Work-life balance: contrasting managers and workers in an MNC Fiona Moore Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast the workers and managers of an Anglo-German MNC, focusing on how each group attempts to maintain an acceptable work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on a two-year-long ethnographic study, including in-depth interviews, participant-observation and archival research. Findings – Although the bulk of the company’s work-life balance initiatives focus on the managers, and the managers display greater loyalty to the company, the workers are better able to achieve work-life balance. Neither group displays a more positive attitude to their work; however, the managers focus more on achieving status and the workers on personal satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The findings challenge assertions that “flexible” working practices are good for work-life balance, that managers are better able to maintain a good work-life balance than workers, and that the development of an appropriate work-life balance policy assists in ensuring company loyalty and positive attitudes to work. Practical implications – This article suggests that flexible working may contribute to poor work-life balance, and that success may be less an issue of developing work-life balance policies and more of encouraging a healthy attitude towards work. Originality/value – This article focuses on the occupationally stratified aspects of work-life balance, comparing managers and workers within an organisation. Keywords Flexible working hours, Job satisfaction, Industrial relations, Multinational companies, United Kingdom, Germany Paper type Research paper Introduction With the rise of studies on work-life balance, many researchers have debated whether flexible working practices have had positive or negative effects on the ability of employees to maintain a positive work-life balance. Most of these studies, however, treat organisations as a unit, without considering different effects at different levels. Through an ethnographic study of a European multinational corporation, this article compares how issues relating to work-life balance have affected managers and shop-floor workers. The extant literature on the subject of work-life balance tends to make three assumptions: (1) that workers are worse off than management when it comes to work-life balance issues; (2) that improving a company’s employees’ work-life balance leads not only to greater productivity but to greater company loyalty and job satisfaction; and (3) that work-life balance can best be maintained by programmes and initiatives taking advantage of flexible working practices. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm Work-life balance in an MNC 385 Employee Relations Vol. 29 No. 4, 2007 pp. 385-399 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0142-5455 DOI 10.1108/01425450710759217