Work-Life-Balance and Performance among Female Employees in Law Firms in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Grounded in Border Theory, Boundary Theory, Spill-over Theory, and Inter-role Conflict Theory, this study examined the impact of work-life balance practices (leave policy, welfare policies, family responsibilities, and flexible working arrangements) on the performance of female lawyers in selected law firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Adopting a positivist philosophy and survey research design, data were collected from 226 female legal practitioners drawn from a target population of 520 across eight purposively selected firms using proportionate sampling. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and simple linear regression analyses were employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings revealed a strong and statistically significant relationship between work-life balance practices and employee performance (R² = .844; Adjusted R² = .839; F = 166.040, p < .05), indicating that the model explained over 84% of the variation in performance. Leave policy (β = .691, p < .001), welfare policies (β = .327, p < .001), and family responsibilities (β = .217, p < .001) exerted positive and significant effects on performance, whereas flexible working arrangements were not statistically significant (p > .05). The Durbin-Watson statistic (2.871) confirmed the absence of serial correlation. The study recommends automation of leave administration, equitable and performance-linked welfare packages, and the design of context-sensitive work-family policies that accommodate diverse family systems rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.

Keywords: Employee performance, female lawyers, legal firms, work-life balance practices, Nigeria