Americans love to contemplate - and legislatively promote, to whatever degree possible - the virtue of hard work. Here in the United States, people already work more hours per year than their English- speaking counterparts in Britain, Canada and Australia - not to mention those enviable denizens of European social democracies, who enjoy the kind of leisure time only their highest-paid workers can afford. So perhaps it's not surprising that several new pro-work policy ideas are enjoying attention on the left and the right. On the right, work requirements for Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance represent the latest conservative effort to make sure Americans work for any benefits they receive. Work-life balance. It has been the professional itphrase for the past few years. From how-to books to meditation apps and even company-sponsored initiatives like unlimited vacation, employers and employees alike have been trying to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives. And it seems to be working. Or is it? According to employee reviews on Glassdoor, work-life balance is not what it used to be. Despite the best efforts of executives and an upgraded nomenclature (“work-life fit”), American workers continue to struggle with stress. But why? What’s missing from our jobs, or rather, is it in our personal lives? Since we live in the digital age, it’s easy for employees to be connected to their work 24/7. All day every day we receive e-mails from our boss, notifications from our work chats and use our calendars for reminders and scheduling–all on our smartphones. So thanks to technology, employees often check their e-mail every few minutes and constantly put in extra hours on nights, weekends and even when they’re out on vacation. If you need help maintaining a healthy work-life balance, remember that it’s all about setting goals and expectations between you and your manager. By having a good, open communication process with your boss, you’ll better understand what they expect of you, which makes it easier to manage your work life with your personal life. The more clear your boss is to you, and the more clear you are to them, the healthier that work life balance is going to feel. But, unfortunately, not every job works this way. Inevitably, there are some roles that may require more attention during and out of normal office hours. If you’re not the type who can and wants this kind of schedule, that’s something to consider before accepting a job. So before accepting an offer, research the position and make sure you fully understand the hours that are expected in the role, where and how you can get their work done, and the overall nature of the job.There's a balance to be struck where it comes to work and rest, but in the United States, values and laws are already slanted drastically in favor of work. I would advise those concerned about Americans' dignity, freedom and independence to not focus on compelling work for benefits or otherwise trying to marshal people into jobs when what they really need are health care, housing assistance, unemployment benefits and so forth. Instead, we should focus more of our political energies on making sure that American workers have the dignity of rest, the freedom to enjoy their lives outside of labor and independence from the whims of their employers. Which of the following can be inferred from the words of the author? Work life balance is a concept which is hyped now-a-days and companies are trying to implement it to a great extent. Work life balance is a bait used by organizations to capture the attention of employees and make them work at a lower cost American laws are strictly against the concept of work-life balance and they focus more on work and increasing productivity.
