SHRM Survey Findings WorkLife Balance Policies July 16

SHRM Survey Findings: Work/Life Balance Policies July 16, 2012

Definitions Ø Wireless communication devices: For the purposes of this survey, wireless communication devices include cell phones, smart phones (e. g. , Blackberry, i. Phone, Android), tablets (e. g. , i. Pad, Archos, Play. Book) and similar communication devices. Ø Work/life balance policies: For the purposes of this survey, work/life balance policies include programs that encourage flexible employee work arrangements that emphasize the value of making work and life responsibilities more manageable for employees. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 2

Key Findings Ø How prevalent are work/life balance policies? Twenty-four percent of organizations have a formal work/life balance policy in place, whereas approximately one-half of organizations (52%) have an informal work/life balance policy. Ø What elements are included in work/life balance policies? Working during vacation time was included in almost one-half of formal work/life balance policies (47%) and in over three-fifths of informal policies (62%). Working during sick time was also included in roughly one-third of formal policies (34%) and one-half of informal policies (54%). Ø What are supervisors/management doing to encourage employees to take time away from work to recharge? The majority of organizations (80%) indicated that their supervisors/managers encourage a healthy work/life balance within their unit/work group. Approximately two-thirds of supervisors/managers (67%) encourage employees to ask for help when necessary, and roughly onequarter of supervisors/managers (26%) discourage employees from answering e-mails or phone calls via their wireless communication devices during nonworking hours. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 3

Organizations with Formal Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 4

Does your organization have a formal (i. e. , written) work/life balance policy? Yes 24% No 76% Note: n = 327. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 5

Please indicate the elements included in your formal work/life policy: Percentage Working during vacation time 47% Working over a specified number of hours per week in the office or away from the office for both exempt and nonexempt employees 43% Working during sick time 34% Flexible work arrangements* 10% Other 9% Note: n = 79. Only respondents whose organizations have formal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 6

Organizations with Informal Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 7

Does your organization have an informal (e. g. , management practices) work/life balance policy demonstrating organizational commitment to the importance of employees taking time away from work to recharge? Yes No 52% 48% Note: n = 254. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations do not have formal work/life policies were asked this question. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 8

Please indicate the elements included in your informal work/life policy: Percentage Working during vacation time 62% Working during sick time 54% Working over a specified number of hours per week in the office or away from the office for both exempt and nonexempt employees 41% Flexible work arrangements* 9% Other 8% Note: n = 133. Only respondents whose organizations have informal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 9

Which management practices are utilized to encourage employees to take time away from work to recharge? Percentage Supervisors/managers encourage a healthy work/life balance within their unit/work group. 80% Supervisors/managers encourage employees to ask for help when necessary (e. g. , when employee finds that he/she needs to work beyond specified work hours). 67% Supervisors/managers discourage employees from answering e-mails or phone calls via their wireless communication devices during nonworking hours (e. g. , weekends, evenings, holidays). 26% Supervisors/managers encourage the use of PTO/vacation and sick leave. * 7% The organization has days or time when e-mail is not used (e. g. , “E-mail. Free Fridays”, “No e-mail weekends”). 1% Other 4% Note: n = 84. Only respondents whose organizations have informal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 10

Demographics: Organization Industry Percentage Manufacturing 17% Finance and insurance 17% Health care and social assistance 12% Professional, scientific and technical services 10% Other service except public administration 9% Educational services 6% Public administration 5% Retail trade 4% Construction 3% Information, publishing industries 3% Religious, grant-making, civic professional and similar organizations 3% Transportation and warehousing 2% Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 11

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) Percentage Wholesale trade 2% Utilities 2% Accommodation and food services 2% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2% Real estate, rental and leasing 2% Arts, entertainment and recreation 1% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1% Mining 1% Repair and maintenance 1% Management of companies and enterprises 1% Personal and laundry services * Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates < 1%. Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 12

Demographics: Organization Sector Privately owned for-profit organization 49% Publicly owned for-profit organization 22% Nonprofit organization Government sector Other 19% 7% 3% n = 332 Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 13

Demographics: Organization Staff Size 1 to 99 employees 26% 100 to 499 employees 31% 500 to 2, 499 employees 16% 2, 500 to 24, 999 employees 25, 000 or more employees 22% 5% n = 330 Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 14

Demographics: Other Does your organization have U. S. -based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally? U. S. -based operations only 74% Multinational operations 26% n = 329 Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization? Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same. 33% Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location. 67% n = 331 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both? Corporate (companywide) 70% Business unit/division 14% Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 52% Facility/location 16% Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 3% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 45% n = 230 Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 15

SHRM Survey Findings: Work/Life Balance Policies Methodology Ø Response rate = 12% Ø Sample composed of 332 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership Ø Margin of error +/-5% Ø Survey fielded June 9 – June 27, 2011 For more poll findings, visit www. shrm. org/surveys Follow us on Twitter: http: //twitter. com/SHRM_Research Project leader: Robert Boyd, survey research analyst, SHRM Research Project contributors: Mark Schmit, Ph. D. , SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Research Christina Lee, SHRM Research Copy Editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 16