Long working hours are intruding on personal lives. This is the finding to emerge from the University of SA's Work, Life and Workplace Flexibility: the Australian Work and Life Index 2009.

The report shows a quarter of full-time working Australians feel work regularly interferes with their personal lives, with women in particular feeling the pressure more than ever.

Is this a sentiment present in your workplace?

It’s a question worth asking, because these are prime conditions for poor return to work.

If your employee feels overworked, overloaded, overused and like their work is getting in the way of the rest of their life, they are unlikely to feel motivated to return to work after an injury or illness has taken them away from the job.

Who in the right mind would want to hurry back to a job that has them working so long they never get to see their children, or so hard that by the time they get home they’re too tired to have a decent chat with their partner?

Working conditions in your workplace will have a big impact on the successful return to work of your employees.

As a manager or supervisor, you can affect change in the working culture of your workplace by making the changes necessary to avoid burnout and feelings of being overworked among your employees.

It’s important to speak to your staff to understand how they feel about work, and the work-life balance. Are they feeling on top of things, energised when they arrive for a new day and satisfied when they leave at the end of a day? Do they feel like they have time and energy for their job and their family?

When the answer is no, and staff are unhappy about it, a little flexibility can go a long way.

Speak to your staff about how they’re going, and make sure they know your available for a chat – the problems you’re aware of are the ones you have a chance to solve, before your employees have had enough.

Keep an eye out on RTW Matters for tips from James Adonis who offers some practical tips on how to recognise and avoid burnout in staff.