The Work-Life Balance Challenge Fund (WLB-CF) provides financial aid to employers to help them develop work-life balance policies and practices. Evidence from a 20-month independent evaluation of the first three rounds of the WLB-CF indicates that the vast majority of employers have positively benefited from participation in the Fund.

The report findings indicate that the WLB-CF has enabled employers to introduce significant changes in their employment practices so as to create greater awareness of, and develop policies to support, work-life balance. However, it was difficult to measure bottom-line outcomes such as retention, employee absence and turnover, or to attribute any changes in these to the WLB-CF.Key success factors in implementation included the need for a participative approach, involving all employees, and the need for senior management commitment or ‘buy-in’.

The main aims of the evaluation of the first three rounds of the WLB-CF were to examine the impact of the programme on both employers and employees and to assess the processes initiated to deliver the programme, both within the participating organisations and the WLB-CF itself.

The evaluation took a multilevel approach to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of the WLB-CF by utilising both qualitative (semi-structured interviews with key personnel) and quantitative (documentary analysis) approaches.