An A-Z of work-life balance words is below. To find
out more about policies you can implement, e.g. different types of
flexible working patterns, look in the drop-down box.
|
A |
- Annualised hours - contractual working
hours are expressed in the total number of hours to be worked
per year, allowing flexible working patterns throughout the
year.
|
|
|
B |
- Business and/or life coaching - the
employer offers support from a trained mentor, normally based
outside the firm, either over the phone or face-to-face. The
employee has regular sessions with their coach who advises
on issues relating to business and personal goals.
|
|
|
C |
- Career breaks - a break from employment
with an organisation, usually following maternity leave. The
contract of employment ceases but the individual and organisation
remain in contact at agreed intervals. The individual has
a set amount of time (say 1, 3 or 5 years) during which they
can decide whether or not to return to work, although their
job may not always be held open Career breaks are increasingly
being opened up to all employees including non-parents to
facilitate personal development.
|
- Childcare vouchers - these vouchers,
given, sold by employers to parents at a reduced cost or substituted
for a part of salary, enable working parents to save money
on childcare. As such, they are a good way of encouraging
staff retention, particularly among women returning from maternity
leave. The Government does not expect employers to pay National
Insurance on the vouchers thus enabling them to pass the 10%
saving on to their employees. Parents can buy each £10
voucher for £9 and can then spend the vouchers on any
form of legal childcare, including childminders, nurseries,
nannies, family relatives and out-of-school schemes for the
over 5’s.
|
- Company fitness centre - this is
a gym or health club either owned by or outsourced by a company
for use by employees. The gym is usually based on-site.
|
- Concierge services / Lifestyle management services
- the employer buys in the services of a company that
assists employees in managing their busy home lives by doing
time-consuming tasks for them. Tasks can range from dog walking
to sourcing emergency childcare or organising a wedding. The
cost varies according to the level of service; at the highest
level, concierge companies will find you a private jet for
hire within 24 hours.
|
- Consolidated hours - contractual full-time
hours are worked in 4 longer days instead of 5 days.
|
- Core hours - hours (say
10am to 4pm) during which flexitime workers must be engaged
in work.
|
|
|
E |
- Emergency leave
- employees have the right to take a reasonable period of
time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant,
such as a child, and not be dismissed or victimised for doing
so. The DTI document Family
emergency? Your right to time off (PL506) provides more
details.
|
- Employee assistance programmes -
these organisations offer a mix of counselling, concierge
services and information on everything from finding schools
to help with bereavement. Employers pay a subscription so
that employees can phone for help at any time of the day or
night. Employee assistance programmes also help businesses
understand what their employees’ key stressors are so
that they can address the root causes.
|
|
|
F |
- Family-friendly - any policy or practice
deemed to help families spend more time together and/or enjoy
a better quality of life.
|
- Fixed-term contract - sometimes referred
to as a short-term or temporary contract, this type of employment
contract is established for a fixed period of time only. Contracts
can have an end date and/or be renewable.
|
- Flexible benefits - employees are
offered a raft of benefits from which they can choose those
that suit their circumstances and are appropriate to their
life stage. This may mean that an employee can buy more holiday
days, increase their healthcare benefits, or buy leisure or
retail vouchers at a reduced rate. Employees decide which
benefits they want on an annual basis and those benefits then
remain in force for a year.
|
- Flexible working - any form of alternative
working pattern that is negotiable between the employer and
employee. Flexible working allows employees to meet personal
commitments (such as dropping children off at school) and
aspirations (such as doing a degree) and meet business demands.
|
- Flexitime - a system permitting flexibility
of working hours at the beginning or end of the day. Employees
must work the ‘core hours’ set by the company
and complete an agreed total number of hours.
|
|
|
H |
- Holiday purchase scheme - a scheme
that enables employees to buy an additional number of days’
holiday on top of their annual entitlement. The cost of a
day’s holiday will usually vary according to salary
and be taken out of an employee’s annual pay. There
is usually a limit to the number of days that can be bought.
|
- Home working - by arrangement with
the employer, the employee works from home either all or part
of the working week. Home workers can be full- or part-time
employees. The employer normally provides technological facilities
in the home worker’s home.
|
|
|
I |
- Improved maternity provisions - provisions
provided by the employer that are in excess of the statutory
minimum. Examples include higher pay whilst on maternity leave
or offering a ‘returnee’s bonus’.
|
- In-house occupational health provisions
- the provision of work-related health facilities enabling
employees to have medicals (either prior to recruitment or
on request), health checks and get advice on health issues.
|
|
|
J |
- Job share - an arrangement by which
the responsibilities of one job are split between two part-time
workers.
|
|
|
M |
- Mentoring - the employer provides
personal coaching from a trained mentor, who is either an
employee or from an outside firm, to support the employee
with career-related issues.
|
|
|
O |
- On-site childcare facilities / On-site crèche
- the employer has a nursery or crèche at the
place of employment for staff with children. Such facilities
reduce time travelling to and from work, since parents don’t
have to drop off and pick up their children elsewhere, and
employees can visit their children at lunchtimes. Crèches
and nurseries save time and reduce anxiety in case of illness
or emergencies.
|
|
|
P |
- Parental leave - leave that parents
or adoptive parents (both men and women) can take by law to
care for their child after its arrival or adoption. Employers
must allow parents to take the statutory minimum length of
unpaid leave, but some offer enhanced provisions, such as
paid leave.
|
- Part-time working - working fewer
hours than the normal number of full-time hours set by an
organisation but with the same status as a full-time worker.
|
- Private healthcare benefits - the
employer buys in healthcare services from a private healthcare
firm, to enable employees to receive free healthcare benefits,
or benefits at a reduced cost.
|
|
|
S |
- Sabbatical - a period of unpaid leave
granted at intervals for rest, study or travel. Can also be
described as a career break, but is usually taken for reasons
of personal development (or perhaps health) rather than to
care for a child. Sabbaticals were originally granted only
to academics.
|
- Self-managed working - employees
manage their own working pattern and time to deliver agreed
outputs.
|
- Shift working - the working day is
split into shifts (say of 12pm to 8pm and 8pm to 4am) enabling
operational hours to be extended. Employees work one shift
a day; they can be full- or part-time workers.
|
- Subsidised healthcare or complementary therapies
- the employer offers therapies, such as massage or
osteopathy, at a reduced cost to employees. The therapist
usually visits the workplace once or twice a week.
|
|
|
T |
- Teleworking / Telecommuting - the
use of technology, such as computers and telephones, to enable
employees to work from home while maintaining contact with
colleagues, customers or a central office.
|
- Term-time contracts - contractual
working hours are established during school terms only and
school holidays are not worked. Pay can be averaged out over
12 monthly instalments or paid only for time worked, i.e.
the employee does not receive pay during school holidays.
The contract of employment continues during school holidays.
|
- Time in lieu provisions - employees
take time off as a form of compensation for hours they have
worked in addition to their contractual hours. Employees take
time off in proportion to the number of extra hours worked,
so 10 hours’ additional work would equate to 10 hours’
time in lieu. They do not receive overtime pay.
|
- Time sovereignty - the control an
individual has over their work and workload, including when,
where and how they work. The more autonomy individuals have,
the less stressed they are likely to be.
|
|
|
U |
- Unpaid leave - absence from work
for a set period of time, as agreed between the employer and
employee. The contract of employment remains in force but
salary stops. The employer and employee need to discuss whether
benefits, such as holiday accrual, continue or not.
|
|
W |
- Work-life balance
- having a measure of control over when, where and how
you work, leading to being able to enjoy an optimal quality
of life. Work-life balance is achieved when an individual’s
right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is
accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit
of the individual, business and society.
Top |