Work life balance in Australian legal firms

The study surveys legal firms in the state of New South Wales and assesses the provision of Work/Life Balance options and the factors that predict their uptake. The paper addresses four research questions; does a greater range of WLB options offered by a firm lead to a higher take up rate by employees?; how important is top management support for WLB in influencing employee uptake?; how important is top management support for equal reward and promotion of employees using WLB options in predicting its use?; how does the level of support in an employees’ personal life affect their perception of the value of WLB options. Top management support for WLB and the equal treatment of employees who use WLB options were found to be positively correlated in line with findings from earlier studies. However, the range of WLB options on offer and perceptions of personal support outside of work were not found to be positively correlated. These findings are discussed within the context of earlier, more broadly based studies and reasons for the contrasting results are proposed.