Work-Life Balance: Expatriates
SUE SHORTLAND
Reflect the International Dimension
Studies by ORC Worldwide have found that long
hours, travel, and other work-related factors intrude
into personal lives and create stress for a significant
portion of HR professionals and expatriates around
the world. But while HR professionals believe work-
life balance policies have benefited their organiza-
tion and themselves, expatriates believe quite the
opposite. Given the cost of expatriate assignments
and the potential for work-life imbalance to erode
employee commitment, organizations can do more
to communicate and support work-life practices out-
side their home country, and to better prepare the
expatriate and family for life in their new location.
© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The globalization of business and ever greater tech-
nological advances have dramatically altered tra-
ditional working patterns and locations, with the
nature of working life changing year after year—
perhaps most evident in how porous the concepts
of workday and workplace have become. The no-
tion of “24/7” has brought the expectation of be-
ing contactable at all times, which in turn requires
a workforce able to work at all hours, away from
the office, and across time zones. It is therefore un-
surprising to find work infringing on all aspects
of individuals’ daily lives, contributing to employ-
ees feeling overworked, stressed, and experiencing
negative consequences to their physical and mental
well-being.
As the concept of work-life balance has gained
much ground in recent years in Europe and North
America, there is a growing trend among organiza-
tions to introduce initiatives that promote employee
well-being at work. These include policies and prac-
tices that offer greater flexibility in working pat-
terns, as well as stress reduction programs, so that

c 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)
28 Global Business and Organizational Excellence • DOI: 10.1002/joe.20172 • September/October 2007
AND SIOBHAN CUMMINS
employees can balance work with responsibilities
and activities outside of the workplace to the ben-
efit of their organizations and their own personal
satisfaction.
Until recently, however, research into the impact
of such work-life balance policies and well-being
practices has been quite limited. To gain greater in-
sight into this subject, ORC Worldwide conducted
research surveys of two groups dispersed around the
world, Human Resources personnel—the creators of
work-life balance policy—and internationally mo-
bile employees, specifically expatriates working out-
side their home country. This article explores the
results of the two studies to answer the question of
how well employers’ work-life balance initiatives are
providing both home-based and internationally mo-
bile employees with important coping mechanisms
as they try to juggle the demands of their business
and family lives.
Work-Life Balance Research Background
The survey of HR professionals was conducted
during the summer of 2004 by ORC Worldwide
using ORC’s Dynasurv Survey Technology.1 Ver-
ified survey returns were received directly from
183 participants in Human Resources and similar
functions. The profile of participants, which is de-
tailed in Exhibit 1, can be broadly characterized as
follows:
r Women comprised 60 percent of the respondents.
r The majority of the respondents (62 percent) were
in public organizations.
r Nearly all participants worked in Europe (66
percent) or North America (28 percent), which
Exhibit 1. Comparison of Surveys’ Participant Profiles
might be expected since HR functions tend to be
strongest within headquarters operations.
r More than half (59 percent) were in manage-
ment roles—about one-third of respondents were
senior managers and a quarter were middle or
junior level managers.
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
r The majority (61 percent) had worked for their
organizations for more than five years.
r Two-thirds were primary wage earners; more
than three-quarters were married or living with a
partner; and the participants had one dependent
child on average.
DOI: 10.1002/joe September/October 2007 29
 The survey of expatriates was carried out in late
2006 and early 2007 by ORC Worldwide in co-
operation with selected ORC Network member
companies who requested their expatriates to partic-
ipate directly.2 It also utilized ORC’s Dynasurv Sur-
vey Technology. The survey drew verified returns
from 452 expatriates. The profile of participants,
which is also shown in Exhibit 1, can be broadly
characterized as follows:
r Men comprised 82 percent of the respondents.
r The majority of the respondents (98 percent)
worked for private sector organizations.
r As might be expected, more than half of the
respondents (55 percent) were working outside
Western Europe or North America, most notably
in the Asia Pacific region (21 percent), South and
Central America (14 percent), and the Middle
East and Africa (12 percent).
r More than two-thirds (69 percent) were execu-
tives (14 percent) or managers (55 percent) in
their organization.
r The respondents had a long tenure with their cur-
rent employer, with an average length of service
of 16 years.
r Most were primary wage earners (92 percent);
three-quarters were married; and participants
had on average 1.3 dependent children.
As Exhibit 1 highlights, while there are similarities
among the HR and expatriate samples, particularly
in terms of their marital status and family size, the
profiles of the two samples do differ considerably in
terms of gender, sector of employment, and location.
Furthermore, the expatriate sample reflects a higher
proportion of primary wage earners, longer lengths
of service, and a higher proportion in managerial
roles (with the near absence of any in administrative
roles). Since expatriates are generally considered to
cost around three times that of employing a local due
to the special circumstances associated with trans-
ferring families across the world and their enhanced
benefits packages, organizations tend to select senior
30 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
and experienced employees who bring key compe-
tencies to their international roles.
The expatriate sample reflects a higher proportion
of primary wage earners, longer lengths of service,
and a higher proportion in managerial roles (with
the near absence of any in administrative roles).
This article examines the key survey findings in four
areas: long working hours and contributory factors;
work intrusion into family life; stress and its im-
pact on employee commitment; and the prevalence
and impact of work-life balance policy and prac-
tices. The implications of the research findings for
the two employee groups and their employers are
also discussed.
Long Working Hours
Hours of work are increasingly subject to national
and regional legislation. In the European Union, for
example, the lengths of statutory working weeks
vary among member states but are subject to the
maximum of 48 hours allowed under the EU Work-
ing Time Directive. Collective agreements are also in
place, resulting in “collectively agreed average work-
ing weeks.” Data published by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
on the average annual hours worked per person in
employment in 2005 indicate 1,672 hours worked
annually in the UK; 1,535 in France; and 1,534
in Belgium. The data also confirm a “long-hours
culture” in many countries outside Western Europe.
For example, the average annual hours worked per
person was 1,737 in Canada; 1,775 in Japan; 1,804
in the United States; and 1,811 in Australia. Even
longer hours were reported by new EU member
states in Eastern Europe, with Hungary and Poland
at 1,994 annual hours and the Czech Republic at
2,002.3 Although there is considerable disparity
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
between working hours across the world, one trend
is common: Working time is declining in the major-
ity of OECD countries—albeit gradually, particu-
larly in long-hours cultures such as the United States.
Demands of the service industry and just-in-time
production drive customer expectations that goods
and services will be available on demand at any time
to suit them.
However, statutory hours, collective bargaining,
and official statistics disguise the picture of actual
hours worked, and the long hours worked in par-
ticular countries. We live in a 24-hour-day, seven-
day-week society. Demands of the service industry
and just-in-time production drive customer expec-
tations that goods and services will be available on
demand at any time to suit them. As a result, em-
ployees’ efforts to juggle home and work responsibil-
ities become more complicated, particularly as they
face increasing pressure to adopt a more global style
of working across time zones, and as competitive
pressures result in demands for greater work inten-
sity. According to the Chartered Institute of Person-
nel and Development in the UK, three out of four
people say they are working very hard—indeed, as
hard as they can—and they cannot imagine working
harder, with one in five, including managerial and
professional workers, taking work home every day.4
Technology enables us to be accessible continually,
but it also means that we can never escape the work-
place. ORC’s research into working hours of HR
professionals and expatriates reinforces this picture.
Responses to the HR professionals’ survey indicated
that the HR function is one that works long hours.
Almost all of the respondents (96 percent) worked
full time, at least 35 hours per week. Despite 91
percent of their employing organizations having an
official working week, 73 percent of respondents
worked 45 hours or more, and 48 percent worked
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
50 or more hours each week. Patterns of long work
hours include the following:
r Men in the sample worked longer hours, with
83 percent working 45 hours or more a week as
compared with 56 percent of women.
r The majority of respondents (71 percent) had
seen no change to their working hours over the
previous three months, although a substantial mi-
nority (18 percent) did report an increase to their
working hours over this period.
r Nearly one-third of the North American respon-
dents worked in excess of 50 hours, compared
with 19 percent of the European sample (con-
firming the widely held perception that Ameri-
cans typically work longer hours than Europeans
do).
r Contrary to the common belief that working
hours are more burdensome in the private sec-
tor than in the public sector as a result of com-
petitive pressures, international public sector HR
professionals in the survey worked similar hours
to those of their private sector counterparts.
r Regardless of gender, sector, or region, partici-
pants basically agreed on the primary reason they
worked long hours: They felt that they needed to
put in the time in order to accomplish a large
amount of work and to maintain their personal
high standards.
A similar picture of long hours working emerged for
expatriates. Three-quarters of all the respondents re-
ported having an official number of working hours,
and 44 percent stated that the working hours policy
in their host location was the same as that of their
home country. And yet two-thirds reported work-
ing longer hours in the host country than they did at
home, with only 27 percent claiming to work simi-
lar hours and only 8 percent working fewer hours as
an expatriate. The average reported workweek was
51.9 hours, which represented an average of 13.4
hours more than the expatriates’ workweek prior to
taking the international assignment.
September/October 2007 31
 Although men reported a longer average workweek
than women did—52.4 hours compared with 49.7—
both groups experienced similar significant increases
in their weekly workhours as an expatriate, on av-
erage a 13.5 hour increase for men and 13 hours
for women. Long hours present a barrier to work-
force diversity, with women’s responsibility for fam-
ilies potentially contributing to their underrepresen-
tation in the expatriate workforce.
Respondents cited numerous reasons for working
more hours as an expatriate:
r Volume of work (52 percent)
r Meeting own high standards (45 percent)
r Cultural issues (29 percent)
r Facilitation of conference calls (27 percent)
r Career advancement (19 percent)
r On average such trips lasted 5.6 days. These were
Justify the costs of their assignment (13 percent)
Factors that Contribute to Long Work Hours
A number of work-related activities extend the
workday or workweek for survey participants and
have the potential for also adding stress to an al-
ready busy life. The surveys investigated the preva-
lence and impact of business travel, telephone calls,
meetings, and cultural pressures and found some im-
portant differences between the HR and expatriate
participants.
Business Travel
Business travel emerged as a key issue in terms of
extending working hours for expatriates, and to a
lesser degree for HR professionals. Business trips
are known to be a significant cause of work-related
stress, particularly when they involve separation
from families over either extended or repeated peri-
ods. Most HR respondents reported having to travel
for business on weekends or public holidays at least
sometimes, and few (19 percent) of them received
any compensatory time off. Public sector employ-
ees traveled on their own time more frequently, but
32 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
were no more likely to be given compensatory time
off.
Business travel emerged as a key issue in terms of
extending working hours for expatriates, and to a
lesser degree for HR professionals.
By contrast, business travel is a regular feature of
expatriate life, with nearly all participants reporting
one or more business trips monthly:
r One trip a month (54 percent)
r Two to four trips a month (35 percent)
r Five to seven trips a month (8 percent)
long-haul trips (inter-regional) for 28 percent of the
sample, short haul (intra-regional) for 27 percent
of the expatriates, and domestic business travel for
18 percent, with 27 percent stating that trips were
a combination of these. Business travel adds consid-
erable additional hours to the expatriates’ working
week. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (64 per-
cent) reported that they were expected to travel on
weekends or outside of normal working hours but
received no compensatory time off, while 16 percent
who had to travel on their own time did receive time
off as compensation.
Telephone/Conference Calls
Responding to telephone calls or engaging in global
conference calls can also extend the working day.
Around one-third of the HR sample reported that
they were expected to reply to telephone calls out-
side of working hours in the evenings; about a quar-
ter felt they were expected to do so on weekends or
while on vacation; and 54 percent felt the expecta-
tion to return calls outside of business hours if away
on business.
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
It seems that the expatriates by comparison did
not appear to consider business calls on personal
time as demanding as the HR sample did, perhaps
because the expatriates had increased expectations
about needing to work across time zones. Although
53 percent of respondents reported that they were
often or very often required to participate in global
conference calls, only just over a third reported that
such conference calls were frequently held outside
of normal working hours, and only 27 percent cited
them as a reason for working longer hours. Almost
three-quarters of respondents (74 percent) felt suffi-
ciently empowered to schedule such calls at a more
suitable time. Global conference calls therefore did
not have a major impact on expatriates’ work-life
balance and were not as intrusive as might have
been expected.
Meetings
Meetings can affect working time to a significant ex-
tent when they are held outside of normal working
hours. Nearly half of the expatriates (43 percent) re-
ported that this happened often or very often, while
34 percent reported it to be an occasional occur-
rence.
Meetings can affect working time to a significant
extent when they are held outside of normal working
hours.
Pressure to Work Longer Hours
Roughly similar proportions of the HR profession-
als and the expatriates (28 percent and 32 percent,
respectively) reported that they felt under pressure
not to leave the office at the end of the normal work-
ing day. In some instances this appeared to relate to
societal cultural norms—such as long working hours
being common in Japan or the United States—while
in other cases it seemed more a function of organi-
zational culture and the expectation that expatriates
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
would work longer hours than locals due to their
additional responsibilities.
Just over half (51 percent) of the HR sample thought
that they were expected to work weekends to meet
deadlines or to catch up, while two-thirds of the ex-
patriates (67 percent) said that there was an expec-
tation from their organization that they should be
available to work outside of normal working hours.
The HR professionals also cited the impact of tech-
nology as blurring the distinction between work and
home, with the misuse and overuse of e-mail and re-
quirements to respond to e-mails within stated dead-
lines being particularly common sources of pressure.
Taking Time Out
The HR professionals’ survey found that employ-
ees were entitled to an average of 29 days of vaca-
tion each year, and the majority (79 percent) took
it all. North Americans received the lowest vacation
entitlement—23 days compared with 31 days for the
European participants. The European-based HR re-
spondents were more likely to take all of their leave
or not work while on vacation, reflecting cultural
differences between Europe and North America with
respect to attitudes towards working time. Other
forms of time out explored in this survey included
taking lunch breaks. It appeared common for re-
spondents to eat at their desks, thus saving time,
with North Americans more likely to do so than
Europeans were. Women were more likely to eat at
their desks and less likely to take their full lunch
break than men were.
In contrast, less than half (45 percent) of the expa-
triates took all of the 24.4 days of average annual
leave to which they were entitled. Gender differences
emerged in that 54 percent of the female expatriates
took all their vacation entitlement as compared with
only 43 percent of the men. One-third of the expa-
triates reported receiving rest and recreation leave
based on the hardship of their host location, and
they averaged 1.3 trips each year for this purpose;
September/October 2007 33
 18 percent received additional days for such leave,
taking an average of 4.4 days.
Overworked and Overwhelmed
For a large segment of the HR participants and an
even larger portion of the expatriate group, long
hours of work and other work pressures have trans-
lated into feelings of being overworked or over-
whelmed.
More than half of the HR professionals said that
during the three months preceding the survey they
often or very often worked more hours than they
would have liked to.
More than half of the HR professionals said that
during the three months preceding the survey they
often or very often worked more hours than they
would have liked to. Most reported feeling over-
worked during this period—44 percent said often
or very often, and 41 percent said sometimes. Like-
wise most felt overwhelmed by their workload—35
percent of them often or very often, and 46 percent
sometimes. Almost half of the respondents said that
they often or very often felt they did not have time to
step back and reflect on their work. Compared with
other groups, primary wage earners more often felt
overworked and overwhelmed by their workload.
About half (51 percent) of the expatriates indicated
they felt more overworked as an expatriate than
they did at home, with 45 percent feeling over-
whelmed by their expatriate workload. Although
women were no more likely than men to feel
more overworked as an expatriate, a higher portion
did frequently feel overwhelmed by their workload
(54 percent) as compared with their male counter-
parts (43 percent)—perhaps because the women in
the sample spend fewer hours a week at work and
so have less time to complete their tasks.
34 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
Work Intrusion into Family Life
Working long hours has a clear impact on family
life for both study samples. More than a quarter
(28 percent) of the HR professionals reported that
in the preceding three months their work had often
or very often conflicted with their family life, while
43 percent indicated the intrusive nature of work
affected their family life to a significant, substantial,
or extreme extent.
Life as an expatriate places particular pressure on in-
dividuals and their families, who have to cope with
living in a different cultural and social environment
or face separation if the expatriate undertakes the
assignment on single status. The ORC study con-
firmed that for many the expatriate work life ex-
acts a high toll on family life. Nearly half of the
expatriates (48 percent) claimed that work affected
their home life to a greater extent than before they
went on assignment, although 44 percent reported
no difference and 8 percent saw less work intru-
sion into family life as an expatriate. Men were
somewhat more likely to report a greater impact
on their family life than women (49 percent vs.
42 percent).
The respondents pointed to the specific aspects of
their work life that draw unfavorable comments
from their families:
r The expatriate working too late (54 percent)
r The length of time spent engaged in work activi-
ties on weekends (one-third)
r Too frequent travel (29 percent)
r Work-related entertainment or meetings taking
place too often (one fifth)
Clearly the picture here is concern by the many ex-
patriates whose long working hours encroach quite
significantly on the time they have to spend with
their families, with both weekdays and weekends af-
fected. This is likely to result in dissatisfaction with
family life.
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
The survey examined the extent to which expatriates
compensate for such intrusions by making a “special
point” of taking time out from work to be with
their families, and here at least the picture appeared
positive: 29 percent reported that they did so often
or very often, while 41 percent did so occasionally.
As discussed earlier, expatriates’ business travel is a
major cause of long working hours and separation
from the family. Family members were not likely
to accompany the expatriate on business trips; it
occurred only very rarely (for 23 percent of the re-
spondents) or never at all (69 percent). More than
half (54 percent) of the expatriates felt their fam-
ily received inadequate organizational support while
they were away. Family separation emerged as a
regular feature of expatriate work or travel commit-
ments, with the result that for one-quarter of those
surveyed, the family returned to the home country
or traveled for extended periods without the expa-
triate. This situation was more common for male
expatriates (28 percent) than for female expatriates
(10 percent). While the family was away, 87 percent
of expatriates reported that they spent even more
time on work-related activities.
In short, unhappy families lead to unsettled em-
ployees, resulting in lower productivity for the or-
ganization and in extreme cases early return of the
expatriate and/or family members.
Family separation is known to be a cause of stress for
expatriates. In addition, dissatisfaction with family
life is a factor known to result in early return home.
In short, unhappy families lead to unsettled employ-
ees, resulting in lower productivity for the organiza-
tion and in extreme cases early return of the expatri-
ate and/or family members. Although only 5 percent
of the expatriates reported that their family had re-
turned home early—with only minor differences be-
tween men and women, 5 percent and 3 percent
respectively—it is interesting that work and travel
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
schedules were one of the most frequently cited rea-
sons for such returns (cited by just under one-third
of the respondents).
Stress and Employee Commitment
Stress refers to the impact of external factors beyond
an individual’s control that put psychological pres-
sure on a person that taxes or exceeds that person’s
ability to cope, producing strain within the individ-
ual. Thus stress results when the pressure or load
exceeds an individual’s coping responses. As such,
stress is an individual phenomenon, and so what
may be seen as exciting or a challenge to one per-
son may prove to be stressful and unwanted pres-
sure to another. There is some evidence that long
working hours can lead to physical and/or mental
ill health associated with stress, although how in-
dividuals view their job, the degree of control they
maintain over their working patterns, and their in-
dividual coping mechanisms will play an important
role in mediating this relationship.
There is ample evidence, however, that excessive
stress causes serious ill health. Stressed executives
with heart conditions and/or stomach ulcers are the
popularized examples. For most people, however,
the early behavioral symptoms of stress that pre-
cede illness and then chronic ill health tend to go
unrecognized or are denied. Typically, early behav-
ioral signs of stress on our bodies include the follow-
ing: irritability, lack of a sense of humor, suppressed
anger, feelings of being targeted, tearfulness, inabil-
ity to cope, poor eating habits, loss of sleep, and
inability to concentrate and to complete one task
adequately before moving on to another.
Typically with a lack of balance between time spent
with family and the demands of the job comes a
lack of interest in home life, resulting in family con-
flict. These stress symptoms (and consequences), if
left unrecognized and not dealt with, will lead to
such stress-related illnesses as stomach and intesti-
nal problems, migraines, mental difficulties, insom-
nia, and heart complaints. If left untreated, chronic
September/October 2007 35
 ill health can result, including serious physical and
mental conditions.
Symptoms of Stress
With all this in mind, the two surveys also ex-
plored other factors that reflect potential symptoms
of stress. A significant proportion of the HR pro-
fessionals reported feeling anger and resentment to-
wards both colleagues and the organization itself.
Feelings of inability to take time out to eat and re-
lax, together with feelings of anger, irritability, and
resentment, represent behavioral stress symptoms.
The survey results therefore do appear to indicate
signs of stress among a sizeable portion of the HR
respondents. The question is whether they recognize
this themselves. Since HR professionals, if anybody,
should be more aware of stress issues and employers’
legal responsibilities to their workforces in terms of
duty of care, it might be suggested that the respon-
dents were aware of the impact of stress and likely
symptoms and health effects.
Expatriates are known to suffer stressors beyond
what most of their home-based peers experience.
Expatriates are known to suffer stressors beyond
what most of their home-based peers experience,
including living in hostile, remote, or difficult lo-
cations; being separated from families and friends;
having to become familiar with a new job in a dif-
ferent country; dealing with concerns about chil-
dren’s education and potential career disruption for
a working spouse/partner; finding accommodation
and moving the household to an unfamiliar location;
working in a different linguistic and cultural envi-
ronment and experiencing culture shock; and coping
with fears over career progression and repatriation.
ORC’s study confirmed this, with two-thirds of the
respondents (65 percent) reporting they suffer or
have suffered from stress in the workplace, and a
similar percentage (66 percent) reported suffering
36 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
stress specifically as a result of being an expatriate.
Stress was even more prevalent among the women
in the study: 79 percent of them reported stress to
be an issue for them, and 71 percent suffered from
stress as an expatriate. The stressors most frequently
cited by both male and female respondents were
r The challenge of the new job
r Loss of activities and support networks that were
available at home
r Language and cultural issues
r The loss of the spouse’s job/career
Impact of Stress on Commitment to Employer
When joining a new organization or taking on a new
and potentially challenging role, employees usually
do so with a positive view of their prospective em-
ployer or their new job. They look forward to fur-
thering their career and doing this in a new, stimu-
lating environment and, in the case of expatriates, in
another country. Although an employment contract
governs the formal aspects of employment or the
assignment—outlining job roles and duties, hours
of work, pay, etc.—an unspoken psychological con-
tract is also in effect.5 It comprises the unspoken
and unwritten views (or implied reciprocal promises
and obligations) that both parties—the organiza-
tion and the individual—take into the employment
relationship.
As long as the employment relationship is perceived
as positive, employees tend to be happy and sat-
isfied in their work. They will be willing to take
on what are known as extra-role activities and/or
behaviors (e.g., working on weekends to catch up
or meet deadlines, voluntarily taking on additional
projects). Thus a positive psychological contract is
associated with job satisfaction and organizational
commitment, and it translates into higher productiv-
ity, lower turnover/wastage rates, and other positive
outcomes.
However, once reciprocal promises are perceived
to have been broken, the psychological contract is
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
damaged, possibly beyond repair. Employees then
typically lose their trust in their employer and are
less willing to “go the extra mile.” Job satisfaction
usually declines and with it organizational commit-
ment. This translates into an intention to leave, and
consequent lowered morale can also have a negative
impact on other employees.
A workplace culture that pressures employees to
continue working long hours can damage the un-
written psychological contract because it represents
a threat to their personal control over their working
lives. To help mitigate this, work-life balance poli-
cies may be introduced to enable employees to strike
a more healthy balance between their work and fam-
ily lives, but the rhetoric of work-life balance must
be matched by practice if employee commitment is
to be sustained.
Work-Life Balance Interventions: Prevalence
and Impact
The concept of work-life balance concerns employ-
ees having a measure of control and choice over
when, where, and how they work. It is achieved
when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside
and outside paid work is accepted and respected as
the norm. Work-life balance is often thought to be a
“women’s issue,” reflecting family-friendly concerns
such as childcare and other caring responsibilities.
However, women are not the only members of so-
ciety who have commitments and interests outside
of the workplace, and focusing attention on such
initiatives for women alone can cause resentment.
The concept of work-life balance concerns employees
having a measure of control and choice over when,
where, and how they work.
Prevalence of Work-Life Balance Policies
Both ORC studies investigated the extent to which
employers had implemented work-life balance poli-
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
cies, and the degree to which survey participants
availed themselves of the related options and pro-
grams. Just over half of the HR professionals
(55 percent) responded that their organizations did
not have written work-life policies. Only around
one-third reported a formal policy in place, with
little difference between public and private sector
organizations. In cases where employers did have
written policies, 80 percent of respondents said that
administrative instructions to implement the policy
had been issued, and 55 percent said the policy was
updated regularly. Employers with work-life bal-
ance policies were more likely to be North American
organizations (54 percent) as compared with Euro-
pean organizations (44 percent). Men were more
likely than women were to say their company had
no policy, that no administrative instructions ex-
isted, and that the policy either was not regularly
updated or they did not know if it was. Perhaps
this might be because men less frequently seek out
information on this issue.
For the HR professionals, the presence of a work-life
policy appeared to have a positive impact on organi-
zational performance and employee perceptions of
the workplace. The majority of the HR respondents
reported that they felt having such a policy in place
had made a difference to performance. Furthermore,
the majority of respondents whose employers had
work-life policies believed they had been valuable.
The story was quite different among expatriates,
however. In contrast, only one fifth (21 percent) of
the expatriate respondents stated their current orga-
nization had a work-life balance policy, with 13 per-
cent of respondents reporting a formal policy and
another 8 percent reporting an informal policy. Just
over one-third (35 percent) reported that their orga-
nization had no such policy, and a surprising num-
ber (44 percent) said they did not know one way or
the other. Women had better awareness of work-life
balance initiatives in place than men did: 37 percent
of the women reported not knowing whether such a
policy existed, compared with 46 percent of men.
September/October 2007 37
 Exhibit 2. The Impact of Work-Life Balance Policies: Comparison of HR and Expatriate Viewpoints
Impact of Work-Life Balance Policies
Given the expatriates’ overall lower awareness of
their employer’s work life balance policy—either be-
cause the employer did not have one or the expatri-
ate simply did not know one way or the other—
expatriates in the study painted a markedly more
negative picture than HR professionals did of their
organization’s commitment to work-life balance.
Three-quarters (74 percent) of the expatriates felt
that their organization had no such commitment,
while 81 percent reported that work-life balance
policies were not enforced in their current assign-
ments. Exhibit 2 illustrates the significant disparity
in the perceptions of the two samples about the im-
pact of work-life balance policies on the workforce,
the organization, and the participants personally,
with expatriates having strongly negative opinions
in contrast to the HR professionals’ equally strong
positive assessments. Although it is important to
note that the samples are unmatched, there does
seem to be a clear difference between the policies
and intentions of the HR function (and the effect
of these policies on them personally) and the per-
ceptions and experiences of the expatriates while on
their assignments. These nearly opposite sets of per-
38 September/October 2007
ceptions suggest that HR’s knowledge of work-life
balances policies is not communicated effectively to
expatriates, and thus highlight a potential area of
concern.
Clear gender differences regarding the value of
work-life balance initiatives emerged among the ex-
patriates. Where a work-life balance policy was in
place, 51 percent of women thought that it had
made a difference to organizational performance,
compared with only 17 percent of men, and more
than a third of the women (35 percent) felt that the
policy had made a difference to them personally,
compared with only 15 percent of men.
These results are significant in that they reflect
women’s greater interest in work-life balance and
greater willingness to engage in the initiatives
offered. Since 60 percent of the HR personnel
surveyed were women, contrasted with only 18
percent of the expatriate sample, this might help
explain HR’s significantly more positive view of the
initiatives in place within their organizations. Of
course, as authors and/or administrators of such
policies, the female HR sample are more likely to be
DOI: 10.1002/joe Global Business and Organizational Excellence
aware of initiatives and thus potentially have greater
propensity to engage in them. Interestingly though,
while 27 percent of male expatriates surveyed
felt that their organizations were committed to
helping their expatriates achieve a healthy work-life
balance, only 22 percent of the female expatriates
felt the same way.
Satisfaction with Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance has not until recently been consid-
ered a major research topic within the expatriate lit-
erature. Yet one of the major reasons for expatriate
failure concerns the inability of spouses and other
family members to cope in their new environment,
particularly when they are unable to find employ-
ment; their partners are involved in long hours of
work; and frequent travel results in separation and
isolation. In addition, a poor work-life balance is
known to be a source of dissatisfaction within orga-
nizations, leading to reduced productivity as a result
of damage to the psychological contract.
A poor work-life balance is known to be a source
of dissatisfaction within organizations, leading to
reduced productivity as a result of damage to the
psychological contract.
There appeared to be a fairly even division between
expatriates who were satisfied or very satisfied with
their work-life balance (44 percent) and those who
were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied (43 percent).
The primary reasons cited for such dissatisfaction
included the following:
r The intrusive nature of new technology (56 per-
cent of respondents), with e-mail and the
BlackBerry
R
seen as removing the boundary be-
tween work and home
r The pressure to deliver results (55 percent)
r The 24-hour global nature of working and time
zone differences (46 percent)
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
r Other factors (30 percent), including lack of sup-
port, the absence of enforced policies, and the
inability to spend sufficient and regular time with
families
More than half of the expatriates (55 percent)
thought that their work-life balance was worse than
that of their local colleagues in the host location,
with only 12 percent thinking it was better. Among
those who felt it was worse, nearly half (48 percent)
attributed this to higher pressure placed upon them
due to the cost of their assignments—clearly meeting
their employers’ return on investment expectations
was a cause for concern for them—and 39 percent
pointed to cultural issues, specifically problems with
host country integration, as a factor in their compar-
atively poorer work-life balance. Other issues cited
included personal situations, the loss of social ties,
and living too far away from family and friends, as
well as the work pressures placed upon them.
Practical Initiatives
The types of flexible working arrangements that
may be made available to workforces in their home
locations include reduced/increased hours, changed
shift patterns, flexi-time, job sharing, home working,
term-time working, and compressed-hours working.
However, such practices may not prove feasible in
an expatriate environment subject to contract cost
and time pressures, etc. Well-being initiatives such
as the provision of access to sports facilities and ex-
ercise can help in stress reduction, but again may not
always be feasible given the absence of suitable fa-
cilities and other considerations in many expatriate
locations. Training to recognize stress symptoms, or
culture and language training for those working in
a different country, can ease the settling-in process
for expatriates and improve their productivity and
has the advantage of typically being delivered in the
home location prior to the expatriate’s departure.
Training was offered by employers to expatriates
in the ORC study, primarily for language, although
cultural training was also made available, but the
September/October 2007 39
 proportion who took it and completed it was rel-
atively low. Since expatriates reported cultural and
language issues as sources of difficulty that resulted
in longer working hours and stress, clearly it is in
their interest to obtain such training if offered by
their employer. A key issue for the HR function is
encouraging soon-to-be expatriates and their fam-
ilies to undertake and complete such training pro-
grams despite their time pressures, travel schedules,
and initial lack of interest—the most common rea-
sons the respondents gave for bypassing or drop-
ping such training. Training is critical to successful
adjustment and thus is essential for helping expa-
triates avoid longer work hours, culture shock, and
the potential stress associated with them.
Implications
Overall, the portrait that emerges from these re-
search studies is that both HR professionals and ex-
patriates work long hours and juggle many compet-
ing tasks in the workplace as well as in their private
lives. Although they are coping for the most part,
they are under considerable pressure to continue to
work in this manner. Globalization and competitive
pressures are unlikely to subside. Already substantial
numbers of HR professionals and expatriates report
feeling overworked and under stress. Time pressures
seem to be at the heart of this. Primary wage earners
consistently express higher levels of work-life im-
balance and stress—perhaps because they are con-
stantly aware of the responsibility they bear for their
families’ livelihoods.
Overall, the portrait that emerges from these re-
search studies is that both HR professionals and
expatriates work long hours and juggle many com-
peting tasks in the workplace as well as in their
private lives.
In these surveys, the perceptions of HR profession-
als in their home countries and expatriates abroad
40 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
differed significantly. While the HR personnel had
positive views of the benefits of work-life balance
policies and believed that they made a difference to
both organizational productivity and their own per-
sonal lives, the expatriates disagreed. Thus although
work-life balance policies appear to help mitigate the
stress experienced by the home-based HR profes-
sionals, the benefits of these policies and initiatives
do not seem to extend effectively to those employees
working in different host countries.
The majority of HR professionals whose employ-
ers had work-life balance policies not only believed
their organizations had benefited from such policies
but also reported feeling less stress themselves as a
result of such initiatives—even though they worked
as many hours as those participants in organizations
with no work-life balance policies. It seems that hav-
ing the ability to control when and where those extra
hours are worked makes a difference in how effec-
tively people balance the work-related and personal
demands on their time, with a consequent positive
impact on their well-being and perceptions of their
employment situation.
The expatriates, however, who in the main did not
consider work-life balance policies to make a dif-
ference to organizational productivity or their per-
sonal satisfaction, appear for the most part to derive
little benefit from flexible working and other work-
life balance initiatives. Many seemed unaware of
policies available to them, with the attendant belief
that their employers were not interested in expatriate
work-life balance. The implications of this are that
expatriates may become less committed to their em-
ployers and less willing to “go the extra mile” unless
they can be convinced that reciprocity is forthcom-
ing in return for the extra contribution they make as
expatriates on international assignment.
But the picture is not as bleak as it may first ap-
pear. The expatriates understood that even where
the company’s culture was in favor of such initia-
tives at home, the realities of expatriate life—with
Global Business and Organizational Excellence
its time and cost pressures—made implementation
and utilization of such benefits virtually impossible.
The expatriates therefore suggested that rather than
focus on initiatives associated with flexible hours,
their organizations should consider other types of
interventions, including
r Ensuring that health and wellness policies and
practices and support systems already established
at the corporate/group level were extended and
enforced at the local level abroad, with Employee
Assistance Programs (EAPs) being a good exam-
ple of this.
r Relocation, which was not always attended to
proactively, could be tackled via greater under-
standing of the host country circumstances and
cross-cultural training.
Although it may be heartening to know that the HR
professionals, whether primary wage earners or not,
were moderately happy in their jobs, warning signs
of dissatisfaction must be heeded.
Although it may be heartening to know that the HR
professionals, whether primary wage earners or not,
were moderately happy in their jobs, warning signs
of dissatisfaction must be heeded. There was evi-
dence of anger towards employers and resentment
of less hard-working colleagues, with consequent
implications for job satisfaction and organizational
commitment. In their turn, expatriates commented
on deficiencies in relation to the local workforce, and
they highlighted the absence of local HR support as
well. While evidence was clear concerning the in-
trusion of work into family life for both samples,
expatriates in particular reported that their travel
schedules and long hours at work had a negative
impact on family relationships, resulting in frequent
and extended periods of family separation.
Both organizational and societal cultures must be
considered in the introduction of work-life balance
Global Business and Organizational Excellence DOI: 10.1002/joe
policies and initiatives. Certain societal cultures, in
particular those where individualism and the pursuit
of profit are considered stronger motivators than are
family concerns, view work-life balance and well-
being less positively than those where family and
leisure are considered important personal drivers.
Greater understanding of such cultural differences
and preferences can aid the transfer and implemen-
tation of work-life balance policy and practice across
home and host locations. However, before tackling
the wider world, a supportive internal company cul-
ture must underpin any policy introductions and
practical assistance for helping employees strike an
appropriate work-life balance.
Interestingly, although typically the HR function is
the major advocate of work-life balance and flexi-
ble working, the function is often one of the slow-
est to practice what it preaches. There appears to
be a gap between what is on offer and employee
participation both within the HR function and in
other senior employee environments. Consideration
therefore needs to be given to the view that working
flexibly is not the preserve of the lower levels in the
organizational hierarchy or that of women alone.
The view that flexible working at senior levels may
mean “career death” should be challenged. Clearly,
fundamental changes in attitudes are required if the
value of work-life balance and flexible working is
to be embraced and promoted within organizations,
particularly if HR’s policies are to be seen as wor-
thy of implementation and practice in settings where
cost pressures are so stark, such as the expatriate
environment.
If flexible working is not supported by an orga-
nizational culture that shows career advancement
is not only possible but also encouraged through
flexible working, such initiatives stand little chance
of success internationally. A strategic approach to
work-life balance is therefore required. It is not
enough to simply respond to legislative interven-
tions; rather effort must be made to investigate
employees’ needs and consider how to meet them
September/October 2007 41
 in line with the organization’s needs so as to sat-
isfy both and thus secure greater productivity and
achieve greater competitiveness. Work-life balance
initiatives must underpin business strategy, with top-
level commitment. The benefits of so doing can lead
to improved productivity and enhanced reputations,
making such organizations not only highly success-
ful but also keen proponents of social responsibility
and employers of choice.
Notes
1. International survey of work-life balance policies (New
York: Organization Resources Counselors, Inc., 2005). The
survey was sponsored by Industrial Relations Counselors
(IRC), a not-for-profit research foundation, in conjunction
with the Association for Human Resource Management in
International Organizations (AHRMIO).
42 September/October 2007 DOI: 10.1002/joe
2. 2006/2007 IRC/ORC expatriate work-life balance survey
(New York: Industrial Relations Counselors and Organiza-
tion Resources Counselors, Inc., 2007).
3. Statistical annex, OECD employment outlook: Boosting
jobs and incomes (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development, 2006), 265. Available on the
Internet at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/15/36900060.
pdf.
4. Factsheet: Work-life balance (London: Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development, 2007).
5. Factsheet: The psychological contract (London: Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development, 2007).
Sue Shortland is a principal lecturer in human resource
management at London Metropolitan University in London.
Siobhan Cummins is managing director, Europe, for ORC
Worldwide, Inc., a global management consulting firm, and
is based in London.
Global Business and Organizational Excellence