Work-Life Balance Among the Police Personnel

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between various family related variables and work life balance of police personnel employed in various establishments of Himachal Pradesh. The study found significant and positive correlation between spouse support and work life balance which further indicate that higher the spousal support higher will be the work life balance of employees. The finding of the present study corroborates the studies made by Lord (1996) who found that work and non-work support from spouse had a positive impact on the police officer’s attitude and performance. Jackson (1992) found that support from spouses reduces the negative impacts of work stress. Aycan & Eskin (2005) reported a negative association between spouse support and family to work conflict. Sakshi & Parmar (2015) in their study on doctors and nurses found a significant positive relationship between spouse support and work life balance.

The present study also reported a negative relationship between family role overload and work life balance. This finding is in consistency with the studies made by Frone et al., (1997) and Kopelman et al. (1983) who observed that the increasing dual career responsibilities make it difficult for an individual to maintain a balance between family and work responsibilities. Responsibilities towards family/house interfere with workplace responsibilities. Bennett (2012) also reported that family role overload was significantly related to family interference with work conflict.

The difference in work life balance of police personnel at varied levels of family related variables viz. spouse support, parental demands, household responsibility and family role overload was also studied. The study found significant difference in work life balance of police personnel at low, average and high levels of spousal support and family role overload indicating these two family related variables as significant predictors of work life balance of police personnel. The identified family related variables cannot be directly manipulated by the organizations.

However, organizations can make an effort to lessen the impact of the home-related demands. For instance, provisions for child care referral services, family room, sick leave to take of children, parenting or family support programs, and crèches may assist in thinning out the degree to which family demands affects work life balance. In family, the demands have increased as a consequence of a shift in demographic factors and change in family structure such as an influx of women in the labour force, dual-earner couples, single-parent families and nuclear families.

This trend has created new challenges in balancing work and other domains of life. Riley (2012) pointed out that even with reliable work-family arrangements, conflict can arise from episodic events such as deadlines at work and sudden illness of children. Therefore, support from non-work based sources (such as spouse, children, and friends) help to reduce the conflict between work and life domains. If a person receives the needed support from spouse and parents, it may become easier to maintain a balance in their life. The collective strength of family resources (e.g., cohesion and ability to adapt to work and family related demands) are vital for work- family integration (Voydanoff, 2007).