Work Life Programs: Importance, Benefits, and Implementation

Running head: WORK LIFE PROGRAMS
Work life programs
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1WORK LIFE PROGRAMS
Irrespective of the nature of the organization, employees are usually under tremendous
pressure to balance their personal and professional lives (Lyness & Judiesch, 2014). Most
employees in Australian organizations have liabilities, as far as their families are concerned –
and thus, a well defined work/life policy must be implemented at the workplace.
This is all the more imperative, given the fact that Australia has more than 950,000 single
parents employed in their organizations. Another factor that must be considered in this respect is
the fact that out of all the women working in Australian companies, at least 25 % of them are
new mothers. This data is enough to establish the importance of proper work/life initiatives.
However, it must be understood that simply introducing new policies for such groups of
individuals would not be enough. It is important for both the employees and the organization to
actually realize the benefits associated with such a program. For instance, when it comes to
young mothers, there are numerous responsibilities that one would have to fulfill. This is because
between ages 0 to 5, mothers need to constantly be around their babies. However, the primary
concern in this case is to find sufficient time which would help new mothers fulfill both their
professional and personal responsibilities. Work life initiatives in this case would include
policies like in house crèches; this would enable mothers to keep an eye on their children while
at work. The same can be said for single parent families as well. The number of single mothers
and fathers raising children in Australia increased 33 % to nearly 70 % in the year 2016
(Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2018). In single parent families, there is usually a lack of
flexibility, since there is no other parent to coordinate with. Young children require intensive
care and attention which would be impossible for working single parents. It must be realized that
companies, by nature, are obligated to look into the welfare of their employees (Kalysh, Kulik &
Perera, 2016). This would be beneficial for the companies as well. Implementation of a favorable