When you see “work/life balance” what comes to your mind? I see this advertised for many companies and on many job descriptions. Work-life balance is a wide spectrum of things but does not mean each thing.
Work/Life Balance Examples
A company that gives dad the same time off as a mother after a child is born can consider this work/life balance. This could also be true if this same leave is open to parents who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. It could be a PTO (paid time off) program that allows you time off without notice. It could also be flexible work location or flexible hours.
Does it have to be everything?
No, it can be just one thing and it may not even be one thing. The company decides what work/life balance is to them. Ideally there is some flexibility that employees have and some emphasis on taking care of their family. I have had the flexibility to leave during the day for a doctor’s appointment and stay late to make up the time, that could be work/life balance.
What’s the Point of Work/Life Balance?
The point is to give you some flexibility and freedom to balance the responsibilities of your work and things outside of work whether that is personal care, children, caring for parents, sometimes even charity organizations to name a few. I have even seen companies pay employees for volunteering, usually there is a hope that they will donate that pay to the organization they volunteered with, but not all companies require that.