Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay Every piece of literature created is influenced by the time in which it was written. A particular text is a reflection of the era or period in which it was born. An author is contained within a specific time in history, and his writing becomes the result of the social, economic or political milieu of that time. This is the reason why it is extremely important for a reader to determine the context of the story in order to fully understand a piece of literature. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a great example of how a text reflects a particular era. It is a novel written in the 1930s and revealed what was happening during that time in California. Hence, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a reflection of California during the 1930s. Of Mice and Men is a story about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small. The two men are remarkably different from each other. Steinbeck (1994) described George as â€Å"small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features† (p. 4). He depicted Lennie as the opposite of his companion; he was â€Å"a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 4). However, their differences were not limited to physical appearances. George is intelligent, but his friend Lennie is mentally challenged (Steinbeck, 1994). The mental condition of the latter forced him to depend solely on the former. While George often expressed displeasure about the burden of being Lennie’s companion, he proved to be a dedicated friend. He served as Lennie’s guardian. Unfortunately, Lennie’s disability caused him to be involved in great trouble. He was unable to discern his own strength, accidentally harming and killing others in the process. In the end, George continues to fulfill his role as Lennie’s protector; he killed Lennie himself to spare him from death in the hands of Curley (Steinbeck, 1994). While the friendship between George and Lenny is the main focus of the story, the history of California plays a bigger and more significant role in the novel. Of Mice and Men is also a story about California and the problems which plagued it during the 1930s. John Steinbeck wrote three books which delved into the situation in California in 1930s; Of Mice and Men is the second book in the trilogy. The other two novels were In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. In On Mice and Men, the relationship between George and Lennie is set against the backdrop of 1930s California. Both men are migrant workers with a single dream: they wanted to own a piece of land and farm it themselves. George said, â€Å"Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs† (Steinbeck, 1994). This dream was influenced, if not completely defined, by the problems of the state at that particular time. In the Introduction of the On Mice and Men, Shillinglaw (1994) described California in the 1930s. During the 1930s, the main problem in California was agricultural labor. Since the 1900s, most of the agriculturally abundant valleys were located in California. Produce such as broccoli, lettuce, sugar beets and strawberries were only some of those harvested in plenitude. The vast farms in California required many laborers for its harvest. Meanwhile, the Southwest region of America suffered from drought. Due to the drought, the once bountiful lands became similar to deserts. As a result, laborers left what was known as the Dust Bowl to try their luck in California. Since 1935, an estimated 350,000 people from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas stormed the Golden State in hopes of finding jobs in the farms. While it was true that California had enormous agricultural fields which supplied most of the country’s produce, the employment of workers were still a problem. There were too many people to accommodate for jobs in these farms. Workers from the Dust Bowl wandered throughout the state in search of crops to farm, as they were desperate for work. By 1936, California was faced with a major problem: the constant flow of poor and hungry migrants from the Southwest. The situation of wandering farm workers was illustrated in Of Mice and Men. The novel began with the arrival of George and Lennie in the Salinas River. George was upset that the bus driver did not drop them off at the proper location. He said, â€Å"Didn’t wanta stop at the ranch gate, that’s what† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 6). The two men exemplified the situation of all the other migrant workers in California during the 1930s. Agricultural laborers such as George and Lennie were directed from one ranch to another, in search for work. George asked Lennie, â€Å"You remember about us goin’ into Murray and Ready’s, and they give us work cards and bus tickets? † (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 7). Murray and Ready had provided both men with the cards and tickets, then sent them to the next ranch. According to the novel, the last ranch they worked for was called Weed. The plight of the itinerant laborers was best expressed by George’s words: â€Å"They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The novel also portrayed the difficult life of male migrant workers and their need for human company. It was said that majority of the migrant agricultural workers in California were single men. Since the 1870s until 1930, the fruit and wheat crops of the Golden State were harvested by single men. These men were modern day nomads, for they constantly moved from one place to another. They carried bindles whenever they went. George confirmed the situation of male farm workers in California: â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The solitude of the farm workers resulted in the constant need for companionship. In the absence of wives and families, the male itinerant laborers develop friendships instead. The friendship between George and Lennie was the kind of relationship created due to the circumstances of the migrant workers. Despite his complaints about having Lennie around, it was apparent that George was just as dependent on Lennie as Lennie was dependent on him. Whenever Lennie threatened to leave, George told him that he wanted his friend to stay. Their bond was so strong that they did not consider themselves as similar to the aforementioned lonely guys. George said: â€Å"With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 15). The novel revealed how agricultural laborers were marginalized in California society. All of them were misplaced and lived on dire conditions. Despite the unfortunate circumstances which befell them, there are those who remained optimistic and ambitious. However, even the ambitious laborers also fail. They would simply leave the ranch and proceed to another place. In the novel, George and Lennie went to the bunk house of the next ranch they were supposed to work for. When George asked Candy why the former occupant of his new bed quit, this was the response: â€Å"He†¦just quit, the way a guy will. Says it was the food. Just wanted to move† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 20). George and Lennie were also ambitious. They have grown weary of working from one ranch to another, and working for people like Curley. They dreamt of having a piece of land they can personally attend to. The dream was revealed early on in the novel, and was continuously mentioned throughout the story. Candy overheard the two taking about their desire for their own (Steinbeck, 1994). He responded positively, and even offered his savings to both men so that he could also live on their land. Crooks also learned about the plan to buy land. During one night, Lennie spoke to Crooks about his plan to own land with George. Unlike Candy, Crooks had a different response to the plan. He discouraged Lennie by insinuating that his dream will never come true. Crooks said: â€Å"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads†¦every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 75). The character of Crooks was right; in 1930s California, many workers did not achieve the success they originally hoped to find there. By the end of the novel, George and Lennie proved to be unsuccessful as well. The dream of George and Lennie to obtain their own land did not come true. Lennie has a fondness for petting things which are soft; it was this fondness which guaranteed his demise (Steinbeck, 1994). Lennie and George were forced to leave the ranch in Weed because Lennie’s petting had gotten them in trouble. In the ranch in Soledad, Lennie accidentally killed a puppy because he was too strong. By accident, he pulled the hair of Curley’s wife and also broke her neck, causing her to die. When Curley and the rest of the men in the ranch found out that Lennie killed the wife, they form a mob and went to search for Lennie. Before they arrived at the ranch, George told Lennie to return to the Salinas River in case he got in trouble. George told his friend, â€Å"Lennie—if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush† (Steinbeck, 1994, p. 17). After he killed Curley’s wife, Lennie proceed to the brush and George met him there. George began to speak of the land they would own together and the rabbits that Lennie would take care of. Afterwards, he shot Lennie on the back of his head (Steinbeck, 1994). The farm was a representation of every migrant worker’s dream: to own a piece of land and be in control of their own lives. The farm served as a symbol of freedom and independence. For George, the death of his friend was also the end of their dream. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was truly a representation of California during the 1930s. Through the story of George, Lennie and the other characters, Steinbeck was able to illustrate the agricultural labor problem that existed in the Golden State during that decade. The novel revealed the displacement of workers, the harsh realities of living as a nomad in California, their isolation and need for companionship and the broken dreams that come with the journey. By reading this novel, one is given a glimpse of California in the 1930s. Reference Steinbeck, J. (1994). Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Classics.

Suicide Research Paper :: essays research papers

Suicide, it's not pretty. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's the 'Process' of ending ones life. Suicide is sometime seen as understandable or even honorable in certain circumstances. Such as in protests (hunger strike), as part of battle or resistance (suicide pilots(WWII), suicide bombers) or as a way of preserving the honor of a 'dishonored' person (killing yourself to save someone else). Nearly one million people world wide commit suicide each year, with anywhere from 10 to 20 million suicide attempts annually. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in males and the 16th leading cause of death in females. It is the third leading cause of death for people 10 to 24 year of age. Trends in rates of suicides for teens 15 to 19 years old show that from 1950 to 1990 the frequency of suicides went up by 300%. From 1990 to 2003, that rate went down 35%. Self-mutilation is one of the most common methods of committing suicide. Self-mutilation means to deliberately hurt yourself without meaning to kill someone else. Examples of self-mutilation are: cutting any part of the body (usually the wrists), self- burning, head-banging, pinching, and scratching. The effects of suicide on friends and family are often devastating. Individuals who lose a loved one from suicide are more at risk for becoming pre-occupied with the reason for it. Wanting to deny or hide the cause of death, wondering if they could have prevented it, feeling blamed for the problems that preceded the suicide, feeling rejected by their loved one, and stigmatized by others really makes friends and family feel like they?re not wanted. Survivors of suicide may feel a great range of conflicting emotions about the deceased, feeling everything from intense sadness about the loss, and helpless to prevent it. Every suicide has it?s reasons, but a lot of them aren?t so legitimate. An example of a possible trigger for suicide is a real or imagined loss, like the breakup of a romantic relationship, moving, loss of a friend, loss of freedom, or loss of other privileges. Older people are more likely to kill themselves using a firearm compared to younger people. Some people commit suicide by threatening police officers, sometimes even with an unloaded gun or a fake weapon. That is commonly referred to as ?Suicide by cop.? Although firearms are the most common way people complete suicide, trying to

Meaning of Education Essay

â€Å"Yep, that’s the last of it† my dad yelled as he slammed the trunk shut. Totes were piled up high and filled with clothes, shoes, and lots of old memories. After getting all settled in my new apartment my family and I said our goodbyes. This next chapter in my life was finally here. I was now a college student entering the real world. We all have our purposes for taking the next step in life and going to college. My purpose for attending college is to take a leap towards creating success and meaning in my life. My family has been a giant influence on attending college. The day my older brother went off to college it was no surprise. It seems that moving on to college was the natural thing to do. For instance, graduating kindergarten and moving to the 1st grade is similar to graduating from high school and moving on to college. It’s just a chapter in life that our parents brought us up expecting to reach and we’ve been taught that it would be the right choice since elementary school. It’s what we grew up knowing we were supposed to do when we got to that point in life. Ultimately, we were taught that this step would lead us to the success to building a more meaningful life. All in all, education is the key to success. Having an education opens many doors to amazing opportunities. Why waste time stuck in a slump when one can go out into the world and be someone, make a difference in this world, and have the pride to say that â€Å"I am successful†. With a college education, the amount of freedom is endless. There are many more careers to choose from and the ability to stand out from others increases your career success. An education helps one develop a more meaningful life, that’s what I want to achieve. I want to make a difference in this world by not only my art but my everyday life. My goals are to one day be very well off financially, enabling me to support my future family and enjoy all the accomplishments and great opportunities life has to offer. Just on a walk to school, I get a glance of the harsh reality by seeing all the unfortunate civilians struggling to survive each day. For instance, an old man and his dog, hungry as can be, asking for money on the corner of the street. This makes me realize that I am very grateful for what I have and that an education is what I must pursue to accomplish my goals and dreams. With all the love and support of my family and friends I have a great positive outlook on a college education. Having moved on to this next step in my life, I already feel as if I’m that much closer to reaching my goals. I can see how proud my family is as they watch me better my life and future. With all my past experiences, I now have a strong mentality to finish with pride and follow all my dreams. Overall, an education is the way to success and the key to many great opportunities.

Understanding a demographic composition for workforces - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 20 Words: 6081 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? The demographic composition of the worlds work force has changed dramatically changed in the recent years. This work force now includes more dual-earner couples who have responsibility for the care of children or elderly dependents, as well as more dual-professional couples where both have careers, not just jobs (Bond, Galinsky, Swanberg, 1998). Working practices that acknowledge and aim to support the needs of staff in achieving a balance between their homes and working lives (HEBS 2002). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Understanding a demographic composition for workforces" essay for you Create order Nowadays in the business world, work Life Balance is gaining more importance as it can provide businesses with more opportunities for success. Every year the stress cost in UK businesses are estimated upto 3.7 billion and the loss of around 80 million working days. Stress can either come from work related factors or home related factors. Lot of employees find difficulties in coordinating work responsibilities along with home responsibilities.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  This research attempts to explore the practices of work life balance through practical perspective, concentrating on the current scenario and existing challenges. To  make this study more meaningful and productive, it adopts a case study approach with reference to Tata Consulting Services, a leading IT service company in India. Achieving a good balance between work and family commitments is a growing concern for contemporary employees and organisations. There is now mounting evidence linking work-life imbal ance to reduced health and wellbeing among individuals and families. It is not surprising then that there is increasing interest among organisational stakeholders (e.g. CEOs, HR directors) for introducing work-life balance policies in their organisations.( Kalliath, Brough 2008) All the organisations are formed only with the help of people. A company is said to be gifted if it has a well maintained human resource. Organisations are greatly depended on people. Balance is very important, employees will always need it and organisation cannot ignore it. Successful organisation cannot afford to lose their good employees. Each one of us has different responsibilities, needs, desires etc. The priorities are always conflicting. Leading organisations will have exceptional leaders who will create the work environment in such a way that achieving work life balance would be very easy.(Spinks, Nora 2004) According to David Clutterbuck(2003) work-life balance is being aware of different dem ands on time and energy, having the ability to make choices in the allocation of time and energy, knowing what values to apply to choices, making choices. Most of the employees would agree that managing work and life its not very easy and this scenario is same for many years. In fact threat of work life balance is increasing in recent years. Achieving work life balance cannot be done only by the employee alone, it should be supported by the employer, employee, family and community. It is a group task, a single employee cannot achieve it by himself. A chair can balance only if it has four legs, imagine what happens when you sit in three legged chair we obviously fall down. Likewise to balance life and work all the people involved in it are responsible to balance it. Success is always achieved because of team work. New innovations and technology has only increased the stress in workers life but in no way has helped them achieve work life balance. (Spinks, Nora 2004) Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the evidence of work life balance policies and practices within a case study of a organisation-Tata Consulting Services. Objectives: The study possesses four. important objectives. They are as follows: To review prior research on Work Life Balance in todays business world. To explore the extent of Work Life Balance policies and practices in Tata Consulting Services To evaluate the effectiveness of Work Life Balance polices. To make recommendations for further research to improve Work Life Balance practices. Structure of report: The report beings with the introduction followed by the methodology of research adopted. It is then followed by chapter three which widely discusses a variety of literature related to the topic of study. Chapter four is the case analysis which gives indepth knowledge about the companys current policies and practice with regard to the topic. It is followed by chapter five in which conclusion and further recommendations to the present programs and policies are given. The final chapter is the reflexive report. All the chapters are internally sub divided. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is considered to be a list of academic activities in order to find a solution to a realistic problem, which is totally backed by literature (Selvam, 2004). To conduct the research in proper way, each researcher must follow a method (Kumar, 2005), which is defined as s system of procedure to find the answer for a research problem (Selvam, 2004). For the successful completion, this research also adopts a methodology which is discussed below. Why TCS as the case study? TCS is a well recognised and reputed IT firm in India operating across many countries in the world. It has been awarded the best IT employer in India (Press Trust of India, 2007). It was ranked fifth in Bloomberg Business weeks Tech 100, a ranking for worlds best performing technology companies (Tata 2010). They have around 165000 employees (Tata 2010) and the importance of WLB will definitely be present in this company of high standards. Data Collection Primary data: In this type of research information are collected through market surveys, telephone interviews, questionnaire, group interview. The researcher directly approaches the concern people to get information. This research can be customised based on the needs of the study. Since the information are directly collected by the researcher the level of accuracy in high. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill 2009) Secondary data: In this type of research information are gathered by reanalysing data that has already been written or collected for some other purpose. Secondary research approach is used in this study as well. Secondary data include both raw data and published summaries. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2009). Researchers have classified secondary data into varieties of types. (Dale et al. 1988, Hakim 1982) The main sub groups of secondary data are documentary data, survey-based data and multiple sources. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2006) Documentary secondary data are used in research projects which also use primary data. Documentary secondary data include written materials such as e-mails, reports, minutes of meetings, organisations data base, organisations website etc and non written materials such as voice recordings, video, pictures etc. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2006) Survey-based secondary data includes the data collected using surveys and questionnaires that have already been analy sed for some original purpose. This type of data is collected based on three survey strategies: censuses, regular surveys, ad- hoc surveys. Multiple-source secondary data can be based on documentary or survey-based secondary data. It also includes data from various other documents such as books, journals, government publications etc. In this study documentary secondary data and multiple-source secondary data are used. Research Approach: The study embraces inductive approach as it forms a conclusion from the analysis of live practices going on within the company. (Saunders et. al., 2000). Instead of adopting explanatory or descriptive models, the study adopts exploratory approach as the research explores and analyses the practice and policies in WLB at Tata Consulting Services. This approach will be useful and valuable to achieve the required result. (Emory, 2000) Time Horizon: The study goes through the changes and development within Tata consulting services concerning its Work Life Balance practices and policies. It is a research involving changes over time which is known as longitudinal study (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2008). The research also studies the observations over a defined time which is called as cross sectional study (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2008). So this research uses both longitudinal and cross sectional models with respect to time horizon. Literature Review: For the successful completion of a research it is necessary to discuss various literatures related to the topic of study. It will provide the researcher with ample ideas and data on existing views and contradictions between different findings. This will also make the study extra productive with more insights. The data in this chapter are collected after critical evaluation, from text books, academic journals and credible web sources. Defining Work Life Balance (WLB): Work Life Balance is term which fits all the workers, low paid, high paid. According to Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com, Work-life balance is meaningful achievement and enjoyment in everyday life. Today the economic conditions and social needs have changed the role of work. Work Life balance is associated with equilibrium and its peoples ability to maintain work and life simultaneously. There are three aspects of work/life balance: (i) Time balance, which includes the amount of time spent on work and non work activities, (ii) Involvement balance, which means the level of involvement and commitment towards both work and non work life (iii) Satisfaction balance, which indicates the level of satisfaction in the work and non work life ( Greenhaus, Collins Shaw, 2003). The above model of WLB gives a broader approach to it. It has three components such as time, involvement and satisfaction. For example when a person he or she spends 2 days a week at work and the rest of the d ays with his or her family there may be an imbalance in time but his involvement and satisfaction would be balanced. Likewise when a person he or she spends around 36 per week and work and does not enjoy his or her work and spend rest of the time doing activities of their interest, he or she may be balanced in time but imbalance in involvement and satisfaction. So WLB is multi-faceted. It should be viewed from various prospectives. ( Greenhaus, Collins Shaw, 2003) A Balance of Family, Work and Life: Earlier Work Life balance was referred to as Work/Family balance. This is because the term family has become more broaden now. Today family not only refers to children but many other non work roles such as boy friend/girl friend, relationships with same sex, shared parenting, other social network communities etc which has shifted work/family balance to work life balance. The important activities in life other than work would include sports, exercise, studies, hobbies, leisure activities, taking care of elderly etc. Elder care has become a growing issue for many workers than child care. (Shoptaugh, Phelps Visio, 2004) Homes for elderly have been increasing in many places especially in countries like India.WLB is no longer consider to be just for woman or workers who work for very long hours. It affects all the employees, white collar, blue collar, under paid, even unemployed at times. WLB Programs and policies in USA: As in all other places the concern for WLB is increased in United States also. They companies started to offer a number of programs in order to maintain a proper balance between work and life. The following are few programs of WLB. Child Care Elderly Care Flexible Working Leave(maternity, paternity) Telecommuting Gym Facilities Employee Assistant Programs Vacation Concierge Services Other than the above mentioned programs many other perks like company cars, house, free flight tickets, and many other allowances are given to motivate the higher authorities of the company. Though many U.S organisations have started work-life programs and policies but most of them have not changed their organisational culture to support their employees and managers who wish to use work-life options. (David Rodburne, 1996) Child Care: In US over 62.8% of the families have dual income households. This has made the employers to increase programs for child care. In house child care, after school programs are some of the programs offered by the employers to employees for their children. Flexible Working: This is the most common advantage given by most of the employers to their workers. Any worker would be happy to get flexible working hours. Flexible working includes part time job, flexitime, job sharing, annual hours, compressed hours, Shift working, work from home. In part time jobs employees work considerably lesser hours than the normal full time employees. Flexitime allows the employees to choose their timings within a set limit. Employees are required to work during the core hours and must work for compulsory number of hours. (Acas 2007) Job sharing is also encouraged in some organisations. Job sharing is a type of work where two people share the work of one full time job. It is nothing but two part time jobs. In case annual hours the employers define the total number of working hours in a contract to the employees. Employers are contracted to work for set shifts which covers most of the hours and may be called for unallocated shifts within short notice. Compressed hours d oes not reduce the working hours instead the employees work extra hours. For example an employee will work an hour extra for 9 days and will get the 10th day off. (Acas 2007) Shift working means different employees are replaced for the same job within 24 hours. Shifts can be morning, noon or night. Organisations which operate 24 hours follow this type of flexible working. Work from home is where the employee can work from home but not all week. They can even work from some other location apart from home. (Acas 2007) Leave (Maternity, Paternity): Maternity leave is given by most of the employers in the recent years. Paternity leave has gained importance in recent years after passing the Family and Medical Leave Act. The reason for passing this Act was to standardise family leave for all the employees. In US currently its minimum of 12 weeks but some companies do offer more leave. Vacation: Vacation time in US is one area which is not associated with any legislation. So each company offer vacation according to their company policy. Most of them provide a minimum of 2 weeks for new employees. Employees with more experience receive more vacation period. Since there is difference the vacation period of all the companies, this acts as competitive advantage (Parsons, 2002). Telecommuting: This is a new concept from the development of technology and internet. It allows white collar employers to work from home by linking to companys network and to finish job from home. Telecommuting reduces the commuting time and gives flexible time for the employers. About 30% of the companies in US use telecommuting (Parsons, 2002). WLB Policies and Programs in the European Union: The EU countries have different cultural approach towards Work Life Balance than that of US. Its approaches depend upon the cultural characteristics of the member countries. In March of 2000, the French Presidency administered a set of questionnaires to the EU countries to gather data about work life balance indicators so that overall EU guidelines could be recommended. (Euro stat working papers) Some of prevalent WLB programs in EU are as follows: Work Hours: The Council of EU in 1995 suggested 48 hour work per week to protect the health of the workers. Today the working hours varies in the EU countries. According to a report published by the Trade Union Congress in the year 2000, British employees were working on an average of 43.6 hours per week, France 39.6, Italy 38.5 and Germany 40.1(The Engineer, February 2, 2001). In France workers are who work more than 35 hours a week are given bonuses. Flexible timings are become popular in EU countries as well. In the UK part time jobs are very much in trend. Paternity Leave: Paternity leave is new to some EU countries. But in Denmark this is existed for the past 20 years. In recent years paternity leave is granted to fathers also. In UK paternity leave began only 2003, two weeks paid paternity leave (Parsons, 2002). Vacation: The EU in 1993 recommended that the employees should receive four weeks mandatory vacation. This varies in each EU countries. The EU countries are embracing flexible holiday policies (Parsons, 2002). Child Care: Child care programs in EU countries is been developing for the past couple of years. As more men and women started to work the concern for child care is increasing. Child care subsidies are available throughout EU. UK is said to the most expensive place for child care. Parents spend more for child care in UK than any other EU countries (Parsons, 2002). Telecommuting: Research from a UK Labour Force Survey, conducted by industry analyst Data monitor shows that 1.7 million people, about six percent of Britons, now telecommute at least one day a week.(The Financial Times, January 31,2002) This would have definitely increased to 50% by now. The main reason for this is because of employees willingness to balance their work life in a better way. Telecommuting is prevalent in other EU countries as well. Work Life Balance in India: Indias culture when compared to other countries like US and UK is considered to be very different. The views upon WLB also differ in India. India is an emerging economy and concerns for work life balance are also increasing. In India family support for work life balance is usually given by the extended family like in-laws, husband etc. Today many organisations, especially IT industry have started to introduce WLB programs. Flexible working is gaining popularity. Employee can avail part time jobs, job sharing options, telecommuting etc. In India IT industry which has pioneered WLB policies to increase the employees productivity and retain them. Child care centres are increasing in few cities but are still not common in most of the rural areas. Earlier Elder care centre did not exist in India. It used to be their culture to look after the elderly people in the family. But now the trends are changing. Homes for elder are increasing in India. Institutional support is poor in I ndia. Though there are many Government Acts, they not properly implemented. Some of the important Government Acts are The Maternity Benefits Act 1961, The Factories Act of 1948, The Indian Penal code amended (1869) section 509 which aimed at sexual harassment at work place. Under The Maternity Benefits Act 1961, employers are entitled to give 12 weeks paid maternity leave to its women employees. The employers cannot dismiss the employee during her maternity leave, it is unlawful to do so. Apart from this employee should get two nursing breaks till the baby is 15 months old. According the Factories Act, a factory is said to b a organisation where a minimum of 10 labours are working and who are involved in manufacturing. If the factory has minimum of 30 workers it must provide child care for child less than six years. The Act also provides the number of working hours for the workers, annual paid leave, restrictions regarding over time. (Bhargava, 1996; Jain Agarwal, 1995) Th e Indian Government policies does not directly deal with balancing work /life. There are many gaps in addressing these issues. Boom of Information and Technology in India: From the late 1990s Indian economy saw great boom in Information and Technology (IT) sector. The IT sector begun to follow the work style from western countries like US, UK etc. Employees were expected to work 24 hours and 365 days. The recent boom in outsourcing has increased late night working hours tremendously. Once this sector started to flourish, a lot women workers were attracted to IT sector. Heavy work load, high work hours, late night work in IT sector has made work life balance very difficult. Though many IT companies have provided many facilities like child care, gym, entertainment facilities etc it has only increased the stress of balancing work and family.(Uma Devi 2002) The Indian Government policies does not directly deal with work life balance issues and most of the policies are not followed by many organisations. The private companies especially in IT sector seems to give importance to work life balance and have number of WLB programs. Work Life Balance prog rams have become a part of HR practices in multinational companies because of the demands of young men and women workers and also a tool to retain their employees. For example many companies like Merck Sharp and Dohme, Procter and Gamble, Wipro, Infosys, Tata etc provide health and hospitalization benefits to all its employees. Many local BPO companies in India are also getting the awareness of Work Life Balance for example a local BPO in Delhi has created in house child care facilities. Reduced Labour Cost Employee Retention Profit Employee Satisfaction Work Life Balance Culture Effective Business Processes Sales/Customer Retention Productivity, Creativity etc Customer Satisfaction Employee Wellbeing Work Life Culture Profit Chain Policy and Practice: Policies and practice are not always followed. Earlier in the study we discussed about many policies and practice used in different countries and companies. Not all of this WLB programs are practiced and run successfully most of them fail to follow it. The five aspect to be identified by the organisations while attempting to achieve work life balance to their employees are: Managerial Support Career Consequences Time Expectations Gendered Perceptions Co-worker Support( Mcdonald, Bradley Bond, 2005) Managerial Support: Managers play a very important role in reducing the work/life conflicts. It is the managers hands to encourage or discourage an employee to take up the work life balance programs. (Perlow, 1995; Thompson, Thomas Maier, 1992) Managers support has great impact on employees decision to take up WLB programs/benefits. It is also noted that employees well supported by their managers have less work/life conflicts. Career Consequences: The second factor which reduces the utilisation of WLB programs is career consequences. One of the best examples for this is part time work. Part time workers have the career disadvantage which was first discovered by Schwartz(1989). They receive less training, low pay and hardly get promoted to higher positions. But this scenario is slowly changing now. Many organisations promote their talented part time workers to full time. Time Expectations: The third factor that hinders the WLB programs is the organisations time expectations i.e the number of hours the employees work, how they use their time etc. A supportive organisations time expectation reduces the problems of work/life balance. Long working hours may improve the companys productivity but it will conflict in meeting employees responsibilities. It has been suggested that organisations could move towards more supportive time expectations by loosening managerial control while fostering high productivity through outcome-oriented employee evaluation. (Glassy Finley 2002) Gendered Perceptions: Although most of the organisations are said to be non-discriminatory and neutral to both the genders but most of the policies revolve in facilitating balance for women. Men have certain barriers from using work life balance programs. Men have more work pressures like maintaining market share, increasing their earnings. Encouraging men to use the work life programs is very important. Paternity leave is now available for men also. Co-Worker Support: The 5th factor which will help in achieving work life balance is co worker support. Kirby Krone (2002), for example, explored the views of employees in a finance organisation about the implementation and utilisation of work/life balance policies. They found that attitudes expressed by co-workers illustrated how the construction of work/life benefits was affected by factors such as expectations of business travel for employees with and without family responsibilities; orientations of individualism and meritocracy; and traditional separations between public and private spheres. Therefore the reactions of co-workers towards the WLB policy users must be considered by the managers. Advantages of work life balance programs: Growth and Profit impact: If the employees of an organisation work stressfully it will definitely affect its growth and profit. A well defined work life strategy would help to remove the stress and work pressure from the employees and this would result in better productivity and increase the return on investment. Full Engagement and customer service: Organisation with stressful employees who are out of balance will greatly reduce their involvement in work and their services to the customers. This will affect the growth of the company. So if the work force has balance with work and life they can strive hard to work toward the objectives of the company and achieve customer satisfaction. So effective work life strategies directly results in well being of the company as well as employees. Competitive advantage for talent: The recent increase in the number young workers also increased their expectations towards positive work life culture. The workers expect the employers to unders tand that work is not the only thing in their life, they also have other important things in life to be taken care of. Work life balance issues are one of important reasons for employees to quit their job. So effective work like balance programs and policies will definitely help the companies to retain their talented work force and act as competitive advantage. Health-care cost solution: As cost of health care is rising it creates a concern on the management to become proactive about the workers health. So the management can try to engage the employees in better life style by creating a healthy workplace as key component to the solution. (Bird 2006) Retention because of WLB: WLB programs play an important role to retain the existing employees. Successful organisations have realised the importance of WLB for retention (Cumming, 2004). Infact one of the key reasons for employers to introduce WLB programs in organisations is to keep the existing employees instead of recruiting new ones. For successful companies either formally or informally WLB programs are part of their retention strategies Flexibility a part of work life benefits is an important factor to retain the employees. Employees prefer staying with employers who provide flexible working (Cumming, 2004). WLB programs is used as a marketing tool to attract new employees. Candidates are often influenced by the job offers and programs given by the employees (Joshi et. al, 2000). The cost involved in employee turnover and the loss of companies important information will be significant. A WLB program offers a solution for these retention problems (Lockwood, 2003). Work Life Strategy- Individual Difference: Work Life balance is not the same for everyone. The best WLB program for new may not be the same for your co-worker. A good work life balance for an individual who is starting his or her career will be different from the person who is going to retire, a person who is single will have different work life balance from the person who is married. Our own work life balance may also change daily at times. So the company cannot identify the right work life balance for us, we should identify it. (Bird 2006) Brad Harrington, the director of Boston Colleges Center for Work Family, has reflected on past efforts. He says, Work-life balance comes down, not to an organizational strategy, but to an individual strategy. Often organizational programs cost a great deal of money and miss the mark for the individual, or at least most of the individuals. We have built in-house child-care centers that require a large investment in bricks, mortar, and staffing. They create a lot of visibility. But at the end of the day, what about the 9 out of 10 individuals who dont have kids between 1 to 5? Harrington does not say the work life balance programs are of no use but he what feels necessary is something that takes it down to the individual levelmore help to the individual to help them sort it out for themselves. Dual -Purposes Work and Life Training: Dual purposes training program is education that applies both to learners on the job lives as well as off-job lives. It has been proven to be the quickest way to achieve both organisations work objectives and individuals work life balance. This training program fits all levels of employees from the senior management to low level workers. Human resource managers who conduct this training program achieve two major goals. One they increase the commitment, productivity, retention of the most valuable workers of their organisation and second they make their senior managers and supervisors develop a positive view of the organisation at all levels. From the studies of worklifebalance.com dozens of corporate and government clients have started this dual training program. The result has impacted the productivity rate also. In the study of over 5000 users of dual learning program approach, 94% reported on the job productivity gain and 24% on individual productivity. Work Life Balance Policies and Practice Case analysis: This chapter elaborates the case analysis, policies and practice of work life balance in Tata Consulting Service, the Indian IT giant. It gives an in depth knowledge of WLB programs and practice in the organisation. Company Information: Tata group of companies operate in seven business sectors namely communication and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Tata Consulting Services (TCS) was started in the year 1968 with its head quarters in Mumbai, India. It was formed as a division of Tata Sons Limited (TSL) one of Indias largest conglomerates. Tata now operates in 42 countries and has more than 142 branches around the globe. (Tata 2010) TCSs first assignment was to provide punch card services for its sister concern Tata Steel. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT and IT-enabled services delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model, recognised as the benchmark of excellence in software development. TCS being of the largest private companies in India has over 130000 individuals working in the company. Today, TCS is a leading global software company. (Tata 2010) WLB in TCS: The importance of WLB has been greatly recognised by TCS. Ritu Anand, Vice President and Deputy Head of Global HR, TCS, says: The knowledge industry is characterised by a very young and dynamic workforce. The new breed of IT professionals aspires for a work environment that is holistic, balanced and complete. A flexible work environment and work-life balance are key drivers of employee satisfaction.(Arora, 2010) TCS offers a flexible work environment where employees are given the option to work part-time or work from home under special circumstances. We offer adoption leave to the parent irrespective of the gender. If some of our female associates choose to discontinue work for a temporary period of time due to family commitments and rejoin the organisation at a later stage, continuity of service is considered. Employees also have the option to go for sabbaticals, she adds. TCS encourages all its employees to maintain a balance between work and life. To make it easy for the e mployees to achieve it TCS offers a wide range of benefits and programs to its employees. The following are the benefits offered by TCS to its employees. Bouquet of Benefits: This is a program offered by TCS to its employees, where the employees can design their own benefits package. Each employee will have different needs of benefits. So this program BoB allows them to choose the benefits according to their own needs. All the employees are entitled to this programs but the range of benefits differs for each level of employees. Few examples of the benefits offered are house rent allowance, food coupons, conveyance allowance, sundry medical, personal allowance etc. (Knowmax, 2008) Insurance: TCS does understand the importance of having a healthy workforce to build a productive work place. For TCS, wellbeing of their employees and families is very important. TCS provides Health Insurance Scheme to its employees which provide best class insurance at subsidised cost. This scheme protects the employees as well their families. It protects the employees from financial loss during any accident or medical issues. (Knowmax, 2008) Leave: Every employee in TCS is allowed to take leave for fixed number of days as defined in the internal policy of TCS. Leave may be availed under different leave types such as sick leave, maternity leave etc. TCS provides maternity leave as per the Maternity Act 1961, i.e. 12 weeks leave. The employees of TCS get 7 days casual paid leave in a year. This leave if not used gets accumulated in the coming years. The employees are also entitled to take 10 days paid sick leave in a year. (Knowmax, 2008) Perquisites: Perquisites are certain additional benefits given to certain grade of employees alone. Earlier in TCS company cars were provided to employees of certain grade, but now car allowance is provided every month so that the employee can purchase or lease a car of his own choice. The car allowance amount is exempt from income tax.(Knowmax, 2008) Employee Wellbeing: Employee Wellbeing Program by TCS is an approach to provide the employees with caring and supportive workplace so that they get a sense of belonging and commitment towards the company. TCS believes such program will create an environment where employees get higher motivation, commitment to stay in the company and encourages advocacy by employees about the Company to their acquaintances outside the Company. TCS also believes that a well designed Employee Wellbeing Program and policies goes a long way towards enhancing employee engagement. (Knowmax, 2008) Loans and Advances: TCS understands that many employees will undergo financial difficulties or financial needs for any planned personal expenses like building a house or any emergencies. Hence TCS provides its employees loans and advances which the employees can avail for specific purposes. The employees can repay the amount according to a convenient repayment plan which reduced their financial burden. (Knowmax, 2008) Transport: Most of the employees would experience difficulties in commuting especially driving during peak traffic hours, travelling in crowded public transport would be really stressful. As a part of employee wellbeing program, TCS provided convenient and comfortable transport facilities to the employees for commuting from office to a place nearer to home. (Knowmax, 2008) Work Life Balance Programs/Policies in TCS: Holiday Homes Policy: TCS understands the need of work life balance for their employees and so encourages the employees to relax themselves from work and go to vacation to spend some quality time with their family. Planning a vacation, booking tickets, accommodation may all be a difficult task and expense as well. For this reason TCS lends support to the employees by letting them stay in TCS Holiday Homes. TCS Holiday Homes are located in many locations across India. These homes are provided at very nominal rate and also provide a comfortable stay. This policy is available to all the full time employees in TCS. The employees can use the holiday homes for maximum of 4 consecutive days. There no limit on the number times a employee uses holiday homes during his/her tenure.(Knowmax 2008) Pulse: Pulse is TCSs annual Employee Satisfaction Survey. This survey is conducted every year to measure and understand employees attitude, motivation, satisfaction, opinions. It helps the company to know its employees better. Based on the survey necessary changes are made according to the employees need to make the workplace better and easier to work. TCS always believes in continuous improvement and giving best to its employees. Through Pulse suggestions are welcomed and shortcomings are ascertained. (Knowmax 2008) Maitree: The word Maitree means Friendship. TCS has bought great significance to this word and translated it into the Spirit of Camaraderie with meaningful social activities for the employees and their families. Anand, Vice President and Deputy Head of Global HR, TCS, goes on to say that at TCS, they strive to make work a joyful experience and encourage work-life balance through Maitree, a unique platform for all employee engagement activities. Different clubs like Theatre Club, Bibliophile Club, Adventure and Trekking Club, Fitness Club, Sanctuary Club, Music Club and Community Services Club, among others facilitate fun at work. These clubs organise various activities like yoga, dance lessons, music competitions, trekking expeditions, sports activities, regular visits to NGOs, among other activities for TCS employees. (Arora 2010) Maitree also involves the engagement of families of the employees. An example of this would be on Family Day, all the employees bring their family members to the workplace and take around the workplace. Fun activities like painting, games, movies etc for children of the employees are organised. This creates a bond not only with employee and organisation but also with their family and helps to drive retention. (Arora 2010) Biswabijoy Sen, Associate Consultant with TCS, says that the Maitree has greatly helped him to balance work and life. Sen, the lead singer of TCS band Kollage, recalls that the six-member band had been given a place for practise after the office hours, and all the equipment was bought by the company. We also released an album, June, which was greatly appreciated by TCSers. What was really encouraging is that our CEO took a personal interest in the making of the album, he says. (Arora 2010) Maitree apart associating with employees and their family also does social activities to certain communities which will be benefitted from helping hand. Other programs initiated by Maitree are employability to differently abl ed, HIV/AIDS sensitization and peer education, Green Audits to check the excess consumption of water, electricity and water etc.Maitree has an official website www.maitree.com. This site enables the members of maà ®tre throughout the world to contact each other and keep in touch. (Knowmax 2008)