Assessment of legal solutions to facilitate work-life balance in the public services sector

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present chosen aspects of assessing legal solutions facilitating reconciliation of work and private life for employees of the public services sector, based on empirical research conducted in five European countries. The research purpose was to indicate the role of labour law regulations in shaping the work-life balance and to determine the ways of their implementation, their usefulness and the needs that emerge in the changing socio-economic reality, as evidenced by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to isolate people quickly popularised remote (online) work and the possibility of staying at home, which possibly had a positive impact on private matters. However, the general situation is different. Hence, the hypothesis was adopted that despite the variety of solutions, they are insufficiently used in the public services sector. Although there are noticeable facilitations in combining professional and family duties, they still have too little impact on the attractiveness of work and are not of an innovative nature. The specificity of the public services sector makes it difficult to freely choose solutions that increase the flexibility of employment and thus the activity of working parents, especially women on the labour market.

Keywords

• labour law
• professional and private life
• work-life balance concept
• employee
• employer
• public sector