The fourth work-life balance employee survey

A research study by Sarah Tipping, Jenny Chanfreau, Jane Perry and Clare Tait (NATCEN) published by BIS (Department for Business Innovation & Skills) in its Employment Relations Research Series

About the study

The Work-Life Balance Study (WLBS) is a major study conducted on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

First carried out in 2000, the 2011 study is the fourth in the series of these surveys that provide facts and figures about people's experience of employment – in particular the use and awareness of work-life balance practices.

We found:

• Employees, on the whole, were aware of their right to work flexibly.
• This was particularly true of parents and parents of young children.
• Those working flexibly were more likely to work longer hours.

Read further findings

Read the full report

Potential policy impact

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will use the findings of the research to track changes in employment practices and in attitudes over time, and to assess the impact of new legislation and employers’ flexible working practices on different groups of the population.

Method

Interviews for this study are conducted by telephone and last around 20 minutes. The telephone numbers have been obtained through a method called random digit dialling where telephone numbers are randomly selected from all possible telephone numbers in Great Britain. Once a number has been selected we cannot select another one instead.

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