Klaipėdos universitetas

Studies based upon surveys in different countries demonstrate that work-life balance (WLB) is one of important factors of job satisfaction (JS). The present article tries to reveal WLB as a factor of JS in social care services in Lithuania. This sector is interesting due to the fact that personal social services as a separate area of welfare, as well as the profession of social work, was established in Lithuania only after 1990 and, therefore, is little researched. The research findings showed that, if to build upon the overall evaluation approach, WLB is an important factor of JS in social care services in Lithuania. In other words, employees satisfied with WLB in their organisation are more likely to be satisfied with job in general. On the other hand, if to use the components approach, whereby WLB consists of multiple aspects that define the balance and give specific meaning to it, not all WLB factors identified in the research have been found significant for both overall assessment of WLB and JS. Therefore, the overall assessment of WLB does not provide basis to formulate recommendations for improving social policy. This requires creating a framework of WLB that is as detailed and systematic as possible, while restricted list of factors may produce incomplete WLB “picture” within the organisation.