Work to live or live to work

"As much as employers strive to keep their place in their respective industry and not get stuck in the middle, so are employees striving to maintain a sane equilibrium between work-life commitments." FOI Council member Joe Montebello was addressing one of the workshops forming part of a conference that was aimed at conciliating professional, personal and family life through initiatives from the social partners and collective bargaining.

At this conference, which was organised in Lisbon on the 50th anniversary of the EU by the Portuguese Presidency from July 12-13, Mr Montebello represented the Malta Federation of Industry as a BusinessEurope member and delivered a speech entitled 'Work to Live or Live to Work'.

The conference, which was attended by around 200 participants, consisted of two plenary sessions and four workshops, each with a specific thematic issue.

Mr Montebello explained that over the recent decades, the concept of a family has changed rapidly. The number of single parents is on the increase and the need for both parents to stay in employment is more evident than ever. As much as employability is of great concern, so are working time arrangements. Thus, finding a work-life balance in today's frenetically paced world is a complex task with so much to be considered and reconsidered.

Working time arrangements are an important factor in work-life balance. However, these can have a significant impact on the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of companies.

"Employers are conscious of and acknowledge the reality that their employees have other commitments and obligations apart from those at the workplace. If these are not addressed in the appropriate time and manner they can result in less concentration on the job with all its implications."

Against this background Mr Montebello highlighted good practices by some Maltese companies, including McNeill Ltd, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Malta Ltd and Playmobil Ltd, which go beyond what are the statutory obligations in the case of parental leave, and special paid leave for: the adoption of a child; the enhancing of educational abilities; marriage; bereavement; and the birth of a child.

To cater for any other contingencies, the companies introduced a process of flexi-time as well as a reduced working hour scheme to assist employees with their personal commitments. One of the ways to improve work-life balance is the 'atypical' working time arrangement-part-time work, Mr Montebello explained, pointing out that the companies in review all respond as much as possible to requests from their full-time employees to change to a part-time status because of family commitments.

From a social cohesion point of view, he said persons with disability are not excluded and pointed out that, for instance, at McNeill Ltd 14 persons with intellectual impairment work alongside the company workforce and are offered flexible working hours and benefit from an all-inclusive environment.

However, he noted that although employers acceded to requests in view of accommodating special working time arrangements that go well above the minimum statutory obligations, employers still face strong objections and resistance from trade unions for engaging temporary, higher skilled employees as an option to approve requests for extended leave of absence for family-related problems and to offer more family- friendly measures.

It is also a common fact that when employers take on part-timers, they are heavily criticised that they are doing this at the expense of not providing full-time workers with the opportunity to work overtime.

Work-life balance is achieved if people have a measure of control over when, where and how they work, Mr Montebello said. "Individuals strive to achieve a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work. Above all, their ultimate aim is that this is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society.

"From an employer point of view, whatever the type of work-life balance related commitment, there is a cost attached to it. The sustainability of these costs depends on a lot of factors. In the equation one has to bear in mind the economies of scale that differ from company to company.

"Also, the sector in which a company operates and other market implications are to be taken into consideration. Needless to say, conflicts tend to arise. Tough challenges are presented when introducing work-life policies, in particular in SMEs.

"Therefore it is no surprise that such policies are the result of hard negotiations during collective bargaining and that there are instances where the desired results are not always achieved. Time and cost constraints can seem prohibitive, particularly with a small staff whose skills are essential and where the absence of one core person greatly affects the end result.

"Where can employers and trade unions compromise or, better still, reach a high degree of conciliation on work-life balance? In my opinion the answer lies in the goodwill of all stakeholders and a good understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic values attributed to policies sought after. There is no one-size-fits-all solution."

The FOI official then added a quotation from a research study by Saviour Rizzo: "A change in the workplace aimed at making it more conducive to family obligations and social life may be the best proposition. Very often, this may not, however, be possible.

"The imperatives and exigencies of a highly competitive market do not give much leeway to management, even if it is well intentioned, to adjust working time and change working practices to make them compatible with the family and social life of employees.

"Nevertheless, in a society where the dual worker family is becoming the norm, creating a corporate culture that supports the values of an ideal work-life balance has become the clarion call to policy-making in the realm of social policy. Heeding such a call may prove to be beneficiary both to the dual worker family and to industry."