Work & Family

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Work and Family Surveys 2005/2006

More than 1400 people have completed the Work and Family survey which was run on this website over the past year.

Through the survey employers and employees across NSW have described their work and family responsibilities and how their workplaces help them to balance their lives.

The survey results will assist the Office of Industrial Relations to understand and meet the needs of employers and employees across the state.  

Two surveys were run on the Work and Family website – the Work and Family Employee Survey and the Work and Family Employer Survey.

1421 visitors to the website completed the survey between 18 August 2005 and 21

November 2006.

Family friendly workplaces produce a business benefit

• The vast majority of employers (87%) and employees (93%) in New South Wales either agreed or agreed strongly with the statement 'accommodating family and caring responsibilities in the workplace is beneficial to both employers and employees'. 
• Most employers and employees believed that accommodating work and family arrangements in the workplace resulted in:  

Increased

• staff retention
• staff loyalty
• productivity
• staff morale

Reduced

• staff training and recruitment costs resulting from increased staff retention
• unplanned absenteeism
• reduced workplace stress.
  

What employers had to say

Employers believed the greatest business benefits of family friendly practices were increased staff retention, loyalty and morale:

• Flexible start and finish times, additional unpaid leave for caring for sick family members, rostered days off, and additional unpaid leave during school holidays were the most commonly provided family friendly work arrangements. Job sharing and working from home was also commonly provided
• 92% of employers were aware staff in their organisation had caring responsibilities
• 92% of employers said their staff had the option of returning to work on a part-time basis after parental leave.  

What employees had to say

• 60% of employee respondents had caring responsibilities
  • 84% had parental responsibilities
  • 11% had parental responsibilities and also cared for an aged or disabled relative
  • 5% cared for an aged or disabled relative.
• The most commonly reported family friendly work arrangements were flexible start and finish times, rostered days off, and additional unpaid leave to care for sick family members
• 63% of employee respondents felt that their caring responsibilities had adversely affected their career prospects and employment opportunities
• 63% of employee respondents also felt that their caring responsibilities had negatively impacted on their financial security as a result.

For a look at the survey results, please select one of the following options:

• Work and family Employee Survey Results ( pdf - 58Kb)
• Work and family Employer Survey Results ( pdf - 56Kb)