The study determined whether psychological empowerment and work–life balance jointly mediate between transformational leadership and in-role performance of employees in Nigerian not-for-profit (NFP) universities using data collected through a 360-degree performance review of employees. Data were collected from the employees, their supervisors, colleagues, and customers. A sample of 360 comprising 36 faculty finance officers (the employees), 36 assistant faculty finance officers (colleagues), 36 deans of faculties (supervisors), 36 finance supervisors (supervisors), 108 undergraduate and 108 postgraduate students (customers) from Nigerian universities were surveyed using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, employees' in-role performance questionnaire, four dimensions of psychological empowerment questionnaire, and work–life balance questionnaire. The reliabilities of the questionnaires were estimated using Cronbach's α technique. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlations at the preliminary level, while three separate Hierarchical Multiple Regression and 5000 re-samples BC bootstrapping method on PROCESS macro were used to test the hypotheses to determine the total, direct, and indirect effects of the study variables. The study established that psychological empowerment and work–life balance jointly and significantly mediated the high relationship between transformational leadership and the in-role performance of the faculty finance officers. The implications for researchers and organizational practitioners, limitations, and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Flexible work practices (FWPs) give employees some control over when and where they work. Using boundary theory and role balance theory, this study proposes and tests a mediation model focusing on how the relationships between FWPs usage and employee outcomes (i.e., wellbeing and turnover intention) are mediated by work−life balance (WLB). It also tests the moderating role of employee age on the relationship between WLB and employee outcomes using socioemotional selectivity theory. The model was tested using survey data from 293 employees of an Australian for-profit organization. The findings indicate that FWPs usage is positively associated with WLB, WLB is positively associated with wellbeing and negatively with turnover intentions, and WLB partially mediates the relationships between FWPs usage and employee outcomes. The results provide partial support that employee age moderates the relationship between WLB and turnover intentions. Theoretical, research and practical contributions are discussed.

This paper extends the work of Thompson, Beauvais, and Lyness (1999, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392–415) on work–family culture by considering the role co-workers play. The proposed extended measure encompasses non-work spheres beyond the family as it has been established that much of the extant research does not include a large part of the workforce – those without childcare responsibilities (Kelliher, Richardson & Boiarintseva [2019, Human Resource Management Journal, 29, 101]). The extended measure constitutes Thompson et al.'s (1999) three original dimensions plus two additional dimensions: co-worker involvement (support and consequences) and gender expectations. Two quantitative studies confirmed that the extended measure is robust for different types of workers (part- and full-time, males and females). The co-worker dimensions were significantly associated with several outcome measures; however, the gender expectation dimensions added little additional variance in relation to employee outcomes. The results support the inclusion of co-workers as an important dimension of the workplace environment that supports work and life balance.

In this article, we examine the postmigration work–life balance or conflict experiences of 15 Chinese-born mothers living in New Zealand. Our analysis contributes theoretically to the work–life balance and migration literatures. It does so by revealing that balance and conflict is influenced by the interrelationship between the socio-cultural, work, and family domains; and that this interrelationship has both a complex and nuanced influence on postmigration balance and conflict. Thus, balance or conflict was influenced by the interrelationship between the participants’ unique experiences within the three domains, including experiencing satisfaction in all three domains and through complex processes of negative spillover, compensation, renegotiation and removal. The postmigration experiences highlight the need for a comprehensive and concerted approach by government, tertiary education institutions, and human resource managers to develop responsive policy initiatives that support migrants to settle into all aspects of their lives.

This qualitative study aims to explain how social support enables independent professionals to achieve work–life balance. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 50 independent professionals in the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. The interview data were analyzed from a capability approach, from which work–life balance is understood in terms of capabilities. The most important sources of social support for independent professionals appeared to be their partner, family, as well as work and nonwork-related friends who were able to provide emotional and instrumental support. However, the extent to which social support can be converted into capabilities is influenced by individual (gender and cohabitation), institutional (the ease of doing business and formal childcare), and societal factors (financial hardship and familialism). The cross-national comparison shows that the institutional and societal context may hinder or reinforce social support for work–life balance, resulting in different experiences across countries.

How to respond to an ageing society has become an increasingly important question, for employers, workers and policy makers. Here we critically engage with that debate, arguing that future approaches to the relationship between work and age should take into account multiple influences on older worker behaviour, including the combination of economic, lifecourse and personal priorities. We consider the international consensus that has emerged about the primacy of work as the solution to what to do with a long life. We then address the uncertain nature of work as it affects older workers, and discuss the commodification of time in relation to a productivist approach to demographic ageing and the attitudes of older workers themselves. A tension is noted between pressures for continuity and discontinuity within the adult lifecourse which is often eclipsed within a policy discourse that tends to focus on continuity as a route to social legitimacy. Thinking about life-time as a meta-narrative, a tension between existential life priorities and commodification, may help to explain the ease with which ‘live longer–work longer’ policies both dominate and obscure the potential of a long life. Finally, we examine the implications for work–life balance and suggest this needs to be radically re-thought when addressing the purpose of a longer working life and the promise of a long life in general.

This study quantitatively and qualitatively examines perceptions of organizational justice among 227 professionals/managers and 210 non-professional full-time employees across Australia in relation to their work–life balance. Findings confirm that the professional/managerial groups perceive higher levels of organizational justice than the non-professional group in all work–life balance/justice dimensions (procedural, distributive, interpersonal and informational), demonstrating the pervasive power status differences between different occupational groups. This study underlines the importance of justice-based work–life balance efforts for all occupational groups to create more inclusive and fair organizations. We conclude with policy implications and directions for future research.

The Promoting Adult Resilience (PAR) program is a strengths-based resilience building program that integrates Interpersonal and CBT perspectives. The second, successful pilot of the PAR program in the human-service departments of a local government organisation used a 7-week format. At posttest, PAR participants reported greater self-efficacy, more family satisfaction, greater work–life fit and balance and less negative family–work spillover than the comparison group. At the 6-month follow up, these gains were maintained, although to a lesser degree, with work–life balance being considerably strengthened, and negative spillover in both directions reduced. Participants also reported greater optimism, greater work satisfaction, less stress and promisingly for human service workers, exhaustion was reduced and work vigour was increased. This is important for human service professions as exhaustion, a component of burnout, is associated with higher employee turnover and poorer employee outcomes. Participants reported that they could easily incorporate the new skills into their lives and at follow up, they continued to use the skills to manage the demands of their work and family lives.

The study examined attitudes toward work–life balance (WLB) using survey data from 292 employees in an Australian university. Organisational culture, as it relates to how and when employees can use WLB initiatives, was investigated. In particular, the study examined employees' differing perceptions of organisational culture within a single organisation, with particular reference to: managerial support of WLB initiatives, career consequences of using WLB initiatives, organisational time expectations that may interfere with non-work activities, and the level of employee control over workload and when employees can take time off. As predicted, perceptions of managerial support of WLB initiatives were related to initiative use; however, overall initiative use was not related to perceived career consequences (e.g. using initiatives will damage one's career progress), organisational time expectations (e.g., long working hours), or levels of employee control (e.g., employee control over workload). Results showed that perceptions of a supportive organisational culture were positively related to organisational commitment and negatively related to work–life conflict and employees' intentions to leave. Further, the study results show that employees' perception of organisational culture was more strongly associated with the outcomes (e.g., work attitudes, work–life conflict) than the number of WLB initiatives used by employees.