ILPC 2026

Work –family balance practices (WFBPs) refer to the human resource practices and policies created by organisations that facilitate one’s work, family and personal life to be integrated, and the ability to form a workplace environment that encourages workers’ commitment (Poelmans et al. 2008). The WFBPs are a common human resource practices and have been adopted in most Western countries, although they are growing new to Asian countries (Subramaniam 2010). The core focus of the paper is to examine how a different socio-political economic context (culture, religion, employment law), such as the Malaysian context, has an impact in the implementation of WFBPs. Moreover, by drawing on two Malaysian oil and gas (O&G) companies, this paper explores the implementation and experiences of WFBPs in two different sectors: one private multi-national company and one government owned company. A number of researchers have examined the issue of WFBPs in Malaysia. While the implementation of family-friendly practices in multinational or international companies even and included few small firms has a long history; only limited studies examined the implementation of these HRM practices within Malaysian government owned companies, due to their recent start (Subramaniam, 2010). This study aims explored further this under research context. In addition, the work environment of O&G companies has not yet deeply explored within the current literature and, as our data showed, has a deep impact in developing specific WFBPs. Previous studies (Bloom et al. 2011) showed that family-friendly practices such as the introduction of flexible hours, childcare flexibility, working from home, job sharing, and childcare subsidy, positively affected the work –life-balance of workers. However these practices can have some drawbacks, if they are not associated with the involvement of supervisor support (Chou and Cheung 2013). Therefore, the role of managers plays a major role in the implementation of these policies and practices. One of the objectives of this study is to examine managers’ experiences and attitudes towards WFBPs by investigating their role, strategies and challenges in implementing such practices in the Malaysian context. Our data collection draws on 36 semi-structured interviews with managers/ executives and employees of O&G companies (one multi-national company and one government owned company). Overall our data clearly show that different employment laws, culture (collectivism versus individualism) religion, work environment (O&G companies) and sector (private versus public) have deeply influenced the implementation and experience of WFBPs within the two companies examined. References Bloom, N., T.Kretschmer, and J. Van Reenen. (2011). “Are family-friendly workplace practices a valuable firm resource ?” Strategic Management Journal, 32: 343–67. Chou, K. L., and K. Chi Kin Cheung. (2013). “Family-Friendly Policies in the Workplace and Their Effect on Work–life Conflicts in Hong Kong.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(20): 3872–85. Poelmans, S.A.Y., S. Patel, and B. Beham. (2008). “Stages in the Implementation of Work-Life Policies.” In Harmonizing Work, Family, and Personal Life: From Policy to Practice, 133–65., Cambridge University Press. Subramaniam, G. (2010). “Family Friendly Policies In Malaysia: Where Are We?” Journal of International Business Research 9(1): 43–56.