Work-Family Policies and Practices in South Africa: Highlights from a Family-Responsible Employer Survey

This chapter presents the results of an exploratory study on the extent to which South African employees in both the private and public sectors feel they are able to effectively integrate their work, family and personal life. The study drew on the concept of corporate family responsibility, which essentially measures how well a workplace supports the integration of work and family life of its employees and the effect of this on its employees and on the organisation itself. Data were collected using the IESE Family Responsible Employer Index (IFREI) tool, a diagnostic instrument and transversal work model that studies the extent to which the dissemination of family-friendly workplace policies, practices and leadership impact employees’ ability to reconcile work and family demands as well as workplace productivity. To this end, the study explored three workplace dimensions that have been shown to enhance the environment in which an employee works: (i) access to family-friendly policies, (ii) supervisor support and (iii) organisational culture. The chapter presents results showing the impact that these dimensions had on employees’ work, personal and family life in the pre-COVID-19 period and their potential implications for human resources management policy and practice in the post-COVID-19 era.