UK
employees are failing to take up work-life balance options, according to a new
report.
The
study by the independent Institute for Employment Studies, Work-life Balance:
Beyond the Rhetoric, says employers are offering increased options as they
recognise the business benefits of the schemes, but employees have not embraced
them.
Sally
Dench, IES Senior Research Fellow and author of the report, said she found a
gap between employees’ demands and take-up of the options.
She
said: “Rights to time off and flexible working practices are rarely enough. A
change in culture and attitudes within the organisation is necessary for the
successful implementation of work-life balance practices.
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“If senior
managers are serious about promoting work-life balance they need to be
proactive. It rarely happens without positive leadership from above.”