

Shift Basis

32.5%

48+ hours per week

47.8%

Regular working week

28.6%

No fixed hours

52.9%

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Workers Perception of Time

(b) Management of Time
Management of time is a determinant factor in achieving
work-life balance

Workers over 50 years of age (70.3%).

Workers who work 40 to 48 hours of work per week (70.9%).
Workers who work in the state run or owned enterprises
(71.2%).
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Workers Perception of Time

(c) Instrumental Orientation to Working Time.
(i) A job with long hours of work but with a very good pay that
would enable one to indulge in some lavishness (kaprii).
(ii) A job with regular hours of work but with a pay that would not
enable one to indulge in lavishness
25.3% chose option (i) - the instrumental
74.7% chose option (ii) the non instrumental.
Instrumental Attitude among :

Males 31%

Females 17%

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Instrumental Attitude to working time by Occupational

Category
Professional Administrative Executive/Clerical Skilled/Semi Unskilled
Technical
Managerial
18.2%
33.3%
28.4%
17.9
24.7

Instrumental Attitude towards working Time

40 hours per week

40 - 48 hours per week

48 + hours per week

19.0%

30.2

46.5%

Regular working week

Shift

No fixed hours

21.3%

32.2%

29.4%

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Workers Perception of Time

(d) The Positive Aspects or Working Time
It enables me to do my errands
without any hassle
The free time it provides me
It enables me to do my shopping
without any constraints and urgency
The flexibility it provides

56.7%
39.7%
30.1%
29.6%
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Workers who scored a relatively high

percentage in three of the four aspects:

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Workers Perception of Time

(e) Willingness to change job for one with better working time
YES

Will think it over

Will stick to job

12%

35.5%

52.5%

Most willing to change job

Least hesitant
and

Those who work on Sunday

16-24 age bracket workers

47%
36%

1.6%
6.7%

Least likely to answer YES: Administrative/Mngt (3.2%)

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Employers Views ( 35 responses)

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Others:
Company has to operate within business hours
Company has to operate according to requirements of
clients
Mini buses
Flexi time
Flexibility and to meet exigencies of employees
To offer highest possible standard of service based on
guest requirements.
A compromise reached between preferences of
employees and production target
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Changing working time arrangement to

suit exigencies of employees:

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Employers Views
Flexi Time and Reduced Hours
16 managers think that flexi time is unsuitable to their firm
25 managers think that reduced hours of work would create
problems
Reasons :
the disruptive element it would cause to production and
organisation of work
Added cost due to the additional workers who have to be
recruited for replacement

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Employers Views
Attempts made to change time schedule:
Cleaners to provide better service
To reduce overtime
To remove people from shift
Made life easier for employees and did not harm the
company
On request by employees, starting time changed from
7.00 a.m. to 6.00 a.m.
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Conclusions
The family occupies a very large part in the
non-work domain of individuals
Reconciliation of work with non-work domain:
40 to 49 age bracket consistently negative
25 to 29 age group not so consistently
negative but problematic
The over 50 age group overwhelmingly
positive
The young age group (16 to 24) moderately
positive
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Conclusions
Females tend to find it more difficult than men
to strike the ideal balance because of the
motherhood mandate which culture imposes on
the female parent.
Workers working more than 48 hours per week
and those with no fixed starting and finishing
time tend to share the same problems about the
relationship between work and non-work.
Ambivalence tends to prevail among a number
of workers especially those in the service sector
and those on a shift basis.
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Conclusions
The imperatives of the market leave little room
for managers to manoeuvre. Very few firms
can afford to go beyond the minimum
provisions laid down in labour legislation.
Will globalisation move people nearer to or
further from the ideal work-life balance where
the elements related to paid work and nonwork enable them to find ways of combining
working life with personal life?
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Thank you

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