Abstract:
This research paper investigates how family friendly policies can be applied in the Egyptian formal labor market and how it can be generalized as public policies. Global competition has imposed on organizations a fierce need to improve their services and to reduce their costs. This has urged governments and labor unions, in developed and some developing countries, to impose policies and laws that regulate work circumstances in order to provide the employees the benefit of family friendly policies that would reduce their stress levels associated with potential work-family conflict. Similarly, the work circumstances in Egypt and the working conditions impose a work-life conflict on the Egyptian employees resulting from the long working hours, the long commuting time and the lack of work life balance. My hypothesis, in this research paper, is that work life balance can be achieved to some extent in the Egyptian formal labor market and this depends mainly on the willingness of the organizations' managements and their responses to the employees' needs. Employees working in four organizations in Egypt, which represent the different sectors of the labor market, were surveyed. Human resources mangers, directors and employees with different needs for work family balance from these organizations were as well interviewed. Remote working and flexible working hours were the most preferred family friendly policies that should be applied in the formal Egyptian labor market, by both genders as well as the different employment levels. Other policies affect, to some extent, the wages and benefits of the employees that is why they are not applicable in the Egyptian labor sector now.
