INTRODUCTION

History:
The work-leisure dichotomy was invented in the mid-1800s.Paul Krassneer remarked that
anthropologists use a definition of happiness that is to have as little separation as possible
"between your work and your play". The expression "worklife balance" was first used in
the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individual's work
and personal life. In the United States, this phrase was first used in 1986.
Most recently, there has been a shift in the workplace as a result of advances in technology.
Employees have many methods, such as emails, computers, and cell phones, which enable
them to accomplish their work beyond the physical boundaries of their office. Researchers
have found that employees who consider their work roles to be an important component of
their identities will be more likely to apply these communication technologies to work
while in their non-work domain.
Many authors believe that parents being affected by work-life conflict will either reduce the
number of hours one works where other authors suggest that a parent may run away from
family life or work more hours at a workplace. This implies that each individual views
work-life conflict differently.
Employee assistance professionals say there are many causes for this situation ranging from
personal ambition and the pressure of family obligations to the accelerating pace of
technology. According to a recent study for the Center for Work-Life Policy, 1.7 million
people consider their jobs and their work hours excessive because of globalization.
What is work life balance?
Work-life balance is about effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the
other activities that are important to people. It's not about saying that work is wrong
or bad, but that work shouldn't completely crowd out the other things that matter to
people like time with family, participation in community activities, voluntary work,
personal development, leisure and recreation.

The 'right' balance is a very personal thing and will change for each person at different
times of his or her lives. For some people the issue is being able to get into work or
find more work rather than having too much work. There is no 'one size fits all'
solution.
A balanced life is one where we spread our energy and effort - emotional, intellectual,
imaginative, spiritual and physical between key areas of importance. The neglect of
one or more areas, or anchor points, may threaten the vitality of the whole.
What's the issue?
Work-life balance is increasingly an issue for any country. Jobs, the workplace and the workforce
are changing as:
More women and sole parents go into work.
More people juggle more than one job.
The workforce ages and is increasingly diverse.
Businesses continue to compete globally to hire skilled workers.
Technology changes the way we work - e.g. cell phones and PCs blur the
distinction between work and personal time.
For any country, the two biggest work-life balance problems are:
People with not enough work or income
People who have too much work: the low paid who need to work long hours to
earn enough and the higher paid who may feel trapped into working more hours
than they want to.
Work-life balance is increasingly an issue for any country. Jobs, the workplace and the
workforce are changing as:
More women and sole parents go into work.
More people juggle more than one job.
The workforce ages and is increasingly diverse.
Businesses continue to compete globally to hire skilled workers.

 Technology changes the way we work - e.g. cell phones and PCs blur the
distinction between work and personal time.
For any country, the two biggest work-life balance problems are:
People with not enough work or income
People who have too much work: the low paid who need to work long hours to
earn enough and the higher paid who may feel trapped into working more hours
than they want to.
Through the consultation, employers told that they wanted to address work-life balance
issues in their workplaces, and that they wanted practical tools to implement work-life balance
initiatives. Workers, families and individuals told us that the key issues for them in achieving
work-life balance concerned their caring responsibilities, workplace practices and cultures, and
the need to earn sufficient income.
Effect of Work-Life Balance:
The case for work-life balance tends to be made on two counts.
First, that work-life balance improves individuals health, wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Second, that business can benefit from work-life balance because these policies:
improve productivity and worker commitment
reduce sickness absence
increase retention rates for talented workers and reduce replacement costs
allow organizations to recruit from a wider pool of talent
Enable organizations to offer services beyond usual business hours by employing
workers on different shifts that fit in with caring responsibilities.
Characteristics of work life balance

Work Life Balance Business Benefits.

Not constant, comes and goes with life changes

It takes WORK

The process of seeking balance can be deeply rewarding

Stress and work life balance:The number of stress-related disability claims by employees has doubled according to the
Employee Assistance Professionals Association in Arlington, Virginia. Seventy-five to
ninety percent of physician visits are related to stress.
It is clear that problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and
employees. Symptoms of stress are manifested both physiologically and psychologically.
Persistent stress can result in cardiovascular disease, sexual health problems, a weaker
immune system and frequent headaches, stiff muscles, or backache. It can also result in
poor coping skills, irritability, jumpiness, insecurity, exhaustion, and difficulty in
concentrating. Stress may also perpetuate or lead to binge eating, smoking, and alcohol
consumption.
The feeling that, simply working hard is not enough anymore is acknowledged by many other
Multinational/Private and round the clock working bank workers.

To get ahead, a

seventy-hour work week is the new standard. What little time is left is often divvied up
among relationships, kids, and sleep. This increase in work hours over the past two
decades means that less time will be spent with family, friends, and community as well as
pursing activities that one enjoys and taking the time to grow personally and spiritually.
Unfortunately, many women feel additional stress when they must decide what they feel is best
for their families or what is best for their career. According to Sylvia Hewlett, president of
the Centre for Work-Life Policy, if a woman takes time off to care for children or an older
parent, employers tend to see these people as less than full committed. Its as though their
identity is transformed. Brett Graff, Nightly Business Report correspondent states that
(because a female may have trouble re-entering the market or, if she does find a position, it
will likely be a lower position with less pay) If you thought choosing a baby name was
hard, you have yet to wrestle with the idea of leaving your career to be a full-time mom or
take care of an older parentMost will want to re-enter, but will do so accepting lesser
positions or lower wages. This circumstance only increases the work-life balance stress
experienced by many women employees. Men who take time off or reduce working hours
for taking care of the family experience similar discrimination.

NEED FOR THE STUDY

Work-life balance has always been a concern of those interested in the quality of working life
and its relation to broader quality of life. Most of all, employees have indicated that they will
stay (or leave) for their work-life balance. Above all, our survey highlighted that positive worklife balance is the product of greater flexibilityemployees want greater control of their work
and their schedules. Additionally, respondents said work-life balance is the number one
consideration in evaluating overall satisfaction with their current job. Organization are beginning
to understand and respond to the demand for greater work-life balance. Once viewed as a
womens issue only, work-life balance (or integration ) is now a central driver of career
success and job choices for both men and women, and therefore, an essential consideration for
organizations. Its important that employers actively encourage a work life balance. It will have
such a dramatic increase in productivity, and most of the things that you can do to fix this are free.
With this background the present study is highlighted for the need of work life balance which will
be made to understand the impact and intricacies of work-life balance of employees working in
Hinduja Foundaries Limited and suggest the suitable measures to be taken by the management to
have a competent, productive and stress free workforce to meet the present and future challenges.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary Objectives:

To carry out the study on work life balance of the employees working in Hinduja
Foundries Limited
To find out the overall status of employees working environment in current position
related to work life balance.

Secondary Objectives:

To assess the importance of work life balance of employees working in Hinduja

Foundries Limited.
To understand the meaning of work life balance with perspective of employees working
in the Hinduja Foundries Limited.
To study the level of satisfaction towards work life balance of employees working in
Hinduja Foundries Limited
To find out the level of stress faced by the employee in Hinduja Foundries Limited
To find out the health related issues faced by the employee due to work in Hinduja
Foundries Limited
To study the factors affecting the work life balance of employees in Hinduja Foundries
Limited
To find out how the present organization policies benefits the work life balance of
employees in Hinduja Foundries Limited
To find out the issues of work life balance faced in Hinduja Foundries Limited
To suggest certain measures which can be adopted for healthy work life balance in
Hinduja Foundries Limited

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Scope of the study:
The scope of the study restricted to 50 employees working in an organization
The study is limited to the information gathered from Hinduja Foundries Limited
The scope of the study is limited to Chennai region only
This study attempts to bring out the solution for the problems faced by employees with
respect to work-life balance.
The study provides guidance in adopting selective strategy for improving work-life
balance of employees
The study helps to know the existing condition of their employees regarding work-life
balance
The study helps to improve the work-life balance of employees in this sector.
Limitations of the study:
This study was limited by time constraints
Reluctance on part of employees in responding to the questionnaire

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Review of related literature is an important step in undertaking research. It
helps in clarifying and defining the problem, stating objectives, formulating
hypotheses, selecting appropriate design and methodology of research as
well as interpreting the results in the light of the research work already
undertaken. In this chapter, an endeavour has been made to provide an
overview of various aspects of this study through the review of existing
literature. The sources referred include various journals, books, doctoral
theses, working papers, reports, magazines related to human resource,
internet sites, newspapers etc.
Bardoel et al. (2008) identified the major themes and research methods that
have dominated work life research in Australia and New Zealand between the
period 2004-07. The identified themes were grouped in eight categories, i.e.,
organization approaches to work life and work family issues, work
characteristics, occupations/industries, government policy and legislation,
health outcome issues related to work life, family structure and children,
gender and other additional themes. With regard to the research methods,
out of the total 86 papers examined, 73% of the papers were empirical while
27% were conceptual. Majority of the empirical papers used quantitative
methodology. As many as 51% used survey method for data collection while
the remaining 49% were fairly split among case studies, focus group and
interviews. Out of 63 empirical papers, 20 were classified priori with variables
34 identified and relationships proposed before any theory was apparent. The
remaining 43 articles were classified as post hoc as there were no specific
relationships proposed before data collection and analysis.
In order to have a justified and in-depth review of the literature, the studies
have been classified under the following headings:

work life balance studies

Individual related variables and Work life balance

Family related variables and Work life balance

Work related variables and Work life balance

Family and Work related variables and Work life balance

Outcomes of work family conflict

Individuals strategies for work life balance

Organizations strategies for work life balance

Organizations initiatives and programmes for work life balance

On the basis of literature reviewed above, the following major conclusions

can be drawn:
o

Work to family conflict is more prevalent as compared to family to work

conflict.

No definite conclusions can be drawn with respect to the gender

differences in work life balance. However, on the basis of the studies
which reported gender 75 differences, it can be concluded that women
experience more work family conflict.

Emotional intelligence has been found to be positively related to work

life balance.

The higher the importance accorded to work in life, the higher is the
work family conflict.

Spouse support has been found to be negatively related to family to

work conflict.

Higher the parental demands, higher is the work family conflict.

Job related variables (task autonomy and work schedule flexibility)

have been found to be positively related to work life balance.

Since the approach of work life balance was initially conceived in terms of
work family conflict / work family balance, and work life balance concept has
come to the fore recently, hence much research is focused on work family
conflict rather than work life balance which is a broader term and includes
work and rest of the life (including family). Secondly, much emphasis has
been laid on studying the outcomes of work family conflict or work life
balance as compared to the antecedents especially in the context of work life
balance. Again, the researchers who studied the antecedents, focused mainly
on the work or family related variables; and have not taken individual related
variables into account. There are hardly any studies to be found in the Indian
76 context, and hence the issue of work life balance is wide open for research
in India.
Drawing on the large amount of literature and research this chapter examines
the concept of work-life balance. Fatigue and tiredness are essentially
cumulative (Hildebrandt et al., 1974; Rosa, 1991). They are generated by
excessive hours worked per day, too little time off between work shifts, and
too many consecutive days worked without rest days (Paley and Tepas, 1994;
Smith, 1979). Inadequate roster design and excessive overtime work hours
are therefore particularly associated with fatigue. They are particularly

associated with tasks requiring continuous monitoring (e.g. railway engine

driving, motor vehicle driving & supervising chemical plants etc.), repetitive
short-cycle tasks, tasks requiring fine motor skills, tasks requiring high levels
of physical effort, and tasks undertaken in hot and humid environments (Rosa
and Bonnet, 1993). Shift work is primarily associated with two occupational
stressors: working unsocial hours; and fatigue. These stressors may result in
performance errors which are typically manifested in increased product
rejects, reduced product quality and increased workplace accidents and
injuries. Excessive fatigue and family and social life disruption may also result
in increased sickness absence, and lower job satisfaction and employee wellbeing.
Excessive fatigue and family and social life disruption may also result in
increased sickness absence, and lower job satisfaction and employee wellbeing. Unsocial hours are generally linked to weekend work, evening & night
work, and morning shifts that start very early (Colligan and Rosa, 1990;
Smith, 1993; Wedderburn, 1967). They may disrupt normal family life
(Barling, 1990) and also may impact on parental and partner roles (Barton et
al., 1998; Bunnage, 1984; Repetti, 1989). They also disrupt social life and
community involvement (Colligan and Rosa, 1990). Unsocial hours may also
disrupt normal patterns of sleep, and thereby contribute to fatigue (Duchon
et al., 1997; Tepas et al., 1997).
According to (Elisa J. Grant-Vallonea & Ellen A. Ensherb, 2001), employees
reported higher levels of work interfering with their personal life, than
personal life interfering with their work. Results demonstrated that
workpersonal life conflict was related to employees depression & anxiety and
personal-work life conflict was related to employees concern for their health.
The impact of long hours and the perception that work is increasingly intense
has a negative overall affect on individuals in terms of their physical and
mental well being. (Dawson et al; 2001) have published an extensive review
of the large body of well supported quantitative literature examining the
consequences of long work hours on health and mental functioning. They
suggest that the most prominent issue relates to fatigue and exhaustion
because of insufficient recuperative sleep. This affects mental functioning as
people may experience lapses in concentration, the inability to comprehend
complex situations, and increases the likelihood of people engaging in risktaking behaviours (Dawson et al; 2001). In addition, long working hours are
also indirectly associated with negative health outcomes, including: high
blood pressure and heart problems; excessive food and alcohol consumption;
smoking; weight loss or gain associated with poor physical exercise,
unbalanced nutrition and irregular meals; and illnesses induced by high levels
of stress (Dawson et al; 2006; Jones et al; 2006; NZCTU, 2002; Pocock et al.,
2001). This inevitably impacts on peoples perception of their quality of life

and general life satisfaction. Research findings, largely based on qualitative

interviews, highlight that the pressures of work reduce opportunities for
people to spend time with family, friends, or to peruse their own interests,
which inevitably leads to the erosion of support networks and can lead to
moodiness, loneliness and depression (Gambles et al; 2006; NZCTU, 2002,
Pocock et al., 2001).
(Jeffrey H. Greenhaus et al; 2003) find out for individuals who invested
substantial time in their combined work and family roles, those who spent
more time on family than work experienced a higher quality of life than
balanced individuals who, in turn, experienced a higher quality of life than
those who spent more time on work than family. He observed similar findings
for involvement and satisfaction. Positive balance suggests an equally high
level of attention, time involvement, or commitment, whereas, negative
balance refers to an equally low level of attention, time, involvement, or
commitment. Positive balance implies an equally high level of satisfaction
with work & family roles, & negative balance suggests an equally low level of
satisfaction with each role (Clark, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 2000, Kofodimos, 1993).
Their study confirmed the negative effect of work imbalance on quality of life
and demonstrated that the deleterious effect is due to heightened levels of
work-tofamily conflict & stress. A balance engagement in work & family roles
is expected to be associated with individual well-being because such balance
reduces work-family conflict & stress, both of which detract from well-being
(Frome et al; 1992). He suggested that an equally high investment of time &
involvement in work & family would reduce work-family conflict & stress
thereby enhancing an individuals quality of life.
(Nancy R. Lockwood, 2003) find out increasing levels of stress can rapidly
lead to low employee morale, poor productivity, & decreasing job satisfaction.
Other serious repercussions are depression, alcohols & drug abuse, marital &
financial problems, compulsive eating disorders, & employee burnout.
(Hymant et al; 2003) indicated that intrusion of work demands into personal
life (eg.working during the weekend) was related with reports of hightend
stress & emotional exhaustion for employees. Furthermore, employees
perceived that intrusion of work obligations into their personal lives
negatively affected their health.
Work-life conflict arises from the incompatible emotional and behavioral
demands of work and non-work roles, such that participation in one role is
made more difficult by participation in the other (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985).
This conflict can result in greater stress at home or at work, poorer health,
higher turnover and absenteeism, reduced job satisfaction, and less
organizational commitment. The negative health effects of work life conflict

include anxiety, depression, burnout, somatic complaints, raised cholesterol

levels, and substance abuse (Frone, 2003).
(Laurent M. Lapierre, 2008) find out a casual process whereby employees
working in an environment viewed as more family-supportive experience
lower levels of WFC. Reduced WFC then translates into greater job and family
satisfaction, followed by greater overall life satisfaction. They have reason to
believe that a familysupportive work environment can potentially strengthen
life satisfaction by reducing work-family incompatibilities that lessen their
satisfaction at work and at home. This implies that employees perceptions of
their work environments family-supportiveness may play a significant role in
their overall level of enjoyment in life.
According to (T. Alexandra Beauregard & Lesley C. Henry, 2009), in terms of
job attitudes, employees reporting high levels of both work-to-life & life-towork conflict tend to exhibit lower levels of job satisfaction and organizational
commitment.
(Haddon & Hede, 2009) find out that work interferes with home life more than
home life interferes with work life, when it comes to time & energy. On the
other hand, home life enables participants to regain energy lost from
working.
Increasing workloads have pressurized employees to demonstrate their
commitment to work in more obvious ways (Ishaya & Ayman, 2008).
Consequently, a larger part of them have tented to be present at their work
place for longer periods of time, thereby reducing the time for which they are
available at home.
According to (Xinyuan (Roy) Zhaoa, 2011), When hotels with family friendly
work environments provide sufficient support for work and family needs,
employees are more likely to have high job satisfaction. When work and
family mutually reinforce each other (i.e; family experiences enrich the
contributions to work, and vice versa), employees have a more balanced life
(Aryee et al; 2005).
(Merideth Ferguson et al; 2012) find out that work-family balance plays a
mediating role in assisting social supports contribution to both job & family
satisfaction. (Hua Jiang, 2012) indicated that, when employees immediate
supervisors respect their subordinates as individuals with unique characters
and needs and treat the differently but fairly, employees perceive high levels
of trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality, moreover,
employees when perceiving that they are treated fairly by their organizations
develop quality relationships with theirorganization. This study also identifies
fair formal procedures & policies used to make work-life decisions as a

significant antecedent leading to high trust, commitment, satisfaction, &

control mutuality that employees perceive.
According to (Rajesh.K.Yadav and Nishant Dabhade; 2013) figured out the
working environment of public sector banks for women employees and what
is the perception of women about the initiative and policies of banks and
effects of those initiatives on their lives . Chi Square test was applied to check
the authenticity of data given by the respondents. The research was
conducted among working women in banks with special reference to SBI,
Bhopal (M.P) city head office. The findings suggest that work-life balance is
not a problem not to be solved. It is an outgoing issue to be managed.
According to (Jane Nyambura Mukururi, Dr.James Mark Ngari; 2014) analysed
the relationship between work life balance policies and employee job
satisfaction in Kenya's banking sector. The study employed descriptive
research design. The target population was two hundred and forty
respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using
statistical package for social sciences. The findings of the study emphasized
that each of the work life balance policies on its own is a predictor of job
satisfaction. The result of the study made the recommendation that
managers in banks should improve the work life balance policies offered to
employees in order to increase their job satisfaction, to improve staff
commitment and productivity.
According to (Dr.Kathleen Farrell; 2015) figured out Work-life Balance
Practices among Irish Hotel Employees and Implications for HRM. The study
advances the literature on the link between work-life balance programmes
and other HRM practices such as company benefits and functional flexibility.
Although this study made some contribution to the literature the hotels
chosen were representative of the hotel industry i.e. a unionised group, a
non-unionised group and two family run hotels, further research is needed to
generalise for the larger hospitality industry. Nevertheless the study can
serve as a first step in researching further the link between work-home
programmes and other HRM practices and the study indicates that this
relation exists in the Irish hotel industry. Thirdly, the hospitality industry
employs a large number of casual workers and it could be interesting to
compare work-family balance perceptions and practices between casual
employees and full-time employees. Finally, it could be insightful to look more
closely at the effects of star rating and family ownership on workfamily
balance using qualitative methods.