Do UK employees have a good work-life balance?

Most of us place a lot of value on our time spent out of working hours, whether it is using for pursing hobbies or socialising with friends; but almost a third of UK workers feel that they have a poor work-life balance, and it’s becoming a serious talking point in the workplace. Not only does it affect our relationships and home life happiness, but it can also take its toll on our mental health. Read on as we investigate the best way to manage a good work-life balance and take some tips from other countries.

Striking a good work life balance

On the whole, most UK adults feel that their work-life balance is out of check. Maintaining a healthy balance between home and work life seems to become more difficult as we get older, with statistics showing that the younger the employee, the less likely they are to identify work-life balance as an important part of their job. The task of juggling a family alongside a job is also difficult for many to manage with statistics revealing that 75% of working parents suffer stress and anxiety as a result of their work-life balance management.

The impact of working at full capacity can begin to take its toll on employees in the long run. Research found that as a person’s weekly hours increase, so do their feelings of unhappiness. Of course, this is no surprise. Even for those who don’t work long hours, there is still the issue of ‘switching off’ and disconnecting from what’s happen at the office. In fact, one third of European workers said that a bad day at work affected their personal life.

Also Read: 5 Tips for Employee Health Promotion

As work becomes more of a priority, employees can feel a sense of guilt towards spending time concentrating on anything which doesn’t involve their role. But, many of us feel as though there’s nothing we can do about it.

The wider European work-life balance

The situation in Western Europe contrasts that of the UK, and research has concluded that Britain has the worst work-life balance. So, what can we learn from our foreign neighbours?

Workers in other countries generally enjoy more free time outside of work, and this is reflect across Western Europe. In Belgium, employees have an average of 8.6 hours of free time per day compared to their 7.4-hour work days. And Netherlands are enjoying the shortest working week at only 30.3 hours. Denmark only spend 6.6 hours at work each day with 8.8 hours each day to spend how they wish, and Austrians are encouraged to start the weekend early with 3pm finishes implemented around the country. Many Germans are able to relax on a Sunday too, as stores are regulated so that they close on Sundays. All of these extra hours add up it seems, with Britons working 325 hours more per year than workers in Germany.

While the typical break entitlement in the UK is between half an hour to an hour. In European countries employees are encourage to take multiple breaks across the day. The Spanish are famous for their midday siestas. Which began as an effort to sleep through the hottest period of the day in warmer climates. Although new laws mean that shops have to remain open without a break for naps, some workers still follow the siesta tradition. Or, they take long coffee and lunch breaks with colleagues – something that is widely accepted by employers. Finland also take on the approach that long breaks are good for everyone. And their workers enjoy extra-long lunch breaks that are one to two hours long! If you visit Sweden on business. You’d probably be invite to join them for ‘fika’ – This is a late morning coffee. That offices pause to enjoy at around 11am.

Other European ways to promote a good work-life balance include:

• Belgians are able to take a full month off work to coincide with school breaks.
• Spanish workers have a holiday allowance of 30 days.
• France introduced a law in 2017 that gave workers the ‘right to disconnect’ from after-work emails.
• Swedish workers enjoy 16 months of paid family leave

How to take a step in the right direction

There are avenues for employees to pursue. If they are looking to improve their work-life balance. Which can be more feasible than provoking a change in regulations.

Some employers might find that allowing workers to split their breaks up across the day could prove beneficial. Research has showed that taking regular breaks can improve your productivity, and it therefore could be something that they will support. Split your hour break up into half an hour. And two 15-minute breaks to decrease the amount of time spent at your desk at one time. Get some fresh air or spend time talking to family on the phone. Taking a small action like this could reduce your stress levels.

With one study concluding that lengthy commutes can cause stress and depression, it is worthwhile to consider any adjustments that you could put in place to reduce the time spent travelling to and from work. This is one reason to propose flexi-time at your office. Where you can skip the traffic at each side of your day and do something more productive. Of course, this isn’t an option for everyone. You could make your commute feel more productive though. By listening to a podcast or audio book that can reduce the stress of rush-hour traffic. Alternatively, going to a gym class near to your work can mean. That you miss the bulk of the busy traffic. And allows you to fit some exercise into your day as well!

Also Read: Embracing the Travel mode, while not the Constant Travel

Realistically, your home should be a work-free zone outside of office hours. And you can enforce this by not checking your emails in the evening. Think of the long-term issues that mixing home. And work life can have and aim to check your emails only for ten minutes on an evening instead of an hour. This is the same for working overtime, unless entirely necessary. Make sure you are sticking to the number of hours that you’re contract to. This can not only affect your mental health but can lead to employers expecting this behaviour at all times.

Are you getting the most out of your holiday allowance? We’re all guilty of using our holidays to run errands or do something. That we’ve been putting off, but this isn’t always helpful for our work-life balance. Although we need to do this now and then, annual leave should be used to recuperate, relax and enjoy time away from the office so try to focus on this.

With the help of CT Shirts, retailers of mens dress shirts, we’ve found that the work-life balance of UK employees isn’t great. But, there are some small changes that you can make. From splitting up your break to making the most of your holidays. Being conscious of finding a good split between the office and spare time is the first step to improving your work-life balance.