Company work-life balance policies: moving between discrete contracts and relational contracts,

The paper presents the results of an exploratory investigation into the welfare services provided by ten Italian private companies for their employees. The organisations studied were selected according to the contents of the welfare packages they offer. This study, based on the qualitative methodology of case studies, is one of the first attempts to identify the social mechanisms that allow company welfare services to bring about an improvement in the well-being of individuals, families and the working environment. Case studies show that private companies are starting to become new players in the welfare arena and their role will be fundamental in a new sustainable model of welfare. Both the literature and the results of this research demonstrate that company welfare services are designed, planned and implemented at the intersection of three spheres: the company, the individual and the family. The institution of the employment contract represents this intersection. Finally, this study has identified four different types of employment contract: discrete contract, “moral” contract, “work-based” relational contract, and “socially oriented” contract. Each type of contract differs in terms of: 1) the package of welfare services and benefits, 2) the exchange of labour and salary regarded as the outcome of a process of customisation, 3) the reflexivity of all the three social actors, 4) the recognition of the social subjectivity of all three parties. They each have different outcomes in terms of organisational, worker, family and community well-being