Work-Family Balance Practices Among Irish Hotel Employees in a Human Resource Management Context

The study explored work-family balance among Irish hotel employees. Employees of a 5*, 4* and 3* hotels were surveyed in a unionised hotel group, a non-unionised hotel group and two family-run hotels, including a 4* and a 3*. Two thirds of those surveyed were front-line employees and a total of 246 (22%) returned questionnaires were used for data analysis. Regarding work-family supports, there was a considerable range varying from hotels with no supports, hotels with one support and hotels with all eight supports available. Company benefits were not associated with numerical flexibility, but company benefits were associated with functional flexibility and work-life balance supports. This would suggest an integrated approach to human resource management (HRM), whereby some companies engage in a modern employee-focused approach, whereas other companies tend to be more traditional. The study enhances the literature on the link between HRM practices and work-family balance in the hotel sector.