Citation

Figueroa AJ, Díaz EM. Universum 2008; 23(1).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Chile holds the record for employees' working time, equivalent to more than 100 days per year above the developed countries. The possibilities of conflict between family and work are intensified by several factors such as women in the workforce, weakened socialization processes for children, rise in divorce rates, reduction of family size, rise on single-parent homes with women as head of their families, higher depression rates, higher indexes of work stress and suicide. As a tool for prevention and possible solution, the present work reviews the relevant psychological literature, which is mainly foreign. The implementation of organizational policies such as, schedule flexibility, days off, house chores assistance and better supervision practices, improve employee's well-being and work satisfaction. This improvement, expressed in lower levels of stress and more self-control over the work and family time assignation, also implies organizational benefits by reducing absenteeism and improving productivity levels. Organizational cultures with higher levels of formality and attention to hierarchy show less well-being and more difficulty to integrate work and family. Based on this evidence, reviewing public policies, applying the referred measures and researching appropriate solutions to the Chilean context constitute plausible options to improve the quality of live in the country. © 2008 Instituto de Estudios Humanísticos "Juan Ignacio Molina" Universidad de Talca.

Language: es

Keywords

Quality of life; Organizational policies and measures; Work-family equilibrium