Flexible working and work-family life balance: A descriptive review on regulations in Eu and Turkey

FLEXIBLE WORKING AND WORK-FAMILY LIFE BALANCE: A DESCRIPTIVE REVIEW ON REGULATIONS IN EU AND TURKEY Today, the changes in information and communication technologies, economy, lifestyles and many other areas have caused some changes in the personal and working lives of people. In order to respond to innovations in the face of changing market conditions, traditional forms of employment have been gradually changed and restructured, the working time of the business organizations has been made more flexible and it has taken a more complex structure and a different shape. These changes resulted in the deterioration of the work-life balance of the individuals and as a result, there was an adjustment problem on work-family life. In order to eliminate this problem, different methods are used. In this respect, flexibility applications in business life provide great support in finding solutions to adaptation problems of employees. It is more important that flexibility helps employers to adapt to rapidly changing market demands and offers employees opportunities and for work-life balance. Work-life balance, which is discussed as a result of women's increase in the labor market and the transformation in the labor markets, brought up the policies and practices that will ensure this balance. As a result, discussions about flexibility started and flexible working as well as parental leave and childcare policies became one of the most important regulations of work-life balance policies. In this thesis, the contribution of flexible work to the work-life balance is investigated and it is argued that flexible work is important but not sufficient in terms of a healthy work life balance, and that different measures should be taken to reduce these negatives (gender inequality, low female employment, the role of women in the family, etc.) except for flexible work. Keywords: Flexibility, Flexible Work, Work-Life Balance, Work-Family Conflict, Work Life Balance Regulations.