A study on impact of work life balance in pandemic with

reference to Mumbai city

A project submitted to the University Of Mumbai for partial

completion of the degree of master in commerce
under the faculty of commerce

By

Mr. Prathamesh Shirish Gadgil

M.Com II (Sem III)

Roll no 117

(Management)

Under the guidance of

Dr. Kanchan .S. Fulmali

ML Dahanukar College of commerce

Dixit road, Vileparle (east), Mumbai-57

November 2021
 Declaration
I, the undersigned Mr. Prathamesh Shirish Gadgil here by, declare that the work
embodied in this project work titled “ A study on impact of work life balance in
pandemic with reference to Mumbai region”, forms my own contribution to the
research project carried out under the guidance of Dr.Kanchan S. Fulmali is a result
of my own research work and has not been previously submitted to any other
University for any other Degree/Diploma to this or any other university.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of others, it has been clearly
indicated as such and included in the References.

I, hereby declare that all information of this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Name and signature of the learner

Certified by Name and signature of the Guiding teacher

 Acknowledgement

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth

is so enormous.
I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh
dimensions in the completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me chance to do
this project.

I would like to thank my Principal, Dr.D.M.DOKE_ for providing the necessary

facilities required for completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank our coordinator Mr. Samrat Gangurde, for his moral
support and guidance.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide Dr. Kanchan
S. Fulmali whose guidance and care made the project successful

I would like to thank my College library, for having provided various reference books
and magazines related to my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly helped
me in the completion of the project especially my parents & peers who supported me
throughout my project.
 Index

Sr no. Title Page no

Chapter no 1 Introduction 1

Chapter no 2 Review of literature 25

Chapter no 3 Research Methodology 34

Work life balance in Mumbai Region during
Chapter no 4 Covid -19

Chapter no 5 Data interpretation, Presentation & analysis

Chapter no 6 Conclusions

Chapter no7 Bibliography

Chapter no 8 Annexures
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
According to Richard Hudson, work life balance may be defined “as a satisfactory
level of involvement or a fit among the multiple roles in a person’s life. It is a
common phenomenon today, that the employees experience interference between
work lives and family lives. Managing work life balance is one of the major
challenges for the organizations in the 21st century. Work life balance does not mean
an equal sharing of time between work and personal life .It is said that employees
achieve work life balance when they happily fulfill their personal lives and at the
same time that are accepted and respected at their work place.

Work- life balance is increasingly becoming significant for organizations .During the
ongoing covid 19 pandemic work life balance has become extremely difficult. Work
from home has impacted the efficiency, productivity of the employees. Also many
employees are facing mental ,physical challenges during lockdown. Work life balance
is a strategy to retain the employees in the organization. Therefore ,it is necessary that
organizations consider it as an important HRM function.

Work life balance is increasingly becoming more and more significant for the
organizations especially during the covid 19 pandemic situation. Many employers are
reluctant to get back their employees to offices due to getting infected .Also many
employees are not fully vaccinated also. This is also causing many employees to
continue to work from home and come only if there is any emergency.

Work life balance is increasingly become significant for the companies due to
reasons, such as:

1. More and more women are joining the workforce .Hence especially, the
working mothers find it difficult and challenging to balance their professional
lives and their personal or family lives.
2. In the global organizations , business operations are carried out
24*7.Hence,the employees have to work during odd working hours and
therefore it disturbs their family live as well as their work lives.
3. With the increasing cases of social disintegration like problems with spouses,
children or elderly parents, employees place greater emphasis on their
families, health and well being.
In the Covid 19 pandemic, people are giving more importance to their health
and their family as all were locked up in home during lockdown.
4. Due to disturbance in work life balance, companies are providing incentives to
their employees so that the productivity, growth, output of the employees
increases.
5. Companies need to spend a lot of money for giving them facilities but from
the prospective of the company it is more advantageous for them only.
because the company will grow, prosper only when the employees of the
company prosper.
6. Women are facing a lot of challenges because of managing work life diversity,
children’s online classes, managing the health of elder people if any one is
there in the house. Also doing the daily chores of the home and then working
for 8 hours is also difficult.
7. Due to work from home scenario, many people are facing mental health
issues.
8. People are facing many physical issues like obesity, diabetes and heart issues
because of the sudden changed circumstances.
9. Psychological/Mental health issues like stress ,anxiety ,depression,
hypertension, adjustment problems, relationship problems etc. have been on
the rise because of the pandemic.

Background of study:-
The Covid 19 pandemic that occurred in all parts of the world limited the
normal activities of people. In China it started from the month of December
2019 and slowly and steadily it spread in other areas of the world like US,
Eurozone etc. In India the first Covid 19 case came to notice in the month of
February 2020. The first case of Covid was found in Kerela. In Maharshtra the
first case of Covid was detected in March 2020 where travellers from UK,
China who had went there for studies .Then the International airport of
Mumbai started screening and testing all the passengers coming from abroad
to Mumbai . From 16th march local train services were stopped due to the
increasing Covid 19 patients. Due to this many people were forced to work
from home. Some people tried to use their own transport like cars, bikes but
the police were checking the vehicles on all major roads in the city as well as
the suburbs. They were stopping people those who were unnecessarily going
out and allowed only those people who were in the government sector,
essential services like banks, hospital staff, police,fire brigade, insurance
sector and other people those who had important or essential work. Mumbai’s
lifeline i.e the local trains were running only for essential service workers.
Tickets and passes were also not issued to the general public. Also wearing a
mask was made compulsory. The people who had come from abroad were
quarantined in hotels or home isolation and if symptoms of Covid were there
then there testing was done.
Work from home case for everyone was a very rare phenomenon for the
people as the Covid -19 pandemic had never occurred. After almost 100 years
i.e in 1921 a pandemic like Covid -19 had struck the entire globe. Work from
home became the new normal for the people of Mumbai city. Due to rising
Covid cases a lockdown of 21 days was imposed in the country from March
25.The first wave of Covid 19 made the entire country to a
standstill.Businesses shut down and many people lost jobs due to the first
lockdown.
The unemployment was at the peak due to lockdown. In this period many
people faced stress, burnout, depression, anxiety and other mental health
issues.
The working class had a tough time in managing their house and the additional
work from home. Mumbai is known as the city that never sleeps. Mumbai’s
lifestyle is very fast moving like a clock. Managing work life balance in this
city with such a pace is becoming difficult day by day. During the pre-covid
situation the problems of the salaried persons was not all good. Due to Covid-
19 situation also, the problem got even worst. The Coved -19 pandemic led
many companies and agencies to adopt work from home (WFH) policy for
their workers. Workers feel safe at home with their family at all times,
especially in uncertain situations. But on the other hand ,the busyness
increases because you have to do office and household work at the same time.
This can lead to conflict, whether work matters interfere with personal life ,or
vice versa. Maintaining a work life balance (WLB) is a challenge for workers
who work from home.
The coved 19 pandemic that occurred limited the activities of people. During
the pandemic government offices were also working with a 50%
capacity .Alternate day employees were given duty. Also banks were
functioning at a capacity of 50% capacity.50% of the bank staff was working
from home due to Covid -19 restrictions. According to Mungkasa (2020)
working from home provides the following benefits, a balance between work
and family life, reduce travel time to work and fuel saving, can control the
work schedule and work atmosphere, can choose to work when the mood is
good ,encourage employee morale, reduce laziness and absence, reduce
worker turnover, and strengthen the company’s image as a friendly workplace.
But working from home during a pandemic has shown no such benefit. All
family members who do all work from home actually pose challenges in the
responsibility of managing the family(Bhumika,2020).
In normal conditions ,work life balance is a benefit of working from
home ,during a pandemic it become a challenge to balance it. During work
from home, coordination between work and family demands is challenging
task for every worker. The presence of all family members at home during
working hours, parents with office jobs , and children who attend school ,from
home and have to be assisted by their parents add to the burden on workers.
When working from home, female workers who have dual roles as a
housewife tend to carry a heavier burden than men. When working from home
a mother is faced with household and work matters at the same time and place.
Apart from doing office work, mothers must be accompanying their children
to online school and prepare for other household needs. Unlike normal
conditions, during working hours the majority of family members are at work
or school so that their needs can be fulfilled in their places of activity. Female
workers can also in the office on a normal office schedule, which minimizes
disturbance from home.

Definitions
In the year 1993 Kofodimos defined work life balance as”a satisfying , healthy
and productive life that includes work ,play and love”
Work life balance ,in its broadest sense, is defined as a satisfactory level of
involvement or ‘fit’ between the multiple roles in a person’s life .
Although work life balance has traditionally been assumed to involve the
devotion of equal amounts of time to paid work and non-work roles ,more
recently the concept has been recognized as more complex and has been
developed to incorporate additional components.
1. Time balance , which concerns the amount of time given to work and non-
work roles.
2. Involvement balance ,meaning the level of psychological involvement in,or
commitment to, work and non-work roles.
3. Satisfaction balance or the level of satisfaction with work and non-work
roles.
We all play many roles: employee, boss, subordinate, spouse, parent, child,
sibling, friend and community member. Each of these roles imposes demands
on us that require time ,energy and commitment to fulfill. Work life conflict
occurs when these work and non-work life roles are incompatible in respect
so that participation in one role is made more difficult by participation of
another role. (Duxbury & Higgins, Oct 2001).
This model of work/life balance, with time, involvement and satisfaction
components, enables a broader and more inclusive picture to emerge. For
example, someone who works two days a week and spends the rest of the
week with his or her family may be unbalanced in terms of time i.e equal
measures of work life balance. Work life imbalance can also cause lot of
problems .Hence work life balance is important for a individual’s healthy
lifestyle. Someone who works 60 hours a week might be perceived as not
having a proper work life balance in terms of time. However like the person
who works only a few hours a week, this individual would also be
imbalanced in paid work(balanced satisfaction).Alternatively, someone who
works 36 hours a week ,doesn’t enjoy his or her job and spends the rest of the
time pursuing preferred outside activities or hobbies like singing, dancing,
cricket ,playing any instrument etc. the individual may be time balanced but
 unbalanced in terms of involvement and satisfaction. Thus, achieving balance
needs to be considered from multiple perspectives.

Features of work life balance :-

1. Know your values- Have some time in life for yourself, give importance to family,
have time for hobbies.

2. Practice time management- Time management is of utmost importance.

Make a diary and write down the things or to do list every day in your personal diary.
Take decision of which things to give priority and which not.

3. Set boundaries- Set limit on your time and set aside time for other activities.
Switch off the phone and limit your access of internet .Learn to say no to people.

4. Focus on health- Health is of utmost importance .Practice yoga for at least 15

mins. Go for a walk or take exercise. This will help to have mental health stability.
Regular exercise , yoga helps to reduce depression, stress level, anxiety. A 7-8 hours
of good sleep is recommended by medical professionals for a healthy life.

5. Have a down time-Rest periods are just as important to success since they
‘recharge your batteries’. Schedule regular time off for yourself each week to read a
book, play sport, spend time in nature or just do nothing. Choose any activity you
enjoy.

6. Build relationships:- Positive relationships and social support help built

resilience and help you cope with stress. Prioritise time with your family, friends,
neighbours or loved ones.

7. Enjoy your work-“Do what you love and love what you do”. While some work
can be stressful and monotonous ,if you really hate your job or it’s making life
impossible ,consider changing

8. Outsourcing:-Delegate or outsource time consuming work to other individuals. It

serves two purposes, first the work gets done and the other is person can focus on
other things which can align more with skills and knowledge and may be stressful. It
also helps grooming other employees.
9. Leaving out activities that waste time and energy:-Individual should judiciously
avoid wasteful activities which demand large time and energy and in return not
produce output for either the work life balance.

10. Providing childcare: This could be in the form of onsite childcare options or
discounts at nearby childcare centres.  If the stress of taking care of children or
worrying about them is removed, then the parents can focus on their work.  

Work-life balance is not an impossible dream.  With a little bit of sensitivity and
thought, a lot can be achieved towards this goal.

Brief history

Defining work life balance is not easy. Digital integration encourages an always on
culture blurring the line between work and personal life. Modern work life balance
may need to look beyond balancing time to balancing energy.

Its the late stages of the Industrial revolution and people are overworked. In the
United kingdom, it’s common for the average worker to work 14-16 hours a day, 6
days a week .These long hours had social and health costs, especially for young
people who were working. Labour reformers drew the attention of the UK
government and requested them to reduce the working hours .After so many
agitations, protests the UK government finally agreed for few hours for women and
children. Around the same time, the US begins tracking the hours worked by its
workers and discovers that, on average, its workers performed more than 100 hours a
week. These hours worked posed serious health and safety risks for the entire country.
On October 24, 1940 after decades of worker movements, the US officially amends
the Fair labour Standards act and adopts the 40 hour work week. This was the first
move in giving workers back more time.

The actual term work life balance first appeared in the U.K in the 80’s as a plank in
the Women’s liberation movement .The movement advocated for flexible schedules
and maternity leave for women. But while men were socially encumbered to pursue
their career goals without worrying about housekeeping, managing their small
children at home, working women were expected to work and responsibility for
housekeeping and family rearing. The idea that people would have to balance
between their professional lives and personal lives ,more flexibility in managing their
schedule ,and presumptively increase satisfaction from work and life became a key
concept in the late 20th century.

In 1986,the term work life balance was identified ,but it’s usage in everyday language
was still sporadic for a certain number of years .Although, interestingly work life
programs existed in the 1930,but people did not recognize it. Before the second war,
the W.K.Kellogg company some flexible work hours shifts for their employees who
replaced the traditional daily hours and the new shift resulted in increased employee
turnover .It helped the employee morale boosting. In 1977,Rosabeth Moss Kanter, for
the first time in his influential book ,Work and family in the United States: A Critical
Review and Agenda for Research and Policy ,raised the issue of Work life conflict
and brought it in front of organizations and researchers.

This concept gave importance to work life conflict to follow. But in 1980’s the
importance of work life balance acknowledged all over the world and many MNC
introduced the policies and measures to secure the rights of the workers and tried to
maintain a right balance in their culture. The first of these programs introduced were
mainly focused on working women and having children at home.

Now-a-days, many work life balances programs have been introduced which are less
gender specific and identify other obligations as well as those of family. By the mid of
the 1990s work-life balance became a fundamental issue for individuals and it became
a necessary part of the strategies of all the organizations all over the world. This
growing awareness of the central importance of the issue resulted in major growth in
attempted work-life solutions during this decade and many new studies and ideas
emerged. Work life balance is a very broader term in Human resource management.
During the last decade technological revolution has stormed all aspects of life and
there were different debates about the future of work. Different scenarios predicted a
rising trend in un-employment and economic insecurity. Industrial restructuring and
emergence of latest technology no only affected the importance of workforce but it
was also felt that employees will be treated as superfluous overheads.
During the 1960s and 1970s, employers considered work-life mainly an issue for
working mothers who struggled with the demands of their jobs and raising children.
Throughout this period and into the mid-1980s, the U. S. government had the major
impact in the field, as reflected by the Presidential Conference on Families, the
Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Quality of Employment Survey.

During the 1980’s ,recognizing the value and needs of their women contributors,
pioneering organizations such as Merck, IBM, Deloitee & Touche began to change
their internal work place policies. The changes include maternity leave, crèche
facility, work from home, flexible work hours, employee assistance programs,
counseling services, mentoring services. By the end of the decade, work life balance
was seen as more than just a women’s issue, affecting men, family, cultures,
organizations etc.

The 1990’s solidified the recognition of work life balance as a vital issue for
everyone-men, women, children, family. The 1990’s saw a rise in the working women
and men also .A second family configuration, the lone parent household also became
prevalent in the 1990s. Mothers who struggled with the demands of their jobs and
raising children. This growing awareness of the central importance of the issue
resulted in major growth in attempted work-life solutions during this decade.
Numerous studies showed that the generations from baby boomers to new college
graduates were making job choices based on their own work-life issues and
employers’ cultures.

Unfortunately, although companies were adopting family-friendly policies, employees

and managers were not implementing them. Many of the policies put into place in the
1980s failed to have a significant impact on most managers’ and employees’ real-
world work-life-balance results. Americans still reported feeling even more
overworked and out of touch with their non-work lives much of the time. (Duxbury
& Higgins, Oct 2001)

Arnold Deutsche, in his book entitled The Human Resource Revolution:

Communicate or Litigate noted that today’s “knowledge workers” hold work attitudes
that differ in many ways from those of the factory and production workers that
preceded them. Key differences include rising expectations for a more rewarding
career, more humane working experiences and a greater “democratization” of the
workplace. Today’s employees are more likely to want a career not “just a job” and a
meaningful life outside of work. Many have high expectations about gaining
satisfaction from their work now and in the future, and want a say in decisions
affecting their jobs and their employment. Researchers are also seeing a different set
of attitudes in individuals just entering the workplace.

-Photo-
 Definitions

Now-a-days the concept of Work life balance is not new, because of its importance it
has been discussed extensively. It has been conceptualized as an individual’s
orientation across various life roles and inter roles phenomenon. Different scholars
have all different opinions on how they perceive the concept of work-life balance.
Some of the important definitions are:

 Kofodimos has defined work life balance as ‘a satisfying, healthy and

productive life that includes work, play and love, that integrates a range of life
activities with attention to self and to personal and spiritual development and
that expresses a person’s unique wishes, interests and values’
 Kirchmeyer has viewed Work life balance as ‘achieving satisfying experiences
in all life domains and to do so require personal resources such as energy, time
and commitment to be well disturbed across domains’
 Clark views work life balance as ‘satisfaction and good functioning at work
and at home with a minimum of role conflict’
When defining work life balance , literature on this topic reveals a lack of
equality among the scholars that there is not a broadly accepted
definition(Kalliath &Brough,2008). Devi & Ravi (2013) noted that most
definitions suggest the need to give equal priority to work and life demands.
However, understanding work-life balance is the starting point for both
individuals- who need to manage their resources- and companies, because of
the need to implement programs enabling balance and therefore satisfying the
demands from their employees (Reiter, 2007).The definition of work life
balance has undergone several changes in the 90’s then 2000’s also. Work
style has also changed from several decades. Also authors and scholars have
defined the concept of work life balance based on the time frame and current
conditions. Most of the definitions of Work life balance share number of
common elements like all highlight the balance between work and non-work
domains and equality of inputs and outcomes.
On the other hand, work life conflict is a form of inter role conflict in which the
demands of work and family roles are incompatible in some respect so that
participation in one role is more difficult because of participation in the other
role’(Voydanoff,2004,p.399).In short ,work life balance is conflict between work and
family responsibilities.

Cambridge dictionary defines work life balance as the amount of time spend doing a
job, as compared to the amount of time spent with your family and on things you
enjoy. As defined by Forbes, work life balance is the most important elements of a
healthy work environment. The publication further describes work life balance as
essential to reducing stress and preventing burnout in the workplace.

Finally, Wikipedia defines work-life balance as the “lack of opposition between work
and other life roles.” The site further describes it as a “state of equilibrium in which
demands of personal life, professional life, and family life are equal.” Wikipedia goes
on to state that work-life balance consists of “flexible work arrangements that allow
employees to carry out other life programs and practices.”

What work life balance is not?

When defining what work life balance is, the question comes in the mind that what is
actually not the work life balance? The balance between work and life is rarely equal,
which most of the people strongly agree. Striving for a balance between both sides of
equation is essential of course. But trying to equate both the sides is difficult. It is
important to realize that there are no magic pills or one size fits all strategy.
Everyone’s perception towards work life balance is different.

In addition to this, circumstances change for everyone over time. Even if you feel you
have the perfect work life balance now, there is a high possibility that you will have to
make some adjustments.
 Why work-life balance is so important?

 Over the past few decades, there has been a greater increase in stiff
competition in the global markets and increasing pressure on employees. Over
the past decades, organizations expectations from the employees has
increased tremendously but the employees expectations like job security and
compensations in return is very little.
 For many employees today including both male and female their lives are
becoming more complex and difficult with an increased burden of family and
other responsibilities and interests. Therefore, to retain employees it is
necessary for organizations to recognize this balance.
 This increased pressure has affected the life of worker at an organization in
many ways. Some employees feel that there is only work and no life left while
working. Due to imbalance and difficult to adjust the work-life conflict
people are facing physical as well as psychological issues.
 Stress, burnout, heart problem, weak immune system, stiff muscles, back pain
are few of the reasons between it. Mental health problems like depression,
anxiety, OCD have increased tremendously.
 The sleep time has reduced and the screen time has increased due to work
overload, unsuitable working hours. Increased working hours means there will
be very less time to spend with family and community.
 Due to increased working hours the quality of work gets affected .The
efficiency of the employee reduces which indirectly affects the productivity of
the company. Also employee’s performance also degrades .If any employee is
not mentally satisfied or balanced, he will not be able to perform his duties
and responsibilities with due diligence and care.
 Also due to work overload the employees morale reduces and he needs
motivation This affects on the company’s revenue and the overall
performance. It has become an important issue as people deal with shrinking
work place and time pressure. It has become a hot topic because it’s about
improving people’s quality of life and aims to widen access to career
opportunities and paid employment.
 Work life initiatives offer a win-win situation to both employees and
employers and affect business progress and performance in many ways as
 improving work life balance practices increase productivity, employee well-
being, reduces costs, lead to improve retention and recruitment and better
motivation and morale for employees.
 Now, however things have changed slowly and steadily. Employees quality of
work-life has become a burning issue all over the world. For a human being,
home is like a shadow of heaven on the earth where the employee goes and
takes rest but due to imbalance structure between work and life it has become
an additional place of work with plenty of office tasks and assignment. Any
human being will be able to perform his duties and tasks with full dedication
only if the employee enjoys right work life balance.
 A balanced and happy employee is likely to perform better than the other
employees. A balanced and happy employee will be able to provide many
tangible benefits for any organization or business. There are new ways to
make work ‘Work’ that benefit both employers and employees. In fact ,
research shows that flexibility is a critical component of work place
effectiveness and that employees who work in flexible and effective work
places are more likely to :
a) Be engaged in their jobs and committed to helping the company succeed
b) Plan on staying with their employers
c) Be satisfied with their job, which translates to good customer service
d) Exhibit better mental health and well-being.

 A happy and well balanced employee will not only perform his daily operation
with utmost care but will also be able to avoid different complex social
problems. Work-life programs will not only help to boost employee’s morale,
reduce absenteeism, preventing the outflow of valuable information of the
organization in difficult economic situations but will also reduce the cost and
affect the overall performance of the company.
 It is very important for the human resource professional to understand the
critical issues of work-life balance. Be it employees whose family members
and/or friends are called to serve their country, mothers who are trying to raise
their children and make a living.
  Studies have shown that work force that is out of balance faces stress and the
relations with the employer also get bitter. It also a major reason for job
dissatisfaction which reduces family and work engagement.
 Work life balance issues are one of the main reasons for which people quit
their jobs. Large companies are more likely to give flexible work hours,
sabbatical leave, paid parental leave, paid maternity leave. Firm size also the
next best predictor of the presence of the work life balance policies. In short,
firms have recognized that creating a balance work and family life of
employees is the only solution of all the problems faced by the organizations.
Hence, now the top management has recognized the importance of work-life
programs .
 The senior management has become more proactive towards the employee
welfare, health and have started implementing work life policies in the
organization. Slowly other companies also are following the same suit of these
global organizations. Even small firms which are localized business have
known the importance of work-life and have started introducing them in their
firms also.

Importance of work life balance for employers

Many employees struggle to achieve the right balance between their work and their
personal life. But in doing so, some succeed but some don’t and increase their stress,
tensions in their lives. Some employees have a minimum expectation from their
employers that they help them to cope with a healthy balance between personal life
and work. A balanced culture/environment in any organization will not only be
helpful for the employees in various ways but also beneficial to the business. A
balanced environment/culture in any organization will provide many tangible benefits
to the organization. Employers can gain from these well-balanced employees as they
are a valuable asset in the company’s growth and development. Implementing work
life balance provides an excellent opportunity to consult with staff to review the job
design and develop innovative and supportive work practices . This sort of
consultation will ensure the needs of individuals are met and a more agile workplace
is achieved .It will also lead to a greater level of employee commitment to the
success of the organization. By minimizing the employees turnover in organization
you will not only boost your repute as a good employer but it will also help to achieve
the quality standard of products out prevent the outflow of valuable inside information
to other organizations because if skilled worker will leave the organization it will take
a hell lot of time and money to replace him some other suitable person. Some of the
strategies that employers can look for to get work life balance among their
employees–

A. Promote healthy lives

Prioritizing your worker’s health is an integral part of work-life balance. So long

working hours force employees to sacrifice fitness and health. Some big global
organizations have set up gyms and fitness centers in the premises of the organization.
Some companies have spa and massage centers also which take care of the physical
health. In countries like USA, employers care for their employees and these facilities
like paid gym memberships are given. In India also employers have recognized this
need.

B. Support Telecommuting

You can consider allowing your staff to work from home at least occasionally.
However, you might be bothered that your employees won’t be productive from
home, which is not true. So many companies around the world allow their employees
to telecommute, and they are reaping the rewards. Telecommuting can also be an
opportunity for employees to get things done at home that might have required your
workers to take a full day off of work. Employees can work while on maternity or
paternity leave, stay connected with their children, family. Along with the concept of
telecommuting the concept of telework is also gaining importance. To telework
means working from home or working from a remote location by using internet
telephones. For e.g- Working from a café like Starbucks where people work from
their laptops or can have important business meetings online. Over the past 20 years
this concept has become much more common .The term remote working is also called
as teleworking. The main advantages of telecommuting are :-
 The employee need not commute to the office place or warehouse or store. It
helps to save time of commuting, money and effort in travelling.
 The employee, worker can maintain healthy work life balance
 Such employees have reduced carbon footprints, as there is limited or no
travelling.
 Employees enjoy job satisfaction , become more productive in their job and also
become more loyal to the employers.
 The employee or worker can save office space of the employer, which can be
utilized for some other productive purposes.
 Such worker employee can work according to his own pace and get paid for the
services accordingly.

C. Embrace flexi time

Flexi time means allowing allowing your employees to have flexible working hours or
days. Flexi time is an excellent way to encourage work life conflict. The employers
can give their employees an hourly range of 35 to 40 hours a week and allow them to
space the time out. Flexi time like this will let your workers have a life outside office
and increase their productivity. One of the major benefits of flexi time is the cost to
the organization is minimal. Many organizations that have implemented it have found
that it has reduced employee absenteeism .It has also helped to reduce tardiness
among employees because employees can rearrange work hours to accommodate
family responsibilities.

D. Educate employees

Another way to promote healthy work life balance is to teach your employees
everything they need to know about work life balance .Offer seminars about work-
life balance , why it’s important and things they can achieve through it. You can host
a workshop on it. The employer can hire a professional to come and give the
presentation .Educating your employees about work life balance gives them the tools
they need to help themselves.

E. Implement short breaks

Short breaks during working hours helps to reduce fatigue .The body was not meant
to sit down on a chair and continuously stare at the screen for hours. The employers
must ensure that employees take breaks regularly that they are entitled to take by law.
Taking breaks at work allows employees to do their job better, less burned out, be
more focused, and more productive in the long-term. Short breaks are essential at
regular intervals during working hours for good mental and physical health. Taking
breaks helps employees to reduce stress and issues like burnout, be more focused and
more productive in the long term.

F. Lead by example

Finally, it is essential to practice what you preach. If you tell your employee to close
by 5pm each day, but you still send them emails when they got home, then it’s not
ideal. It is vital to lead by example and respect the working time as well as the privacy
of your employee when they are not in the office. It would help if you can avoid
contacting them outside of office hours to allow them to switch off, and recharge from
everyday work stress.

Gender differences in work life balance

Many differences are there between male and female work life balance. Female work
life balance differs from that of males as females have more responsibilities. Men
across the world struggle with achieving a work-family balance just as much as
women do, irrespective of the level of gender equality in their country, a study has
found it. Employees of all genders and backgrounds deserve to feel respected and
valued. But there are several hardships in the workplace that are specific to folks who
identify as female.

Here are just a few of the obstacles:-

 Sexism -Women still face absurd and frustrating challenges due to cultural
attitudes and stigmas. This sexism can lead to poor-perceived health, mental
health concerns, and the all-too-real glass ceiling.
  Lack of affordable care- Many folks aren’t able to go back to work after
having kids due to a lack of support or financial hardship. And that doesn’t
just impact their current earnings. An extended work absence can impact
future earnings and opportunities.
 Sexual harassment-The #MeToo# movement was sparked by the collective
experience of generations of women. It brought a spotlight to the issue, but
many female employees face abuse at work place.

Maintaining work life balance for women is so much difficult .A women

struggles to meet both the ends .Her struggles are endless. Maintaining work
life balance for women is like juggling a hundred things. She has to be a
professional at work and at home she has to play the role of a mother or a
daughter or wife depending on the situation. A women’s role has evolved to
become that of a provider plus care giver while men still continue to be the
provider in most households. Since women are equally sharing the earning
duty for the welfare of their families, the work-life balance of women
employees has become a major topic. Women are gaining employment and
continuing to work after marriage. In caring for small children and families, a
married woman bears more duty than a male. Working women, by their
commitment and perseverance, successfully overcome adverse situations.
Women's participation in income-generating activities allows them to meet
their domestic demands to a larger degree. The following are the factors that
affecting female employees:

 Women in a variety of roles

 Work place stress
 Taking care of children
 Work family conflict

Women’s role in Work life balance

Women are typically involved in full time job and have minimum 8 working hours
per day, 5 days per week and face tremendous work load. Today’s fast pace life has a
lot of expectations like talent, tact, expertise, caution etc. Women must balance high
job expectations, office commitments, tight meeting schedules, and life's duties and
responsibilities.

Women in high ranking positions are expected to be on time, cook, look after their
parents and children which puts a huge burden on them. It leads to stress which
impacts mental health .Working mothers are compelled to put their child in daycare or
care of the housekeeper.

Working women will feel some relief if there are grandparents to look after their
children. In many cases both the parents i.e. mother and the father are working and
not able to give time to their children .They put their child in day care or baby sitting.
In some companies however crèche facility is available. Although in India this
concept has not yet developed. Since women are equally sharing the earning duty for
the welfare of their families, the work-life balance of women employees has become a
major topic.

Women are gaining employment and continuing to work after marriage. In caring for
small children and families, a married woman bears more duty than a male. Working
women, by their commitment and perseverance, successfully overcome adverse
situations. Women's participation in income-generating activities allows them to meet
their domestic demands to a larger degree.

Organizations must implement human resource strategies and policies to address the
present corporate environment’s challenges related to women’s work life balance.

In every country around the world ,women(even full time) working women spend
more time than men on household responsibilities. The maternity benefit act 2017
makes crèche facility mandatory for every establishment employing 50 or more
employees(women employees would be permitted to visit crèche four times during
the day) including the rest intervals. The crèche facility can be availed to keep the
children below the age 6.

The Act says the facility must be within a distance comfortable for employees to pick
up, drop and nurse the child. Some of the crèche facilities has given benefits that is
reduction in stress levels, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, increased
loyalty to the work place, increased attachment to the work.

Many companies are also doing tie-ups with these day care centers in the office
premises or near the office places. A professionally-managed daycare facility might
be a small trade-off for an organization to retain its talent. Organizations provide
facilities and benefits regarding maternity.

Women employees are having paid maternity leaves and after childbirth facilities in
the organizations so that they can take care of themselves as well as their child during
this period.

Organizations should ensure to create a support group to link women planning

maternity leave with those who have recently returned from maternity. (University of
Reading) Organizations ensure a lighter workload for women returning from
maternity leave and help them to achieve a work-life balance and re-establish their
base. (University of Nottingham and University of Bristol).

Men prioritize their work for financial assistance, whereas women prioritize family.
Women abandon their careers at a stage where they have to raise children, as women
do the majority of domestic and childcare work. If organizations want to retain highly
skilled talent, they need to create a supportive working environment and provide
measures for women employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Most experts
believe that to reduce stress and improve work life balance should be management.

Women employee in India faces biasness because of their gender. They are
considered less productive because of their roles in the family. This conception is now
changing and management is taking steps to improve flexibility in work-life of a
women employee. Organizations can organize educational programs like on stress
management, time management. The organization can organize any guest session on
yoga and meditation programs.
 Burnout and work life balance

Employee burnout is negatively related to job satisfaction as it adversely affects well-

being ,job satisfaction, undesirable behavior at workplace ,cynical attitude resulting in
poor performance.

Burnout is caused by long-term involvement in highly stressful situations. Burnout

affects the employee as well as the organization adversely. From the organizational
perspective, the damage will be from the negative attitudinal aspects or from the
behavioral aspects of job performance of employee and eventual turnover.

Job burnout is mainly due to excessive stress .It’s emotional and physical exhaustion
which leads to loss of happiness. It also leads to job dissatisfaction. Burnout at your
workplace usually creeps in subtly, over time, impacting workers in a way that they
almost don’t notice.

Signs and symptoms include chronic fatigue, insomnia, physical symptoms like
headaches and stomach aches, anger, isolation, irritability, depression, and more.

Causes of burnout-

The symptoms of burnout are different for every person due to emotional quotient.
But some of the issues which are faced are as follows-

 A feeling of little control -Not being able to make decisions about your
schedule or workload can lead to job burnout.
 Being unsure about your expectations-If you don’t know what your
manager will expect of you, you’re likely going to be frustrated with your
work.
 A poor work culture-The attitude and morale of people around you will
directly impact your satisfaction with your job. A boss who micromanages
you, cliquey coworkers, and a lack of friends at your office can lead to job
burnout.
 A lack of work-life balance-If you’re giving a lot of your energy and time
to work, your personal life can suffer, which can lead you to resent time at
the office.
 High involvement with work can cause stress. Being over engaged can
lead to work overload and stress which in turn leads to burnout.

Effects of Job burnout:-

Physical effects:

 Headache.
 Increased likelihood of high blood pressure.
 Increased fatigue.
 Excessive stress
 Increased risk of heart disease
 Risk of any respiratory diseases

Mental health issues

 Depression
 Anger
 Anxiety
 Increased risk of getting mental health problems which can also lead to
hospitalization.

Personal Consequences

 Alcohol or addiction of harmful substances like gutka, pan masala,

cigarrates, tobacco
 Addiction to drugs
 Isolation with friends
 Irresponsibilty with finances
 Anger towards family members
  Inability to fulfill responsibilities

Professional Consequences

 Job dissatisfaction
 Inability to do job
 Drain on company resources
 Withdrawing from friends and colleagues.

Job burnout should be taken seriously and should not be ignored.

The issues that stress in the job create are strenuous and require attention to
correct, before it’s too late.

Job burnout prevention

 Exercise- Regular exercise can help to relieve stress .Exercise also helps to
boost emotional issue. Doing yoga also helps in this issue
 Balanced diet- Eating a healthy diet everyday can help to give the mood a
boost.
 Sleep time- A good sleep of at least 7 hours in a day is essential. Our body
requires time to reset and rest is required. Hence healthy sleep habits are
required for the well-being
 Talk to someone- A person facing burnout should not hide his feelings and
should speak to his family or friends so that he feels better. Sharing the
emotions will help to reduce stress and also he/she can ask for solutions to
get out of it. Also the employee can consult a counselor who can guide
him/her to come out of this difficult path.
 Burnout can be avoided by making self-care and a balanced diet. Try
going for a walk, talking with some friend, watching a good movie. Small
gestures can help and stop stress to turn into a bigger problem like burnout.
 CHAPTER -2- REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Dr. Indu Gautam and Dr.Sameeksha Jain (October 2018)

In this research paper “ A study on work life balance: challenges and solutions” the
researcher is evident that the issue of work life balance is persistent because of
various reasons such as work culture, employee package, HR policies, job insecurity
etc. Employee experience stress not only at the work place but also at the domestic
front also. Employee should set the goal and excel in both career as well as family life
to achieve balanced work life. In the past few years , personal and family lives have
become a critical issue for individuals. Employee is not willing to sacrifice his
personal and family life for the sake of work. Over the period of time, workforce has
begun to change the working hours which suits there convenience and willing to
spend every hour working to learn and to manage the challenges of modern lifestyle.
The study in this research paper also support the notion that work life balance has a
very strong impact on the families of the employees. Consequently, people are
looking for options that allow for both the personal and work balance, which seeks to
balance between the two. The study reflects that the employee –driven solutions for
balancing work-life ,will help organization to design and implement work life
policies. This would help to reduce stress, work overload on the work front and
increase the leisure time on the personal front of the employee. Organizations must
consider employee satisfaction and welfare as their top most priority .Organizations
should take the challenge of work life balance seriously, as it affects the growth and
productivity of the organization.

Nancy Verma Bhaskar,Dhiman Jatinder Kaur (November 2020)

In this research paper with the title “Work life balance approaches to improve
organizational performance” aims to study the association level of quality of work-
life and work –life balance concerning the nature of work environment .Due to
technological advances it has become possible for the employees to be connected at
all times, which has highlighted the issue of work life balance into the forefront of the
minds of many. In this Information technology era, productivity of the employees has
a direct impact on organizational performance .Employee satisfaction is important in
order to maintain a healthy workforce. Hence organizations should be able to cater to
their needs and fulfill them. But , building an organizational culture that supports
work life balance will take a long process especially for larger organizations. It
involves changing the way people think and talk about work life balance and their
work so that flexible working options and other work life programs become accepted
and normal for everyone regardless of gender, seniority within the organizational and
personal commitments.

Aditi Joshi And Shivani Gour

The title of this research paper is “A study of work life balance during Covid
19.”Work from home has been advantageous for the employees especially when the
researcher took this survey during the global covid19 pandemic situation. But on the
other side of it, employees who are working from home do face a big problem such as
‘keeping a regular schedule is the main problem’, according to the survey conducted
by the researcher. The result of this survey tell that only less than 35% of respondents
feel that they are not able to balance their work life while working from home .Also
more than 75% respondents of different industries feel either optimistic or about the
same with reference to working from home. There are less than 25% respondents who
feel pessimistic about working from home.

This research shows that dissatisfaction takes place in the minds of employees
because of keeping a regular schedule ,working for more than prescribed hours and
time consuming household chores.

Ms. Sarit Sambit Parida (2016)

From this research paper with the title “Work life balance practices in India” the
researcher concludes that the Indian government has provided very low work life
balance policies for the employees working in different sectors. The Indian
government needs to revise its policies from time to time so that employees will be
able to get benefits out of it. Many private sector industries are adapting new policies
for their employee’s benefits. But there is a long way to go for both the private and
the public sector in this field to provide their employees a healthy work life balance
policies.

P.Suhasini (February 2019)

The topic of this research paper is “A study of personality traits and its influence
on work life balance”. This study brings focus that there are a lot of traits which
have a greater impact in managing work life balance. Hence managers should pay
attention to these details and create awareness and counsel employees in handling the
pressures while balancing their work life.

Monika Maan (October 2020)

From the researcher point of view the worker work life is imbalanced and there are
little loop holes from respondents fulfillment to work place.The title of the research is
“Study on work life balance and need for young professionals”(International
Journal of Science,Engineering,Management)

Work life balance programs offer a win situation for managers and agents. While the
laborer may see work life balance as the issue of directing work responsibilities and
non-work commitments, work life balance from the business point of view . From the
business , work life exercises make positive supervisor stamping, advance being a
business a choice ,support legitimate citizenship, and reinforce grouped assortment
exercises. For the labourer, there is lesser weight, extended joy ,motivation, and
benefit ,and a predominant chance of reaching both individuals and occupation targets
adequately.

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

In this book “21 keys to work/life balance”, which is written by Michael Thomas
Sunnarborg in the year 2013, the author hopes to help readers and unlock their full
potential and find better work/life balance. In this book, the author has highlighted the
guiding principles that had the largest impact on the author’s ability to balance his
work and personal life. In this book the author states that balance is a natural state.
Returning to better balance means removing barriers to balance within us, many of
them created by our own thoughts and behavior.

David J .McNeff

In this book with the title “The work life balance myth: Rethinking your optimal
balance for success” shows how to shed the myth of work life balance . This book
was published in February 2021 by McGraw-Hill Education. The author has
merged the seven key components that make your life to attain harmony and whole –
life success. The seven components, family, professional life, personal life, physical
behavior, intellectual behavior, emotional sentiment and spirituality need to be served
in some fashion and while serving these, they in turn serve us.

‘Work life balance in times of recession, austerity and beyond’

This book published in the year 2016 published by Taylor & Francis , focuses on the
challenges for work life balance and related policies when government are following
austerity policies. Austerity refers to government spending cuts to reduce budget
deficits ,following a period of recession or poor economic performance. Many
economists and scholars have opined that austerity is the only solution that the
national economies can recover from the ongoing impact of the 2008 financial crash.
The impact of austerity on work life balance is examined by the authors through a
triple agenda which focuses on three important outcomes: individual wlb and well-
being, work place effectiveness and social justice.

In this book the authors have concluded that workers will have good work life balance
and fewer health problems if they work part time and adjust their working time rather
than having working hours set by the employer. During the period of recession
governments and employers considered work life balance measures as non-essential
cost rather than an investment. Due to recession and austerity, the expenditure on
public infrastructure has reduced . The authors have found out that the work-time
arrangements for the elder workers to care for the frail, elderly relatives has gained
importance but unlike the childcare it lacks political will and momentum. The authors
in this book have found that currently,13% Europeans aged 50 to 64 yrs care for an
elderly relative or disabled family member. Due to recession both men and women’s
capability to use work-time options have reduced though in principle they are open to
them.

Furthermore, the authors state that in order to build work life balance in the recovery
stage of the economy, policies need to be designed in the way the workers will get a
genuine sense of support .Innovative personnel practices and work systems created by
line managers need to be rewarded for enchancing the quality of Work life balance for
their team.

Work-life balance challenges for Indian employees: socio cultural

implications and strategies.

This research article by Atasi Mohanty and Latatendu kesari Jena was published in
the journal of human resource and sustainability studies. The debate on work life
integration requires understanding that work life options are available. While building
a organizational culture ,work life balance practices are seen as employee friendly and
socially desirable for a progressive organization. When people talk about work life
balance they accept the work life initiatives and flexi-work options irrespective of any
gender, seniority. Such practices which support and are accepted regardless of gender,
seniority must be considered by the HR department and other strategic interventions
in the future. However, the researcher says that more data is required in this to
formulate human resource strategies for Indian professional in job setups for better
work life balance.

The new normal work life balance –Dwayne Anderson

This book “The new normal work life balance” written by the author Dwayne
Anderson was published in 2021. During the Covid- 19 pandemic, the new normal
work life was work from home . The author has explained ways to redefine the work
life balance in covid19 pandemic and the ways to prioritize mental health and achieve
work life balance. Also remote working in the pandemic environment is explained in
this book. Some fortunate enough to remain employed had to adopt to the new routine
then some others who lost their job due to covid 19 as many businesses shut down and
some went for major retrenchment. According to the Harvard Business review, some
$190 billion is spent on employees facing burnout. Many wonder if employees work
from home then they must have better work life balance. But it is not the truth as work
life balance is highly affected due to work from home model and “the new normal”.

Though work from home has become a blessing but there are some drawbacks also
like skewed work life balance as one of the reason. The author has also specially
mentioned about work life balance for working parents. The author has given advice
that the working parents should think of the commuting time from their house to
office. The author suggests it should not be more than a hour and the author suggests
that the daycare should be close to the work place. If the day care centre is nearby
then the parents either father or mother will be able to meet their children in the break
and can take them to home after the working hours in the evening. In the night
durning dinner the author feels if the parents can give extra time then it will be
enormously beneficial as they grow.

Sangeeta Bhatnagar and PK Jain

This research was on “Management of work life balance with special reference to
IT professionals in metro cities.” The main objective of the research was to identify
the demographic profile of the employees in the IT sector. The sample size was 100
respondents which were taken through convenience sampling. The data was collected
from 5 IT companies in the delhi ncr region.A mail based survey was used as the
employees were very busy.Chi square method was used for testing hypothesis . From
the data collected the perception of the respondents concluded that work life and
personal life is also important. In this research the authors found from the data
collected through respondents that 86% people believed in work life balance and 46%
believed that it was the employer’s responsibility. The research showed that if work
life balance is not improved then it leads to absenteeism,poor performance,frequent
sick leaves. This study concluded that employees need flexible working hours and
employees also feel separate policies should be developed further .
The burnout epidemic : The rise of chronic stress and how we can fix
it :

This book was published by the publisher Harvard Business Review Press in the
year September 2021.It was written by Jennifer Moss. In the covid 19 pandemic the
problem of burnout over the whole world has increased. While finding a way out of
this people feel burnout is a problem which can be solved with self care i.e by doing
yoga,meditation, breathing exercises. But organizations also are responsible and
should frame anti burnout strategy that is over and above any wellness programs or
incentives to employees. In this book the causes of burnout and how organizations can
stop the chronic stress cycle is revealed . This book explains the reasons behind
failure of traditional wellness programmmes and their demerits and how companies
should frame a antiburnout policy which is not based on just any incentives. The
author has also explained in which way leaders can measure the level of burnout
based on some parameters like stress, mental health, detachment from the job in their
own organizations. Also, advices to leaders on how they can build a healthy culture
that gives priority to resilence and curiosity is mentioned here. The stress causes $1
trillion loss to the global annual productivity cites the author. Burnout is not an
individual issue and it is a organizational problem mainly . Some people are at high
risk of burnout such as neuroticism, introvert personality or some times
perfectionalist also. A effective strategy for burnout will let employees take a day off
or if the employers ,senior managers can push back the deadlines a little then the
junior employees will grow and flourish. If the company wants to flourish then first
the employees must flourish. The author believes in encouragement and suggests that
the employees should be helped to pursue curiosity and the employers should not stop
them.

Jose Fimbrez

This book focuses on working parents and tips for parenting while working. This
book was published by Amazon publishing in April 2021. The Title of this book is
“Work life balance for working parents-The hidden barriers holding you back
from lasting connection:The cultural reasons burnout persists.”Working parents
gets exhausted while raising their children,meeting deadlines at work especially if
they are at a senior post,living a helthy life,going for a vacation and if time is left
having their personal life i.e time for self. They have to do all things with all the
people around and in a balanced manner is itself work life balance. Work life balance
depends on your work the postion you are currently working and family
responsibilities are there. These factors if changed will also change the lifestyle and
the work life balance. If the employee is promoted to the higher post then his
responsibility and work load also increases.Similarly working parents need to take
care of their elder parents as well as they manage their children. The alternative to
out-of-date “work life balance” ideals is also explained . The reasons behind burnout
despite trying proven strategies and struggle behind it is mentioned.

Julie Haddock-Millar & Eliot Tom

This another classic book “Coaching & Mentoring for work life balance” which
was published in July 2019 by the publishers Taylor & Francis. Nowadays the
coaching and mentoring professionals are facing a lot of challenges while dealing
with their clients.The major barrier faced by them is in helping clients cope with life’s
complexities and their demands.The elements in work life balance like social
life ,leisure are interconnected and keep on changing continuously .Hence rebalancing
is also necessary on a regular basis. This book deals with real life case studies and
illustrations which help coaches and mentors in guiding the clients to achieve work-
life balance. The author provides way to experts involved in
coaching,mentoring,leadership to develop resilence and the issues of work life
tensions of the clients .

A study was conducted by research firm Censuswide under the title “ Linkedin”
future of work on hybrid model and work life balance in pandemic .The work lives of
many people has drastically changed in the the covid pandemic. A hybrid work model
allows some employees to work remotely and some on the workplaces. Hybrid work
model has variations like some employees may work remotely on some days in a
week and on site working on other days in the week. In this study they surveyed 1108
respondents in the age of 16 to 68 in the pandemic who worked from home.
According to the study , 86% of Indian professionals felt that hybrid model is helpful
to have a proper balance in work and personal life. But nearly 46% of the India’ s
workforce now wants to return back to office as the pandemic 2 nd wave reduces and
vaccinations has picked up with many employees vaccinated with atleast one dose.
This doesn’t mean that work- from- home didn’t work. 93% people felt that it
improved their health by eating take away food then in working in office where 58%
people responded in favour. Due to exercising 51% people said they improved their
physical health.Ashutosh Gupta , India Country manager,Linkedin, says remote work
has stressed and lead to fatigue among professionals. This has led to Talent reshuffle.
Organizations are rethinking on work models, culture. We encourage companies to
explore flexible offerings and more mental health time off”. (Times of India, Ketaki
Desai, dated 14th September 2021)
 CHAPTER 3- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Significance of the study:

The present research is being taken with the title “ A Study the impact of work life
balance on pandemic with reference to Mumbai region.”

 From this study we will get to know the relation of stress and work life
balance and how the Covid -19 pandemic created an imbalance in the work
life conflict. Work life balance was an important topic before pandemic
but in the Covid -19 pandemic it become a burning issue.
Work from home which was totally a different concept in every
individual’s life in the covid-19 pandemic also played a major role in the
imbalance of work life conflict.
 This study is helpful to study impact of work life balance on the overall
individual performance of the employee .
 This study will help to understand overall productivity of the
organizations impacted in Covid-19 pandemic
 This study will help us to know the effects of burnout on work life balance
in covid-19 pandemic.
 The challenges faced by individuals and overall impact on job satisfaction
is the important topic to be known through this study.
Objectives of the study:

The present study is undertaken with the following objectives:-

1. To find out the relation between Work from home and Covid -19
pandemic.
2. To find out the problems faced by individuals to balance work life conflict
during Covid -19 pandemic.
3. To examine the reasons behind work life imbalance.
4. To provide suggestions/recommendations.

Hypothesis:

HO: There is no significant effect of Covid -19 pandemic on the work life
balance.

H1: There is a significant effect of Covid -19 pandemic on work life balance.

Data collection:

Primary data is collected in the form of surveys done through Questionnaire from
working people living in Mumbai.

Secondary data is collected through websites on internet, books, newspaper

articles, magazines, journals.

Sample size:
 Sample size taken is 64 respondents which are currently working in Mumbai
region.
Limitations of the study:

 Time constraint.
 Many people ignored the survey and didn’t respond which is the reason
the number of respondents is less.
Chapter 4- Work life balance in Mumbai Region during Covid -19

Work has to be organized along life, as life is assumed about family activities,
mystical developments, pleasure and leisureliness, while work is supposed for a
person‘s aspiration and professional responsibilities. When people need to split their
time in these two important and vital elements of our living, they have to build a
balance between them. Priorities should be set according to age, family status,
profession, living standard and ambition which make a balance in life and work in
comfortable manner.

In recent years, work–life balance has become a keyword for balancing working time
and free time. Many changes in the workplace and in employee demographics in the
past few decades have led to an increased concern for understanding the boundary and
the interaction between employee, work and non–work lives (Hochschild 1997; and
Hayman 2005) In particular, TIME is a crucial resource for balancing work and life,
because it can be allocated to either work or free time In India, work-life balance is
seen as a luxury issue for growing middle class of professional workers and economic
development is perceived as more urgent than social wellbeing and people issues. In
industries like IT, BPO and Service sectors the pressures and work intensity rivals
anything in the US and UK. Commuting distances and time spent travelling to work is
clearly increased within recent decades along with increased costs to workers,
organizations and to the environment. There is strong evidence that people perceive
that working long hours leads to poor work-life balance.

Let’s take the case of women in IT sector. More and more women are joining the
workforce and dual career couples are becoming increasingly common. The
professional employed at various levels in IT sector undergo various changing issues
in terms of organizational policy and individual commitment. The growing
competition among various companies in this sector, the job shift, recent economic
slowdown, and the market rehabilitation strategies adopted by the companies want the
employees of IT sector to contribute more at work places irrespective of time
schedule in the form of job expansion, work load enrichment and customer
satisfaction. Due to these changes the WLB of IT employees deviates and leads to
mismanagement of various overlapping factors among individuals in terms of work,
family, social, development and personal. The result of poor WLB leads to ineffective
work culture at organizational level. The ineffective work culture affects the
individual organizational relationship, individual family and social relationship.

There also continues to be a gap in salary between men and women, as sabbaticals
post marriage and child birth tend to take a toll on their career, placing them on the
back foot in terms of pay parity.

Before the Covid- 19 pandemic struck, Work from home policy was not much
popular. In India also work from home was not evident in the pre –covid time. Before
the Covid- 19 pandemic, a common objection to remote working was the suspicion
that staff would disengage and productivity would reduce. The concept of remote
working, hybrid working was not known to anybody at all. Work from home and
hybrid mode of working is now considered as the new normal in the Covid -19
pandemic. In Mumbai region, before pandemic, managing work life balance was very
tough.

In normal conditions, work life balance is a benefit of working from home during a
pandemic it became a challenge to balance it. During work from home, coordination
between work and family demands is a challenging task for every worker. The
presence of all family members at home during working hours, parent with office jobs
and children who attend online school from home and have to be assisted by their
parents add to the burden of the workers. Also, there were limited modes of transport
available to people who had to attend office like essential services. Local train
services were not available to the general public and only to government employees
providing essential services like medical staff, BMC staff, BEST staff, Firemen etc.

When it comes to handling work life balance in normal conditions, both genders have
different ways of doing it. Regardless of their employment status, women are still
mainly responsible for household chores and many of them consequently continue to
face challenges in the work life balance.

Men tend to achieve high job satisfaction and performance in the work place because
they can establish a clear boundary between work and family as important and try to
get things done together.
Positive impact of working from home durong the Pandemic Covid -19

Some women have found the new routine quite welcoming. In normal conditions,
people in metro cities spend around 2-3 hours travelling to and fro from work place.
Work from home during the pandemic has cut down the travel time. Also, the work
place environment induces a lot of stress and work pressure. It leads to development
of different physical and mental health conditions like spondylitis (because of long
hours of work and sitting in one position), anxiety issues, stress, digestion problems,
heart issues etc.

Work from home during the pandemic has allowed women and men to spend more
time with their families, to take equal part in managing household responsibilities.
Spending more time with parents, children has fostered and improved relations
according to many studies and surveys conducted during the pandemic. People have
also leant to divide responsibilities and take equal part in managing household chores
and work, taking care of children and older adults at home.
 Chapter 5- Data Interpretation & Presentation

Following questions were asked to employees residing in Mumbai region .The total
responses taken were 64.

1. Age

Age

19%

20-30 yrs
8% 45% 31-40 yrs
41-50 yrs
51-60 yrs

28%

Among the respondents chosen, 45% were from the young population i.e. from the
age group of 20 to 30 years. 28% working employees were between the age group of
31-40 years. Only 8% people were in the age group of 41-50 years.19% of the total
respondents were in the age group of 51-60 years.
2. Gender

Gender

22%
Male
78% Female

Out of 64 responses collected for the study ,78% were male and 22 % were female.
3. Which sector you are working in?

6%

27%
17%
HR/admin
IT
Finance
Education
Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing
6%
Government employee
Others
2%

11% 31%

Interpretation

From the above diagram, out of the total responses collected 31% of the respondents
are from the finance sector. 27% of the total respondents were from the sectors not
mentioned above i.e. other sector . From the IT sector 17% responses were collected
out of the total. 11% responses were from the education sector. From the
manufacturing sector 6% responded. Also from HR or Administration sector only 6%
respondents were there. From Pharmaceutical sector only 2% of responses were
collected. From the above pie diagram there was no government employee.
4. How many days you work in a week?

No. of working days in a week

13%

5 days
6 days
7 days
52%

36%

Interpretation

In the above diagram, out of 64 respondents, 52% of the respondents work for 5 days.
36% respondents work for 6 days in a week. 12% of the remaining work for 7 days in
a week. From this diagram it can be seen that more people are working on week days
and have weekend off. Very few respondents 12% work all the days and don’t have a
holiday.36% respondents have one day off in the week.

5. How many hours you work in the day?

 No of working hours
16% 3%
28%
7-8 hrs
8-9 hrs
9-10 hrs
10-12hrs
more than 12 hrs
25%

28%

Interpretation

In the above diagram, from the total 64 responses collected 28% respondents are
working between 7 to 8 hours in a day. 28% respondents are currently working
between 8 to 9 hours in a day. 25% of the total respondents work between 9-10 hours
a day. Respondents wotking more than 10 hours i.e between 10-12 hours every day
are 16% of the total .Only 3% people work more than 12 hours a day which seems
they work in 2 shifts .

6. Are you aware about the importance of work life balance?

 8%

Aware
Not at all aware

92%

Interpretation

From the above figure, it is observed that 92 % of the total respondents are aware
about the concept of work life balance. Only 8% of the total respondents don’t know
the importance of work life balance. This diagram clearly shows that majority of
working population taken out of the total responses knows the importance of work life
balance.Very few are unaware about the need of work life balance.

7. How do you feel when working from home?

 5%
8%

23%
Very satisfied
25%
Satisfied

Neutral

Dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied
39%

Interpretation

From the diagram , 8% of the total respondents were very satisfied with the work
from home . 25% working population was satisfied while working from home
scenario. 39% working class were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied i.e neutral during
work from home in Covid -19 pandemic. 23% of the total respondents though were
dissatisfied while working from home. Only 5% of the respondents were very
dissatisfied when working from home.Thus this shows
8. Do you have all the equipment which are required for working
from home?

34%

Yes No

66%

Interpretation

In this above question which was asked regarding equipment like laptop, Internet
connectivity, Wi fi facility , desktop etc. 66% of the total had all the required
equipments given by their organization for working from home. But 34% respondents
didn’t have any equipment while working from home.This data interpretation shows
that majority of the employees working in home have laptops, internet
connectivity,desktops, either given by their organization or managed by themselves.
9. How difficult is it for you to manage house work and office work in
Covid -19 pandemic?

5%
11%

19% Not difficult

Difficult
33% Neutral
Less difficult
33% Very difficult

Interpretation

From this diagram , 33% employees feel difficult when managing both house work
and office work in the pandemic. Simultaneously 33% gave a neutral response in
managing office work and house work simultaneously. 19% felt that it is less difficult
in managing house work and office work.11% felt that not at all difficult in managing
work and life . Only 4% felt very difficult in dealing with house work and office
work . This shows that the Covid -19 pandemic was difficult for majority of the
working class in dealing with work or office work and household work.
10. Do you feel stressed out due to work from home in covid19
pandemic?

44%
Yes No

56%

Interpretation

In this diagram, 56% of the work class feels that it was very stressful while working
from home in covid19 pandemic.44% felt that there was no stress in working from
home than in office. This clearly shows that work from home had increased the stress
due to lockdown and Covid -19 pandemic.Already people had stress in life but covid-
19 pandemic and work from home increased it more.
11. On a scale of 1 to 5 , rate your stress level, 5 being highest and 1
being lowest level

45.00%

40.00%

35.00%

30.00%

25.00% 40%
% of respondents

20.00%
25%
15.00% 22%
% of responses
10.00%

5.00% 9%
3%
0.00%
1 2 3 4 5

Level of stress ,1 is lowest and 5 is highest

Interpretation

From the above bar diagram, X axis represents the stress level from 1 to 5, Y axis
represents the percentage of respondents for every stress level from the total 64
responses taken.Only 3.1% people have stress level 1 which is the lowest level of
stress.22% people experienced stress level of 2. 40% people experienced medium
level of stress i.e stress level 3 . The number of people having stress level as 4 are
25%. Stress level 5 is the very high level of stress. 9% people have said that they
experienced stress level 5. The data above shows that above stress level 3,people are
more as compared to the first two levels of stress.
12. For how many hours you sleep in a day?

No. of hours sleep

2%
20%
6 hrs
33%
7hrs
45% 8 hrs

more than 8 hrs

Interpretation

According to above diagram, it is known that 33% of the total respondents have a
sleep of 6 hours every day. 45% of the responses said they take a sleep of 7 hours
every day.20% responses have said that they sleep for 8 hours a day. Lastly only 2%
respondents sleep for more than 8 hours a day.

13. How often do you get involved in any recreational activities?

 No of responses

2%
8%
14%
Often Sometimes
Always Rarely
16% Never
61%

Interpretation

From the above diagram, employees sometimes get themselves involved in the
recreational activities which gave their opinion as 61%.16% respondents gave their
opinion as they always are involved in recreational activities even while managing
work. For 14% respondents rarely did recreational thing .8% said that they often took
time for any recreational things. Lastly only 1% gave the opinion that never had time
for atleast one of the recreational things.

Thus, from this we can analyze that only few people didn’t engage in any recreational
activities like walking, swimming, dance, singing or any other hobby. Maximum
respondents gave time for some or the other recreational things.

14. What all household activities you do in the Covid -19 pandemic?
(More than 1 option was allowed to be selected)
 Any other work 22

Washing clothes 12
Type of work

Cooking 22

Cleaning and dusting house 21

Cleaning utensils 23

No of responses

Interpretation

Out of 64 respondents most people have more than 1 type of house chores to do at
home. For only this question multiple responses could be selected. 23 individuals had
cleaning utensils at home. 21 individual had cleaning and dusting work at home.22
individuals gave cooking as the option as the household work .22 individuals said
they had any other work at home.
15. Do you feel you are not able to balance work life while working
from home?

11%
19%

Often Sometimes

13% Always Rarely

Never

47%
11%

Interpretation

From the above diagram regarding the feeling of imbalance in work-life while
working from home, 47% respondents said they sometimes felt that.19% said that
they never felt work life imbalance.12% said that they never felt like work life
imbalance when they worked from home.11% said that they often felt work life
imbalance .Also the equal number of people i.e 11% said that always felt like a
imbalance while working from home. This shows that maximum individuals are
getting difficulty in managing household work as well as work from home

16. Do you attend office calls after office hours?

 30%

Yes No

70%

Interpretation

From the above diagram, 70% individuals said that they receive calls of office even
after office hours. Rest 30% individuals said they don’t receive office calls after
office hours .

17. Is there job satisfaction in the organization you are working?

 30%

Yes No
70%

Interpretation

From the above pie chart it can be seen that 70% out of the total 64 respondents are
saying that there is a job satisfaction in the organization they are working.The
remaining 30% of the total respondents are not satisfied with their job and the
organization they are currently working in.

18. Any special counseling /mentoring or support programme taken

by your organization?
 31%

Yes No

69%

Interpretation

From the above diagram, out of the the total respondents 69% of the respondents say
that they don’t have any special counselling/mentoring support programme taken by
their organization. But 31% have said they got mentoring/counselling support from
their organizations . This shows that very few organizations practice work-life balance
policy/special benefits.

19. Does your organization have a separate work life policy?

 34%

Yes No
66%

Interpretation

From the pie chart, 66% of the total respondents have said that they don’t have any
special work life balance incentive/policy in their organization.Only 34% have said
that their organization has separate work life balance policy .This suggests that
organization need to frame effective work life balance policies.

Chapter 6- Conclusions & suggestions

This research study aims to the study the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on work
life balance of working population in Mumbai. The study is showing mixed results.
Out of the 64 respondents 39.1% have a neutral attitude towards work from
home.25% of the total respondents were satisfied with work from home. But almost
an equal percentage i.e 23.1% of individuals were dissatisfied with work from home.

An equal percentage i.e 32.8% of individuals found it neutral to difficult to manage

work and house chores.47% individuals felt difficult to manage work life balance
during Covid-19 pandemic. As large as 61% individuals sometimes engaged in any
recreational activities. This finding is one of the important factors suggesting a
imbalance in work life balance during the pandemic.

39.1% individuals had moderate level of stress which shows that individuals felt
burnout in covid-19 while working. 70.3% of the total individuals have to attend
office calls from clients, employers even after office hours which show that the
individuals don’t get their personal time.

Chapter-7- Bibliography

Websites

1. www.kumanu.com
2. www.mbaknol.com
 3. www.adp.com

Research papers referred-

Ms Sarit Sambit Parida (2016) “Work life balance practices in India”

Sangeeta Bhatnagar and PK Jain- “ Management of work life balance with special
reference to IT professionals in metro cities”

Dr. Indu Gautam and Dr.Sameeksha Jain (October 2018)- “A study on work life
balance : challenges and solutions”

Nancy Verma Bhaskar,Dhiman Jatinder Kaur (November 2020)- “Work life balance
approaches to improve organizational performance”

P.Suhasini (February 2019) “A study of personality traits and its influence on work
life balance”.

Aditi Joshi and Shivani Gour – “A study of work life balance during Covid -19.”
(2021)

Monika Mann-“A Study on work life balance and need for young professionals”-
(October 2020)-International Journal of Science,Engineering and Management.

Chapter -8- Annexures

1. Name(optional)
2. Age*
 20-30 yrs.
  31-40 yrs.
 41-50yrs
 51-60yrs
3. Gender*
 Male
 Female
4. Which sector you are working in?*
 HR/Admin
 IT
 Finance
 Education
 Pharmaceutical
 Manufacturing
 Government employee
 Others
5. How many days you work in a week?*
 5 days
 6 days
 7 days
6. How many working hours you work in a day?*
 7-8 hrs.
 8-9 hrs.
 9-10 hrs.
 10-12 hrs.
 More than 12 hrs.
7. Are you aware of the importance of work life balance?*
 Yes
 No
8. How do you feel when working from home?*
 Very satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
  Dissatisfied
 Very dissatisfied
9. Do you have all the equipments required for work from home?*
 Yes
 No
10. How difficult is it for you to manage house work and office work in the
pandemic?*
 Not difficult
 Difficult
 Neutral
 Less difficult
 Very difficult
11. Do you feel stressed out due to work from home in covid-19 pandemic?*
 Yes
 No
12. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being highest and 1 being lowest (rate your stress
level)*

1 2 3 4 5

Low stress level High stress level

13. For how many hours do you sleep in a day?*

 6 hrs
 7hrs
 8hrs

 More than 8 hrs

14. How often do you get involved in any recreational activity at home?*
 Often
 Sometimes
 Always
 Rarely
 Never
 15. What all household activities you do in the Covid -19 pandemic?(More than 1
option can be selected)*
 Cleaning utensils
 Cleaning and dusting house
 Cooking
 Washing clothes
 Any other work
16. Do you feel you are not able to balance work life while working from home?*
 Often
 Sometimes
 Always
 Rarely
 Never
17. Do you attend office calls after office hours?*
 Yes
 No
18. Is there job satisfaction in the organization you are working?*
 Yes
 No
19. Any special counseling/mentoring or support programme taken by your
organization?*
 Yes
 No
20. Does your organization have a separate work life balance policy?*
 Yes
 No