Flexible Working Arrangements, Work Life Balance and Women in Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract-Structural changes in the economic transformation of Malaysia from an agricultural-based to an industrial-based economy after the 1970s, were accompanied by an increase in the employment of women. This resulted in two predominant trends: firstly, an increase in dual earner families and secondly, the number of female university students surpassed males. However, due to the difficulty of juggling work and home, there has been a low female labour force participation of less than 48 percent in recent years. Trying to reconcile the issue of work and home, many economists and policy makers argue that workplace flexibility could be a major tool to retain talent and women in the labour market. This study uses evidence from a primary survey conducted among 14 organisations in the services industry in the central business hub in Malaysia. Self-administered questionnaires were answered by women on their perception of the relationship between flexible working arrangements and work life balance. We conclude that flexible working arrangements are preferred by women who are more educated and earning a higher income while the MANOVA analysis shows that flexible working arrangements have the potential to achieve work life balance.Index Terms-Flexible working arrangements, Malaysian women, women and labour, workplace flexibility.

Relation of Work-life Balance to Counterproductive Work Behavior and Turnover Intention among Malaysian Employees

“…Despite the inconsistencies of past findings regarding WLB in terms of gender, this study revealed that there was no significant difference in the WLB level between male and female employees. This finding is consistent with Mas-Machuca (Subramaniam et al, 2015) indicating that gender does not differ in terms of WLB. The reason is that the managers are aware of the relevance of employee WLB, and the organizational culture, which recognizes the importance of WLB, also remains as one of the contributors to the said result.…”

“…This paper investigated the effect of a flexible working arrangement (FWA) on WLB; the results showed FWA did have an effect on WLB in a positive way. The study recommended attitudinal shifts on the part of employers and Malaysian society, as employers play a bigger role in ensuring WLB of employees (Subramaniam, Overton, & Maniam, 2015).…”

The effect of emotional intelligence on police officers’ work–life balance

“…Understanding the effect of work-life balance has on employee performance, organizations are implementing practices that have the potential to improve the work-life balance of their employees. For example, practices that increase work schedule satisfaction (Nelson and Tarpey, 2010), flexible work arrangements (Subramaniam et al, 2015;Tausig and Fenwick, 2001) and teleworking via a virtual office (EJ Hill et al, 1998). Indeed, all these factors have been found to be positively related to work-life balance.…”

Managing Stress through Work-Life Balance: A Study on Jinan Lebanon University Staff

“…Also, employees' expectations regarding the work environment focus on two types of factors. The first factor is related to the mission, its content incorporating tasks assigned to the position, the workload, and their level of autonomy at work (Subramaniam, Overton, & Maniam, 2015). The second factor is represented by human relations including the team spirit, recognition of the work done, and participation in decision-making.…”