Support employee work-life balance
How employers can encourage and support a better work-life balance for their staff, and the advantages a healthy work-life balance can bring to the workplace.
Work-life balance is how an individual allocates time between work responsibilities and personal or family life. Achieving a healthy work-life balance means effectively managing both professional and personal commitments while prioritising wellbeing and self-care.
Importance of a healthy work-life balance
Promoting a healthy work-life balance among employees can bring many tangible benefits to businesses. Employers who educate and support staff in managing their work-life balance can unlock numerous benefits, including:
- increased employee happiness and motivation
- higher productivity levels
- improved staff retention and reduced turnover
- more efficient workplace practices and collaboration
Flexible working and work-life balance
Flexible working policies play a crucial role in enabling employees to balance work and personal life effectively. Meeting flexible working needs, such as remote work, flexible hours, or compressed work weeks, empowers staff to manage their responsibilities with greater ease. Eligible employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements, helping them to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Supporting diverse workforce needs
With demographic shifts like an ageing workforce and smaller family units, flexible working arrangements are becoming increasingly important. Many employees juggle caregiving responsibilities, whether for children or elderly relatives, and flexible work options help reduce stress and maintain productivity.
This guide outlines the advantages that a healthy work-life balance can bring to your staff and business. It also offers practical ways employers can create, maintain, and promote a healthy work-life balance for their workforce.
Advantages of improved work-life balance
List of benefits that promoting a healthy work-life balance brings to your business and your staff.
Promoting a healthy work-life balance through effective employment policies, a positive organisational culture, and practical support can deliver significant benefits to both your business and your staff.
Work-life balance advantages for employees
A good work-life balance helps employees feel more in control of their working life and supports:
- increased productivity
- better time management
- improved personal physical and mental health and overall wellbeing
- reduction in sickness absence and lower rates of absenteeism
- a happier and less stressed workforce
- staff feeling valued with their personal and family life respected
- higher levels of engagement, loyalty, and motivation
- reduced likelihood of staff turnover
- greater opportunities for career development and personal growth
Work-life balance advantages for businesses
Work-life balance initiatives can positively impact business performance by helping you:
- lower absence, sickness, and stress-related costs
- motivate and energise your workforce
- identify and implement more efficient working practices
- increase productivity, outputs, and competitive advantage
- boost staff morale
- improve customer service
- maximise operational flexibility to meet market demands through shift work, part-time work, and flexitime
- better manage seasonal peaks and troughs in business activity
- foster a more committed and positive workforce attitude
- reduce staff turnover, minimising recruitment and training expenses - see control staff turnover
- establish your business as an employer of choice, attracting top talent
By focusing on work-life balance, employers can build a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce, which directly translates into enhanced business success and a stronger competitive position.
See how Adventures Day Nursery introduced flexible and family-focused workplace policies.
Identify work-life balance problems
Signs that can tell employers that their staff are suffering from a poor work-life balance.
Employers often find it challenging to gauge whether their employees are struggling to balance work and personal life. Recognising the signs of poor work-life balance early can help you take the right steps to support your staff and improve overall wellbeing and productivity.
Common signs of poor employee work-life balance
If your staff are exhibiting several of the following symptoms, it may indicate an unhealthy work-life balance:
- missed deadlines
- unachieved targets or goals
- untidy or disorganised workspaces
- frequency of mistakes increasing
- decline in productivity and workplace engagement
- employees rarely taking holidays or adequate breaks
- signs of exhaustion with staff appearing withdrawn, fatigued, or stressed
- frequent overtime or working beyond contracted hours
- increased absenteeism due to stress, sickness, or emergencies related to dependants
- higher incidence of workplace conflict or tension among staff
- elevated employee turnover rates
Additional behavioural and health indicators
Beyond work output, poor work-life balance can manifest as:
- physical symptoms such as headaches, trouble sleeping, and general fatigue
- emotional signs like irritability, impatience, or mood swings
- employees feel guilty about taking breaks or time off
- loss of interest in hobbies and personal activities outside work
Timely recognition matters
Ignoring these warning signs can lead to long-term consequences, including burnout, reduced engagement, deteriorating mental and physical health, and ultimately higher costs for your business in turnover and lost productivity. Creating and promoting a healthy work-life balance is crucial to prevent these issues from escalating. If you observe several of these indicators within your workforce, consider taking proactive steps to foster better work-life balance by implementing flexible working policies, encouraging rest breaks
If you recognise a number of these symptoms affecting your staff and your business, you may need to take action to create a healthy work-life balance in your workplace.
Create a healthy work-life balance
Practical ways that employers could improve the work-life balance of their staff.
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for an ideal work-life balance, as it depends on your business’s operational needs and your employees’ unique circumstances. However, employers can take several practical steps to support staff in achieving a healthier balance between work and personal life.
How to support staff with a healthy work-life balance
Set clear working hours and boundaries
Ensure employees clearly understand their working hours and any flexible arrangements. Define expectations around maximum working hours and encourage staff to avoid overworking or exceeding contracted hours to prevent burnout.
Clearly define job roles and goals
Use the SMART system to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. Clear job roles and well-defined targets help employees focus on essential tasks and minimise time wasted on low-priority activities, boosting productivity and reducing stress.
Streamline work processes for efficiency
Review and simplify complex workflows to cut down unnecessary steps, allowing staff to complete tasks more efficiently without compromising quality. Streamlined processes reduce workload pressure and free up time for personal commitments.
Lead by example
Managers and senior leaders should model healthy work-life habits by taking full annual leave, respecting rest breaks, and disconnecting from work communications outside office hours. Showing this balance encourages employees to adopt similar behaviours.
Recognise and reward employee contribution
Acknowledging and rewarding good work increases staff motivation, engagement, and job satisfaction. Explain how individual and team efforts contribute to business success to foster a sense of value and belonging.
Foster open and effective communication
Create a supportive workplace culture where employees feel comfortable discussing work-life challenges. Regular, two-way communication between managers and staff helps identify early signs of imbalance and address issues proactively.
Provide support and training
Equip employees with the skills and resources they need to manage their time effectively. Offer training in time management, stress reduction, and resilience. Train managers to recognise signs of poor work-life balance and respond appropriately.
Offer flexible working options
Flexible working arrangements, including flexi-time, remote work, part-time roles, job sharing, and hybrid schedules, allow employees to tailor work around their personal lives. Flexibility enhances autonomy, trust, and productivity while supporting diverse needs, including neurodiversity. All eligible employees have the right to request flexible working.
Promote staff health and wellbeing
Support physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing through wellness programmes, workshops on healthy habits, stress management, and financial planning. Encourage breaks away from screens and physical activity during the workday to boost energy and reduce stress.
Cultivate a culture that respects work-life balance
Encourage boundaries, such as no need for immediate responses to emails outside working hours. Make work enjoyable by allowing staff to focus on preferred tasks and rotate roles to maintain interest. Organise informal social events like coffee catch-ups or family-inclusive gatherings to strengthen team bonds.
By implementing these strategies, employers can create an environment where employees feel valued, balanced, and motivated, leading to improved productivity, retention, and overall business success.
Work-life balance: Implement a flexible working policy
How employers can implement a flexible working policy to help promote a healthy work-life balance for their staff - includes a flexible working policy template.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is not just a one-off exercise, but a long-term commitment to operating your business in a way that respects your employees' responsibilities outside of their work commitments. Workplace policies designed to help your staff achieve and maintain a healthy work-life balance need to be tailored to your business and your employees.
Outline workplace flexible working rules
Drawing up a clear workplace policy on flexible working can have a positive impact on management by making it clear the circumstances in which a request for flexible working will be considered and approved. This saves management time and means that inconsistencies in management decisions are removed. It can also help employees by explaining their rights around flexible working.
Develop a flexible working policy
Employers looking to implement a flexible working policy to promote a healthy work-life balance should develop a clear, tailored policy that business needs with employee flexibility. Key steps include:
- Assess core business requirements: Identify what your business needs operationally to maintain productivity and service quality while allowing flexible arrangements.
- Consult employees and stakeholders: Engage your staff to understand their flexible working needs and preferences, and consult trade unions or staff associations if applicable.
- Define scope and eligibility: Decide which employees can participate and ensure your policy complies with employment law and does not discriminate unfairly.
- Outline clear procedures: Your policy should clearly explain:
- What flexible working is and the types of arrangements available (eg, flexi-time, remote work, hybrid working, job sharing.)
- The formal process for employees to request flexible working, including the requirement for written requests.
- The timeframe for responding to requests.
- How employees can appeal decisions.
- Maintain management support and leadership: Secure backing from senior management and demonstrate commitment through leadership example and communication.
- Communicate and train: Explain the policy clearly to all staff and update them on legal changes that may affect them. Provide training to managers on handling requests and recognising work-life balance issues.
- Implement trial periods: Consider piloting flexible working arrangements to gauge effectiveness and make adjustments before full implementation.
- Measure success: Use staff feedback, monitor performance metrics such as productivity, absenteeism, turnover rates, and customer satisfaction to evaluate the policy’s impact.
Read more on flexible working: the law and best practice.
Flexible working policy template resources
You can use a template to get you started with writing a flexible working policy that fits your organisation:
- The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland provides a model policy and procedure template on handling requests for flexible working (PDF, 1.07MB) suitable for employers to adapt for their business needs.
- Acas offers a comprehensive flexible working policy template, including guidance on handling requests, refusal grounds, and appeals.
Flexible working request templates
- Acas flexible request acknowledgement letter template.
- Acas flexible working request outcome letter request.
By following these guidelines and using established templates, employers can create a robust, flexible working policy that supports employee wellbeing, ensures legal compliance, and fosters a positive, productive workplace culture centred on healthy work-life balance.
Seven tips to improve work-life balance for employees
Practical tips to help employers encourage a work-life balance amongst their staff.
By applying the following tips, employers can foster happier, more energised employees who are better able to focus, contribute, and stay loyal, benefiting both staff wellbeing and business success.
Tips to encourage a healthy work-life balance for your staff
Here are seven practical steps employers can take to develop a workplace that encourages a healthy work-life balance for all their employees.
1. Develop an inclusive workplace culture
Create a culture that respects diversity and values employees as whole individuals. When employees feel safe and supported in discussing their life outside work, including family commitments and personal interests, employers can better tailor support to their needs. Inclusive workplaces foster stronger engagement and wellbeing. See diversity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace.
2. Set realistic, clear goals using SMART criteria
Ensure staff know their targets and support them to achieve these. Set goals using the SMART system that makes targets specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. Review employee performance regularly, including discussions to address potential problems, if they exist, so they can be dealt with early. See agreeing performance objectives with staff.
3. Maintain open and regular communication
Encourage ongoing conversations between your employees and managers to discuss progress, workloads, and challenges. This open dialogue helps identify stress or work-like conflicts early and allows timely adjustments and support. Provide time management training to staff to help improve efficiency and reduce overload. See engaging with staff.
4. Offer flexible working options
Flexible working arrangements such as remote working, hybrid schedules, flexi-time, job sharing, and part-time roles, empower staff to balance personal and professional demands. Flexibility improves autonomy, trust, and productivity and is a top factor for employee satisfaction and retention.
5. Promote and protect holidays
Encourage staff to take their full annual leave allocation. Instruct staff to disconnect from work when on leave by ensuring they don’t bring work phones or laptops on holiday. Employers can set a good example to their staff by taking their total allocation of holidays each year and assigning someone to manage things when they are on leave. See know how much holiday to give your staff.
6. Encourage regular breaks and physical activity
Support staff in taking short, frequent breaks, especially if jobs involve long periods of sitting. Integrating light exercise or movement improves mental clarity and reduces fatigue, enhancing daily productivity. Regular breaks and physical activity during the working day help sustain energy and focus. See hours, rest breaks and the working week
7. Make work enjoyable
Work is a major part of daily life, so making the workplace enjoyable boosts morale and lowers stress. Encourage employee feedback on improvements, facilitate team connections through projects, and organise social or wellbeing events such as health talks or charity fundraisers. See staff feedback, ideas, and forums.
For further details, see create a healthy work-life balance.
Promoting staff health and wellbeing - Riada Resourcing
How Riada Resourcing, based in Coleraine and Ballymena, has cultivated a culture of health and wellbeing, benefiting both employees and the business.
For over 24 years, Riada Resourcing, with offices in both Coleraine and Ballymena, has been connecting top talent with leading companies across the UK and Ireland. As an Investors in People Gold organisation, Riada Resourcing is committed to fostering a thriving work environment that prioritises employee wellbeing, inclusivity, and professional growth.
Clare Budd, Marketing Manager and Riada Wellbeing Champion, alongside Arlene McConaghie, Riada Managing Director, share insights into how Riada Resourcing has cultivated a culture of health and wellbeing, benefiting both employees and the business.
Making staff health and wellbeing a business priority
"At Riada Resourcing, we're dedicated to supporting the health and wellbeing of our staff. Our management team recognises that a thriving workforce is essential to achieving shared success in today's dynamic workplace. We understand the direct correlation between employee wellness and productivity."
"We have integrated staff health and wellbeing into every aspect of our business model, making it a core value of the company. We provide comprehensive resources to address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of all our employees."
Gaining support and buy-in from staff
"Our journey to enhancing employee health and wellbeing was a collaborative effort, informed by valuable feedback from our staff and a deep understanding of modern workplace needs. Recognising the increasing demands of work-life balance and the holistic nature of wellbeing, Riada Resourcing actively engaged with employees through surveys, focus groups, and open discussions. This collaborative approach enabled us to design health and wellbeing initiatives that resonate with our employees' expectations and needs."
Introducing practical initiatives to promote employee health and wellbeing
"Riada Resourcing is proud to have three certified Health Champions who actively promote healthier lifestyles and foster a supportive work environment. These champions lead initiatives to address stress management, mindfulness, financial wellness, and mental health first aid. Our buddy system further enhances this support network by providing confidential spaces for colleagues to connect."
"Riada Resourcing has implemented initiatives to foster a culture of recognition and appreciation. Our Value VIP peer recognition programme celebrates employees who embody our core values, fostering a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect."
"The Riada Wellbeing Hub offers a wide range of resources to all staff, including expert advice, informative webinars, and access to local support services. This comprehensive approach gives our employees the tools and resources they need to thrive."
"To foster a strong sense of community, we organise various social events throughout the year, such as beach walks, couch-to-5K runs, breakfast mornings, and charity events. These events strengthen team bonds and cultivate a vibrant, collaborative culture."
"To further enhance our employee wellness programme, we've introduced enhanced maternity/paternity pay, flexible hybrid working options, dedicated wellbeing hours, and team-building days. We've also implemented performance-based bonuses and milestone recognition for birthdays and work anniversaries. In 2024, we expanded our benefits package to include private healthcare for all staff."
Work Well Live Well accreditation
"Our commitment to staff wellbeing has been recognised with the prestigious Work Well Live Well accreditation, a joint initiative of Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS) and the Public Health Agency (PHA). This accreditation acknowledges our proactive approach to creating a supportive work environment and has guided the development of a three-year Work Well Live Well action plan that prioritises staff wellness as a core business principle."
The impact of prioritising staff wellbeing
"Prioritising employee health and wellbeing has welcomed significant benefits for individual employees and the organisation. This includes improved health outcomes, boosted morale, and a more motivated, productive workforce. Our activity has increased retention rates and enhanced our ability to attract top talent. We're proud to have a workplace where our employees can thrive."
"With the unwavering support of our senior management, we have cultivated a positive and supportive workplace environment, strengthened team cohesion, and enhanced collaboration. This has empowered our employees to feel valued and supported in both their professional and personal lives."
Introducing flexible and family-focused workplace policies - Adventures Day Nursery
How Adventures Day Nursery in Belfast has implemented family-friendly initiatives in the workplace.
Adventures Day Nursery is a private children's nursery in Belfast. The business opened in 2006 and since then has grown to employ over 25 full-time and part-time staff.
Maria McDonagh, Manager at Adventures Day Nursery, explains how they introduced family-friendly initiatives to help and support their employees.
Prioritise your policies
"During the last five years, we have introduced workplace initiatives to ensure our staff have the best possible work-life balance. We encourage employees to suggest workplace schemes that will benefit them.
Our challenge has been to implement rewarding initiatives that are low-cost. For example, we offer job-sharing and have implemented support so that pregnant employees have the option to transfer to lighter duties and shorter shifts. We also have an open-door policy so that management is available to staff at all times.
We have introduced initiatives to reduce stress and offer staff support on a personal level. We ensure we have adequate cover when employees need to take time off work at short notice. To help reduce financial pressures for our staff, we enable them, if needed, to receive part of their salary in the middle of the month rather than having to wait until payday.
Our 'special leave' policy allows staff paid time off during a bereavement or family celebration. Employees may also take unpaid leave when needed. We also have a 'sunshine hours' policy - this allows staff to finish shifts early on a rotational basis whenever the weather is good."
Consult and communicate with staff
"A big challenge we have faced in implementing family-friendly initiatives has come from ensuring that our policies are fair to all our staff. Not all of our employees have dependent children, so we have made sure to have other initiatives that benefit and appeal to all workers.
Our staff are always involved in helping to create new initiatives. Schemes are proposed through our staff suggestion scheme, and at the monthly one-to-one meetings.
The rules for each initiative are discussed and agreed upon with all staff to ensure a high degree of fairness across all policies.
Also, as a service provider, we must ensure our staff initiatives do not negatively affect the quality of service we provide to our customers. We minimise business risks by creating a supportive environment, where staff are happy to assist and support each other.
All staff are made aware of workplace initiatives at their induction programme, their monthly meetings, and through the monthly staff newsletters."
Review and update your policies
"We regularly review our policies to ensure that we are compliant with legislation. As the nursery manager, I attend seminars and conferences to ensure we maintain our legal responsibilities."
Measure success
"We use questionnaires and one-to-one meetings to get feedback from staff. These help us to identify the initiatives that have benefited the organisation. The measures we evaluate against the schemes include improved morale in the business, lowered sickness and absence rates, low staff turnover, and customer satisfaction.
We have also won awards for our commitment to supporting our staff, and for the service, we offer our customers."