A third of employees say their bosses pressure them to work even when they are ill and 27 per cent say long hours are spoiling their lives, according to a new report.
Meanwhile researchers behind Relationships Scotland’s Love vs Labour report found that 40 per cent of Scottish workers say bosses think those who put work ahead of family life are the "hardest workers".
The study says employers should do more to offer flexible working arrangements and say a better work life balance means staff are more productive and perform better, whereas if it is poor, employees are more likely to become ill, do badly or resign.
Read more: Nurses battling long term health and money worries
The report reveals that work-life balance is the third biggest strain on couple relationships - after affairs and not understanding each other, but ahead of money worries and sex drive - according to relationship counsellors.
Jonathan Tait, 38 from Edinburgh, recently changed career from the music industry in order to start a family. Now, six months into his traineeship as a solicitor at a legal firm, Jonathan and his wife share child care for their two young children Jessica and EIlliot:
"Although I am still active in the music business to an extent, I’m able to build a proper family routine," he said. "My wife and I concentrated on building our careers and had always planned to have our children a little later and now is the time to reap the rewards.”
Read more: Nurses battling long term health and money worries
Stuart Valentine, Chief Executive of Relationships Scotland, said: “Almost half of our waking life is spent at work, or travelling to and from work, and there is an inescapable link between our overall wellbeing and happiness and the quality of our working life. This report reminds us again of the need to value and prioritise the relationships that we have with those around us.
Read more: Nurses battling long term health and money worries
"By doing so, we can become happier, more satisfied and indeed more productive people. This in turn can only help nourish the organisations and communities within which we spend so much of our lives.”
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