PREFACE: YOU CANNOT SURVIVE ON FAVOURS ALONE

I know two women who are to retire in three and five years, respectively. A neighbour of mine started that next phase in her life this year. Although I do not belong to that target group yet, I went to take a look at mypension.be. It turns out that I still have 14 more years to go, the same amount of time I worked in Brussels at the time.

That discovery brought me right back to some great and less great memories, such as the daily commute to Brussels. As a daughter of a car body repairer, I grew up with stories about cars. I have always loved driving, and I hope electric cars are the future. However, with three little children in the back of the car, travelling became a lot less fun. After a while, unexpected traffic jams became routine. I remember the guilt I felt when I came home late once again and still had to start preparing dinner… I wish my younger colleagues a much healthier work-life balance.

However, you cannot survive on favours alone. That is why work-life options like maternity protection, parental leave, paternal leave and co-parent leave are embedded in legislation. Thanks to thorough research and advice from social partners, laws and regulations are constantly improved. They offer certainty and security, and will lead to more job satisfaction.

The same is true for telework, which really gives me an energy boost. Within our own organisation, we now work alternately at the office and at home. The work model was developed through social dialogue, which is why it is supported by many. A CLA describes rights and duties, and gives employees the chance to organise their work and life even better. It also offers leaders a framework to finetune the work organisation and to coach the employees within a hybrid work environment.

ACV encourages its employee delegates to survey employees within organisations and enterprises and connect them around common issues. Everything that is connected to work-life balance is very important to knowledge workers, executives and managers. I really hope that themes like ‘boundaries’ and ‘disconnection’ will become part of the social dialogue in more and more companies. Go for it, we are here for you!

Never Work Alone 2021 | Author: Sandra Vercammen | Image: Dries Luyten