Publications - Balancing Work and Family Life

The Role of Flexible Working Arrangements.

Achievement of an effective balance by men and women between the demands of the workplace and the home is of crucial importance to the long-term welfare and development of Irish society.

"Family-friendly policies can serve a dual purpose of contributing to the needs of the business as well as meeting the needs of employees with family responsibilities" (PPF 2000, p. 42). This study examines some of the implications of this approach in the commercial and non-commercial sectors.

Contents

◊ Chapter One: Background and Introduction

• 1.1 Families research programme
• 1.2 The need for research
• 1.3 The slow pace of change
• 1.4 A diversity of families
• 1.5 A working definition of family friendly working arrangements
• 1.6 Research objectives and terms of reference
• 1.7 Research approach
• 1.8 Report content
• 1.9 Key messages

◊ Chapter Two: What are Family Friendly Working Arrangements?

• 2.1 Balancing work and family life
• 2.2 Different types of flexibilit
• 2.3 Main types of temporal flexibility
• 2.4 A variety of measures
• 2.5 Key messages

◊ Chapter Three: Why Work Flexibly?

• 3.1 Balanced lives
• 3.2 An international trend
• 3.3 The flexible firm
• 3.4 Employer benefits from flexible working
• 3.5 Employee benefits from flexible working
• 3.6 Resistance to flexible working
• 3.7 Key messages

◊ Chapter Four: How Much Working is Flexible

• 4.1 Data shortcomings
• 4.2 Flexible working arrangements in a European context
• 4.3 Flexible working in non-commercial organisations
• 4.3.1 Jobsharing
• 4.3.2 Career Breaks
• 4.4 Flexible working in large commercial companies
• 4.5 Flexible working in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
• 4.6 Key messages

◊ Chapter Five: Changing Policy Perspectives

• 5.1 Policy overview
• 5.2 'Traditional' flexible working arrangments
• 5.3 Worksharing
• 5.4 Employment equality
• 5.5 Employer of choice
• 5.6 Rapid technological innovation
• 5.7 Key messages

◊ Chapter Six: Legal Perspectives

• 6.1 Important legal issues
• 6.2 National employment legislation
• 6.3 National equality legislation
• 6.4 Other relevant provisions
• 6.5 Public service framework
• 6.6 Key messages

◊ Chapter Seven: Workplace Perspectives

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Jobsharing
• 7.3 Flexitime
• 7.4 Part-time working
• 7.5 More innovative forms of flexible working
• 7.6 Term-time working/parental leave
• 7.7 Flexiplace/teleworking
• 7.8 Other issues and concerns
• 7.9 Key messages

◊ Chapter Eight: Key Issues and Challenges

• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Key benefits and challenges
• 8.2.1 Benefits of flexible working arrangements
• 8.2.2 Key challenges
• 8.2.3 The challenge of integrating flexible working arrangements
• 8.2.4 Ongoing challenges - monitoring, recording and evaluation
• 8.2.5 Future challenges - more innovative forms of flexible working
• 8.3 The role of policy makers in family friendly initiatives
• 8.4 Next steps identification of practical measures
• 8.4.1 Dissemination of information
• 8.4.2 The development of statistical information and research
• 8.4.3 Greater collaboration
• 8.4.4 The changing nature of the family
• 8.5 Conclusions

◊ Notes

◊ Annex One Checklist for developing family friendly/flexible working arrangements in the workplace

◊ Bibliography