Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Industrial Relations and Human Resources, 2008. / "Committee: Peter Berg, Dale Belman, Mark Roehling, Steven Haider, and Stacy Dickert-Conlin." Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-192). Also issued in print.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the legislation of parental leave in the Czech Republic and in Sweden in particular with respect to the possibilities of work-life balance, to evaluate an actual use of the system, its impacts on the individual labour markets and gender equality, to subsequently compare these two models and to propose amendments of legislation. The topic was chosen due to its significant impact on a vast amount of people and due to its currency with respect to a progressive change of perception of single parent's roles. The thesis is divided into five chapters following the main aim of the thesis, a comparison of several legislations. The first Chapter shortly describes the main terminology which has been used within the thesis and which is the main subject matter of the paper. Maternity, parental and paternity leave are defined mainly with respect to the purposes of the individual matters. The second Chapter deals with the legislation of the European Union. The relation of the Czech and European law in this field in general is analysed at first. An overview of legal documents related to the so called "family friendly policies" follows and the core of the chapter is the description of particular legislation of maternity, parental and paternity leave based on corresponding...

Bakgrund. Individer i dagens samhälle behöver finna en balans mellan sina olika roller inom arbetslivet och privatlivet. Denna balans konkurrerar om individens tid och resurser, vilket kan vara krävande för en individ att lyckas balansera mellan. Forskningen visar att en individs balans mellan sina olika roller tenderar att samverka med individens motivation på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med studien är därmed att undersöka sambandet mellan work-life balance och medarbetarnas upplevda motivation i arbetet. Material och metod. Studien består av en kvantitativ metod, där ett bekvämlighetsurval har använts. En enkät användes för datainsamlingen, där 296 respondenter deltog. De instrument som har använts för att undersöka sambandet är WEIMS-instrumentet och WLB-scale. För att kontrollera att sambandet mellan våra huvudvariabler kvarstod mot kontrollvariablerna, har en multipel regressionsanalys använts. I denna analys genomfördes bootstrapping med 5000 iterationer. Resultat. Studien fann ett positivt samband mellan work-life balance och motivation (r = .14, p < .001), när sambandet kontrollerades för våra signifikanta kontrollvariabler: stress, hälsotillstånd och sömn. Slutsats. Work-life balance och medarbetarnas upplevda motivation är två faktorer som samspelar med varandra. Vidare har work-life balance och motivation också visat sig samverka med individens vilja till att lämna arbetsplatsen. / Background. Individuals in today's society need to find a balance between their various roles in the workplace and personal life. This balance competes for an individual's time and resources, which can be demanding for them to successfully juggle. Research shows that an individual's balance between their various roles tends to interact with their motivation at work. The purpose of this study is thus to examine the relationship between work-life balance and employees' perceived motivation in the workplace. Materials and Methods. The study employs a quantitative method, using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was used for data collection, with 296 respondents participating. The instruments used to investigate the relationship are the WEIMS instrument and the WLB-scale. To control for the persistence of the relationship between our main variables against the control variables, a multiple regression analysis was employed. In this analysis, bootstrapping was performed with 5000 iterations. Results. The study found a positive correlation between work-life balance and motivation (r = .14, p < .001) when the relationship was controlled for our significant control variables: stress, health condition, and sleep. Conclusion. Work-life balance and employees' perceived motivation are two factors that interact with each other. Furthermore, work-life balance and motivation have also been found to interact with an individual's intention to leave the workplace

Syftet med studien är dels att få en ökad förståelse över hur generation Z upplever sin arbetsmiljö inom telefonrådgivande yrken, dels att få en ökad kunskap om vilka utmaningar i arbetsmiljön som kan leda till sjukfrånvaro. Studien genomfördes i samarbete med en stor privat organisation i Sverige. Utifrån ett Human Resources (HR) perspektiv ser vi ett behov av att få en ökad förståelse för medarbetarens perspektiv för att främja en hälsosam arbetsmiljö för generation Z inom telefonrådgivande yrken. Studiens syfte har en kvalitativ ansats och den forskningsdata som presenteras består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från generation Z, individer födda mellan åren 1995 och 2010. Den tematiska analysen genererade fyra teman: Stödjande funktioner för att må bra på arbetsplatsen, upplevelser av telefonrådgivning som yrke, utmaningar på arbetsplatsen, och sjukfrånvarokultur. Resultatet i studien visar att upplevelsen av det kollegiala stödet är avgörande för att må bra på arbetsplatsen. Utmaningarna återfinns i svåra samtal och ökade känslomässiga krav inom telefonrådgivande yrken hos generation Z i vår studie. Resultatet bidrar med en bekräftelse på kunskap som redan fanns utifrån de utmaningar på arbetsplatsen som kan leda till sjukfrånvaro. Resultatet visar på att generation Z:s önskemål inte är unika, utan snarare framstår som en önskelista som alla medarbetare har. För att få en ökad kunskap om vad som främjar en god och hälsosam arbetsmiljö för generations Z behöver framtida studier dels innehålla flera respondenter, dels jämföra medarbetarnas upplevelser och chefernas erfarenheter. / The aim of the study is partly to gain an increased understanding of how generation Z experiences their work environment within telephone counseling professions, and partly to gain an increased knowledge of which challenges in the work environment can lead to sick leave. The study was carried out in collaboration with a large private organisation in Sweden. From a Human Resources (HR) perspective, we see the need to gain an increased understanding of the employee's perspective to promote a healthy work environment for generation Z within telephone counseling professions. The purpose of the study has a qualitative approach and the research data presented consists of semi-structured interviews with respondents from generation Z, individuals born between the years 1995 and 2010. The thematic analysis generated four themes: Supportive functions for well-being in the workplace, experiences of telephone counseling as a profession, challenges in the workplace, and sickness absence culture. The results of the study show that the experience of collegial support is crucial for feeling good at work. The challenges are found in difficult conversations and increased emotional demands in telephone counseling professions among generation Z in our study. The result contributes with a confirmation of knowledge that already existed based on the challenges in the workplace that can lead to sick leave. The results show that generation Z: s wishes are not unique, but rather appear as a wish list that all employees have. To gain an in-depth knowledge of what promotes a good and healthy work environment for generation Z, future studies need to include several respondents, and to compare the employees' and the managers' experiences.