EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Family support programme for working families in the business community

Family support programme for working families in the business community

Introduction

For some 2 million working families in the Netherlands, the combination of work and care creates problems. It appears to be difficult to find a proper balance between work life, family life and personal life. Major consequences of this are: staff turnover, absence through illness and burnout.

Problem

How does one maintain a balance between work and private life?

Description

The primary objective of this project is to encourage employees to find a stable balance between their family, work and personal life. Workshops focused on the following issues:

maintaining quality of life and resilience at work and at home;
encouraging a comprehensive and clear-cut time structure;
promoting optimal family dynamics;
helping to create conditions to allow the permanent labour market participation of women in particular.

A secondary objective is to prompt the employer to introduce a policy of flexible employment conditions for these working families.

Approach

The project operated on a phased time line focusing on the actions below:

Approaching between 100 and 150 selected companies via a direct email action.
Premeasuring: qualitative research into family and time indicators to gain insight into the scope of the work - care pressure.
Designing, executing and evaluating the service package to measure at the request of a company.
Developing and executing a 'train the trainer course' for the transfer of experience and expertise to the team of freelance educationalists, which are involved in the family support desk.
Consulting with collaborating parties in particular regarding burnout prevention and treatment and time management.
Publishing the results in national, regional and local daily newspapers and in relevant magazines.

Results

Expertise and knowledge gained with regard to ‘double pressure’ can be transferred on a larger scale.
Knowledge gained from consultation / exchange with institutions particularly focusing upon the management of absence through illness and burnout prevention and / or counselling.
Transfer of expertise and knowledge via a 'train the trainer course' among the freelance team at the family support desk.
Publications and daily newspapers on the vision and working method of the family support desk encourage discussion centred upon this theme.
A checklist of indicators regarding the work and family pressure of working families in the business community is available to every company.

Resources used

This project was made possible by subsidies from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment/the Daily Routine Project ESF-3 (ministerie van SZW/ Dagindeling ESF-3) from January 2004 to April 2005. Since 2005 the Family Support Desk continues to operate from the benefits from the service package 'Work & Private life in balance' ('Werk&Privé in Balans').

Contact info

Family Support Desk
E. Boost, tel. +31 35 6957020

Project start date

01/01/2004

Links

Family Support Desk City of Naarden

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Working patterns

Keywords

Flexible working