ABSTRACT
Work-life balance (WLB) relates to working time fl exibility, support for childcare, and formal leave policies for parents and stands at the heart of changes in the nature and regulation of employment at all levels, within the workplace and beyond (Moen, 2011). In particular, its close relationship with the regulation of working time makes it a key issue for employment relations. Advocacy of WLB by employers (individually and collectively) and trade unions has been found to be effective in establishing workplace provision and infl uencing governments to take supportive measures (Hein, 2005). Such advocacy responds to employers’ interests by helping to increase employee engagement, reduce absenteeism, and retain skilled workers; it also fi ts unions’ need to recruit new members and promote an equality agenda: a triple agenda of supporting employee WLB, workplace effectiveness and social justice. Consequently, collective bargaining between employers and employee representatives has been actively promoted as a tool for innovation in WLB policy and practice (EU, 2008; Tiraboschi and Caragnano, 2013).
