More than half (53%) of Britons say they need time off work to complete life admin tasks, according to research by comparison site Confused.com.
I’m sure this is a statistic which will resonate with many. It’s certainly one I can relate to. While life has always been busy, it feels like the older I get, the more simply keeping on top of life admin can seem like an impossible task. This has only been heightened since my children started school, which has brought with it a weekly whirlwind of reminders. I’m holding my hands up as the parent who sent their child into school dressed for Break the Rules Day a week early!
According to Confused.com’s research, the tasks respondents are most likely to delay or forget include making medical appointments (cited by 36%), cancelling subscriptions (32%) and writing or updating a will (25%).
Of course, this is not a new issue, with the juggle of fitting life admin around their working lives being the norm for many employees. But, while achieving a good work-life balance has long been the holy grail for many, this has come into sharper focus following the pandemic and subsequent increase in remote and hybrid working.
The rise of the always-on culture, meanwhile, has resulted in some employees working longer hours, logging on outside of their working hours and encroaching on their personal time.
Whatever the root causes, the UK is now recognised to rank poorly for work-life balance. According to HR systems firm Access People’s Work-life balance report 2024, published in October last year, the UK ranked in 34th place out of 40 nations.
Research published this week by charity Hospitality in Action, meanwhile, found that almost half of hospitality managers and employees admitted to having a poor work-life balance.
As the cost of living continues to increase and stories of redundancy and businesses closing regularly hit the headlines, many individuals are working harder than ever to make ends meet and ensure job security, all of which will inevitably impact work-life balance.
Providing support to enable employees to balance their work and home lives is something many employers have been doing for a number of years. For example, many now offer access to GP services or will-writing services. Organisations, such as Nous, meanwhile, can help individuals to broker household services and insurance, taking on much of the admin for them.
Given that some personal tasks can only be done during working hours, some employers also do not mind staff taking a few minutes out of their working day to complete these, however, this will not be feasible or appropriate for all workforces.
So, what more can employers do to ease the life admin burden for employees?
Rather than providing additional benefits, should they instead ensure that employees are fully utilising the benefits and services already available to support them?
Is it realistic for employers to allow staff to carry out life admin tasks within reason during the working day to help relieve overwhem and stress around these?
Or should employees’ personal responsibilities and life admin remain firmly outside the workplace?
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
@DebbieLovewel
