Employers have been urged to bid for an extra £5m support from a £10.5m government fund in a bid to help businesses to benefit from profitable and practical ways of helping staff strike a better balance between work, family and other responsibilities. Employment minister, Margaret Hodge, described yesterday's announcement as a new drive to tackle business problems such as high staff turnover and absenteeism by looking at more flexible working practices to support better work-life balance. Announcing a further 19 companies across the UK which have successfully secured a share of the £10.5m Work-Life Balance Challenge Fund, Mrs Hodge said: Whether you are a health and beauty salon, a train company, an insurance firm or a county cricket club - work-life balance is a win-win-win situation for everyone. The government is keen to stress that work balance is not only an issue for women. DfEE research has shown that many men would like to have shorter hours and more flexibility in the way they work. More men than women want to work flexitime (37 per cent compared to 33 per cent) or work a compressed working week (37 per cent compared to 28 per cent). Only 8 per cent of male employees currently work part-time, a further one-fifth (19 per cent) say they would like to. Peter Ellwood, chair of Employers for Work-Life Balance and chief executive of Lloyds TSB says he believes that putting work-life policies at the heart of corporate culture has allowed us to continue to achieve our business goals at the same time as improving employee morale and staff retention. Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses says that 19 projects bear testimony to the success of the scheme so far. Applications for the next round of Challenge fund money must be received by 19 May 2001. Details: www.dfee.gov.uk/work-lifebalance.