Balancing work and family lives: fulfilling work and family responsibilities can be an exhausting juggling act. The Council of Trade Unions wants to help workers get the balance right.THE COUNCIL of Trade Unions' (CTU CTU Colorado Technical University CTU Czech Technical University in Prague CTU Counter Terrorist Unit CTU Clinical Trials Unit CTU Catholic Theological Union CTU Chicago Teachers Union CTU Computer Training Unit CTU Control Unit ) campaign for a better balance between work and life for the country's workers is gaining momentum. A paper presented at the CTU's biennial biennial, plant requiring two years to complete its life cycle, as distinguished from an annual or a perennial. In the first year a biennial usually produces a rosette of leaves (e.g., the cabbage) and a fleshy root, which acts as a food reserve over the winter. conference in Wellington last month outlined the next steps in the campaign. (1) And in August the Government established an interagency in·ter·a·gen·cy adj. Involving or representing two or more agencies, especially government agencies. steering group, chaired by the Department of Labour, to develop policy options around work-life balance The expression work-life balance was first used in 1986 in the US (although had been used in the UK from the late 1970s by organisations such as New Ways to Work and the Working Mother's Association) to help explain the unhealthy life choices that many people were making; they were . The work-life balance campaign had its genesis in the Thirty Families Report, (2) released late last year as part of the CTU's wider Get a Life campaign. This report highlighted that long work hours were a significant issue for many workers, their families and communities. Since the release of that report, the CTU has looked at other areas of work-life balance of critical importance to workers and how organising and campaign activities can improve work-life balance. The CTU conference paper, presented by secretary Carol Beaumont, outlined the next steps in the CTU's programme to promote work-life balance. The paper said discussion on the meaning of work-life balance often drew on the "soft components" of the issue, such as free gym memberships and coffee machines at work. But the "fundamentals" of decent work Decent work is a concept that encapsulates both the quality of employment as well as the imperative of providing high quality jobs globally. Definition The decent work agenda seeks not just the creation of jobs, but of high quality jobs around the world [1]. such as secure employment, decent pay, leave and working conditions, and quality, affordable care for their families, significantly enhanced workers' ability to balance work with the rest of their lives. Work-life balance affected workers in all areas of the labour market, therefore strategies to address the problem needed to be flexible and meet the needs of a diverse and changing workforce. The paper revealed work-life balance had a stark gender and ethnic dimension. "Statistics relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc precarious work Precarious work is a term used to describe non-standard employment which is poorly paid, insecure, unprotected, and cannot support a household.[1] In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in precarious work due to such factors as: globalization, the shift , including unpredictable hours of work, multiple job holding and low pay are dominated by women, particularly women who are Pacific Island and Maori." Unions' concerns are concentrated in six areas: modes of employment; hours of work; leave entitlements; pay; workplace culture; and life, family and community responsibilities. The paper stated the Government, employers, unions and the community all had a role to play in addressing these issues. The Government could lead by example as an employer, regulator and funder. Benefits for employers from a better work-life balance included increased staff retention, loyalty, morale and job satisfaction and reduced absenteeism ab·sen·tee·ism n. 1. Habitual failure to appear, especially for work or other regular duty. 2. The rate of occurrence of habitual absence from work or duty. . Unions could take a lead through collective bargaining collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union. and advocating for improvements to minimum standards. "Nevertheless it is important to note that a core element of improving work-life balance is about changing the entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. values and cultures of workplaces," the paper stated. It outlined ways in which the Government could promote work-life balance. It should ensure state sector employees recognised and supported the concept; ensure minimum requirements relating to work-life balance were included in contracts with the private sector; and ensure work-life balance was a core consideration in policy development, implementation and evaluation. Other ways in which the Government could promote work-life balance was through improving the minimum wage and phasing out the youth minimum wage; adequately resourcing the recommendations of the Pay and Employment Equity Taskforce, including those related to the private sector; amending the Employment Relations Act to provide greater recognition of collective bargaining; and strengthening monitoring and compliance mechanisms in existing equal employment opportunity legislation. The paper also calls for greater protection for workers in various forms of precarious employment. Such protections include tightening the use of fixed-term contracts and ensuring coverage clauses in collective agreements cannot exclude casuals. The CTU also wants the minimum code amended to improve leave entitlements, including four weeks annual leave and removing the six-month qualifying period for bereavement Bereavement Definition Bereavement refers to the period of mourning and grief following the death of a beloved person or animal. The English word bereavement and special leave. The paper also calls for improvements to the Parental Leave parental leave n. A leave of absence granted to a parent to care for a new baby. and Employment Protection Act; measures to facilitate breastfeeding breaks for women at work; a $20 a week increase in benefits with the aim of restoring benefit levels in real terms; and improving access to quality, affordable child care. Unions' role Unions' role in improving work-life balance must be supported by "robust provisions" in the ERA, the paper stated. To promote a better work-life balance, unions needed to bargain for improvements in collective employment agreements and campaign for legislative change. Unions should also be model employers. Looking ahead, the paper said unions needed to develop a manual of model clauses relating to work-life issues for collective bargaining purposes, organise around work-life balance and develop union strategies to promote the concept. NZNO NZNO New Zealand Nurses Organisation policy analyst Eileen Brown said nurses had identified child care issues, shift work, and work overload See information overload and overloading. as reasons for leaving nursing. "This campaign is about getting some of the things nurses have identified as necessary for work-life balance established and back into collective agreements and human resource policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental . Highlighting the issues, as the CTU paper has done, is very important in developing understanding of and credibility for the term 'work-life balance'." NZNO supported the work-life balance campaign and is working with the CTU and other unions to promote, support and implement it, Brown said. Many elements of the campaign were being incorporated into NZNO's fair pay, safe staffing and aged care campaigns. "It is extremely important to re-establish nurses' and health workers' rights to balanced working lives and to ensure workplace policies and practices promote family life, safe working conditions and healthy living," Brown said. REFERENCE (1) Council of Trade Unions (2003) Work-Life Balance. The Author: Wellington. (2) Council of Trade Unions (2002) Thirty Families Report. The Author: Wellington. |
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