Integration of work and personal life as a key factor for individual, organizational and public health

Abstract

In recent years work-family spillover, or, more generally, interaction and reconciliation of paid work and personal life, has become an issue of great importance for employees and employers, politics and the public, and particularly the health sciences. After having focused for a long time mainly on negative spillover and conflict between different roles and life domains and on work- and health-related outcomes, the research has recently switched over to a more inclusive integrated perspective by examining also work-family enrichment and positive spillover effects on work and health. Since negative (and positive) spillover between work and family or personal life is quite prevalent, at least in Switzerland, and is found to be strongly associated with various health-related risk behaviors and with widespread health problems and major diseases, it is of great relevance to public and organizational health. Not only employees but also employers benefit from organizational initiatives that aim to facilitate work-life integration. But organizational work-life offers and supports will not be beneficial and will not be utilized enough without meeting employees’ needs, improving the degree of job control or autonomy at work, and being supported by supervisors and a corporate culture that encourages the use of policies, practices, programs, and offered services that help to balance or integrate work and personal life.