Managing work-life policies in the European Workplace: explorations for future research

In this paper we focus on the implementation and management of work-life policies in the workplace and the key role of managers in this context. We review the existing literature, enabling us to set a research agenda focused on explaining managerial attitudes and behaviour toward work-life policies in different organisational and national contexts. The evidence found in several studies suggests that managers often receive mixed messages about the implementation of work/life policies because these policies are not embedded in the workplace; managers are often unaware of such policies and lack training in them, leading to inconsistency in implementation and short-term thinking rather than a long-term perspective that cherishes human capital. Our review points to the need for more research allowing a full understanding of managerial attitudes and behaviour in different organisational and national contexts. Although a few interesting studies do exist, research in the field is still in its infancy. More research is needed, in particular systematic studies with well-developed theoretical frameworks. Keywords Line managers, work-life policies, allowance decisions, European workplac

Working Parents' Use of Work-Life Policies

In this paper, we examine working parent’s use of work-life policies in three financial sector organizations in the Netherlands. We analyse the barriers and support regarding the actual take up of work-life policies by working parents and to what extent this in turn influence their experienced work-life balance. We collected survey data in three Dutch financial sector organizations: one public sector organization and two private firms. All three differ considerably regarding their organizational culture and working practices. Two of the organizations are characterised by a contradictory work-life culture, and one by an approving work-life culture. Findings point out that household characteristics and the work-life culture in the organization determine the take up of work-life policies. With respect to the work-life balance of working parents, organizational culture is an important determinant, no impact is found of the utilization of policies

Herziening van sociale zekerheid: het perspectief van flexwerkers en zelfstandigen

De idee dat individualisering de sociale solidariteit ondermijnt, is wijd verbreid.Niet alleen in het maatschappelijke discours is het bijna een gemeenplaats, ook inde sociologie vindt de stelling brede steun. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn er legio.Robert Putnam (2000) ziet gemeenschapsbesef verminderen ten gevolge van hetverzwakken van het sociale vlechtwerk in zijn inmiddels befaamde Bowling Alone.Zygmunt Baumans notie van Liquid Modernity geeft aan dat sociale institutiesniet langer richtinggevend zijn voor individuele levens, waardoor het individumeer en meer zelf vorm moet geven aan zijn leven, een leven dat fragmenteert enwaarin loyaliteiten en bindingen verzwakken (Bauman, 2001). Ook in de sfeervan de arbeid worden vergelijkbare ideeën verkondigd. Richard Sennett stelt inThe Corrosion of Character (1998) dat de moderne flexibele arbeidsmarkt waarinarbeidsrelaties vluchtig en arbeidsloopbanen zeer divers zijn geworden, de socialebanden en het klassenbesef dat hij een generatie eerder in zijn The Hidden Injuriesof Class (1972) nog tegenkwam, volledig heeft doen verdwijnen. Het gevolg vandergelijke individualiseringsprocessen is volgens velen een vergelijkbare individu‐alisering van de sociale solidariteit, leidend tot afnemende steun voor de moderneverzorgingsstaat (Giddens, 1994; Inglehart, 1997)

How to Rage Against the Dying of the Light? A Critique of Ritzer's McDonaldization Thesis.

Ritzer presents his 'The McDonalization of Society' as a social critique on the nationalization of modern society. In this article I will analyze the underlying assumptions of his critique. By means of a meta-theoretical analysis, I examine Ritzer's views on modernity and rationality. This analysis reveals that Ritzer holds a rather dualistic view of the relation between man and society. Ritzer does not give much thought to the ambivalence of modernity. I wil further argue that Ritzer uses a resticted idea of rationality. As a result, he can not escape the pessimism which also marked Weber's vision of the future. Ritzer can only offer his reader the hope that an awareness of McDonzalization will unleash a critical attitude towards the inevitable rationalization of the lifeworld. He does not present a well-founded theory of rational behavior, necessary for coping with a McDonzalized society. By introducing Habermas' theory of communicative action, and more specific his idea of rationality, I propose an alternative to Ritzer's hope

Welfare states and the life course

In recent years there has been an increased interest in understanding the welfare state from a life course approach. On the one hand, the welfare state through its laws, policies, and institutions, shapes and structures the life course. The welfare state influences both the timing of life course events, such as the age at which people marry or have children or the age at which people retire, as well as the duration of life course events, such as education and training. On the other hand, individual needs in relation to the welfare state change across the life course. During certain stages of the life course an individual may have more need for help or assistance from the welfare state than at other times. These needs can, in turn, give rise to new welfare state arrangements, as welfare states adjust policies to address changing social risks in society (Yerkes, 2011). In other words, individual life courses and the welfare state are inextricably linked (see Mayer and Schoepflin, 1989). In this chapter we take a closer look at this relationship, introducing the concept of the life course and examining how it has changed in recent years. We begin by defining the life course, as well as introducing a number of other core concepts. In the sections that follow, we look at how the life course has become increasingly dynamic and diversified as a result of the social and economic process of post-industrialisation, as well as differences in the gender order, and other demographic changes. In post-industrial societies, welfare states are increasingly faced with pressures associated with changing and emerging social risks – risks which are no longer absorbed by the family or the labour market (Esping-Andersen, 2002). These risks pose significant challenges to welfare states and we discuss this in sections two and three. In the next section, using examples from Western welfare states we show how the welfare state structures the life course and how macro-level processes affect welfare states (and therefore impact the life course). The final section provides a brief conclusion