July 12, 2012 SHRM Survey Findings: Work/Life Balance Policies

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Definitions 2  Wireless communication devices: For the purposes of this survey, wireless communication devices include cell phones, smart phones (e.g., Blackberry, iPhone, Android), tablets (e.g., iPad, Archos, PlayBook) and similar communication devices.  Work/life balance policies: For the purposes of this survey, work/life balance policies include programs that encourage flexible employee work arrangements that emphasize the value of making work and life responsibilities more manageable for employees.

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Key Findings 3  How prevalent are work/life balance policies? Twenty-four percent of organizations have a formal work/life balance policy in place, whereas approximately one-half of organizations (52%) have an informal work/life balance policy.  What elements are included in work/life balance policies? Working during vacation time was included in almost one-half of formal work/life balance policies (47%) and in over three-fifths of informal policies (62%). Working during sick time was also included in roughly one-third of formal policies (34%) and one-half of informal policies (54%).  What are supervisors/management doing to encourage employees to take time away from work to recharge? The majority of organizations (80%) indicated that their supervisors/managers encourage a healthy work/life balance within their unit/work group. Approximately two-thirds of supervisors/managers (67%) encourage employees to ask for help when necessary, and roughly one- quarter of supervisors/managers (26%) discourage employees from answering s or phone calls via their wireless communication devices during nonworking hours.

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM Organizations with Formal Work/Life Balance Policies

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Does your organization have a formal (i.e., written) work/life balance policy? 5 Note: n = 327. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Please indicate the elements included in your formal work/life policy: 6 Note: n = 79. Only respondents whose organizations have formal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Percentage Working during vacation time47% Working over a specified number of hours per week in the office or away from the office for both exempt and nonexempt employees 43% Working during sick time34% Flexible work arrangements*10% Other9%

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM Organizations with Informal Work/Life Balance Policies

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Does your organization have an informal (e.g., management practices) work/life balance policy demonstrating organizational commitment to the importance of employees taking time away from work to recharge? 8 Note: n = 254. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations do not have formal work/life policies were asked this question.

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Please indicate the elements included in your informal work/life policy: 9 Note: n = 133. Only respondents whose organizations have informal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Percentage Working during vacation time62% Working during sick time54% Working over a specified number of hours per week in the office or away from the office for both exempt and nonexempt employees 41% Flexible work arrangements*9% Other8%

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Which management practices are utilized to encourage employees to take time away from work to recharge? 10 Note: n = 84. Only respondents whose organizations have informal work/life policies were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses. Percentage Supervisors/managers encourage a healthy work/life balance within their unit/work group. 80% Supervisors/managers encourage employees to ask for help when necessary (e.g., when employee finds that he/she needs to work beyond specified work hours). 67% Supervisors/managers discourage employees from answering s or phone calls via their wireless communication devices during nonworking hours (e.g., weekends, evenings, holidays). 26% Supervisors/managers encourage the use of PTO/vacation and sick leave.*7% The organization has days or time when is not used (e.g., “ - Free Fridays”, “No weekends”). 1% Other4%

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Demographics: Organization Industry 11 Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Percentage Manufacturing 17% Finance and insurance 17% Health care and social assistance 12% Professional, scientific and technical services 10% Other service except public administration 9% Educational services 6% Public administration 5% Retail trade 4% Construction 3% Information, publishing industries3% Religious, grant-making, civic professional and similar organizations3% Transportation and warehousing2%

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) 12 Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates < 1%. Percentage Wholesale trade2% Utilities2% Accommodation and food services2% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services2% Real estate, rental and leasing2% Arts, entertainment and recreation1% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting1% Mining1% Repair and maintenance1% Management of companies and enterprises1% Personal and laundry services*

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Demographics: Organization Sector 13 n = 332

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Demographics: Organization Staff Size 14 n = 330

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012 Demographics: Other 15 Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally? U.S.-based operations only74% Multinational operations26% n = 329 Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization? Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same. 33% Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location. 67% n = 331 For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both? Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 52% Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 3% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 45% n = 230 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? Corporate (companywide)70% Business unit/division14% Facility/location16% n = 230

Work/Life Balance Policies ©SHRM 2012  Response rate = 12%  Sample composed of 332 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership  Margin of error +/-5%  Survey fielded June 9 – June 27, Methodology For more poll findings, visit Follow us on Twitter: For more poll findings, visit Follow us on Twitter: SHRM Survey Findings: Work/Life Balance Policies Project leader: Robert Boyd, survey research analyst, SHRM Research Project contributors: Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Research Christina Lee, SHRM Research Copy Editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center