Consumer Law and Policy Relating to Change of Circumstances Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

An unprecedented number of consumer problems has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, not least with regard to refunds of prepayments and the ability of consumers to keep up their monthly payments under loan and rental agreements. Based on a notion of societal force majeure sketched in this paper, we propose guiding principles in respect of the introduction of moratoria on recurring payments, the use of refunds or vouchers in respect of prepayments, and associated enforcement challenges. This analysis draws on experiences around the globe.

Common Consumer Problems Due to the Pandemic
In addition to widespread loss of life and human suffering, COVID-19 is impacting on a wide range of societal activities, often with significant legal consequences. Consumer issues have been at the forefront during the pandemic. Examples of price gouging have led some countries to introduce price controls (e.g., Croatia, Italy, and South Africa). Unscrupulous traders have exploited health concerns by making unwarranted claims for COVID-19-related products or have supplied counterfeit or of poor quality products. Our focus is, however, on how the changed circumstances due to COVID-19 impact on established contractual relations. In particular, we look at two important areas of concern due to the COVID-19 pandemic: (i) Consumer debt (ii) Consumers seeking refunds for cancelled travel bookings and events These problems not only affect substantial numbers of consumers but are also forcing radical thinking to find just and manageable solutions. Moratoria on consumer credit and/or rent obligations have been introduced, and the idea of debt jubilees has been raised. Travel companies are struggling to reimburse the large number of cancellations on time and are sometimes seeking to give consumers vouchers or credits instead of a refund to assist their own liquidity and ensure their survival. These are novel challenges facing legal systems, and they seem poorly equipped to handle them using their traditional legal tools. Some states have responded with tailored legislative responses to COVID-19, but these often raise as many questions as they answer. We seek to provide some principles to guide the legal response to contracts affected by COVID-19 and to demonstrate how these might apply in the two areas considered. In drafting and applying these principles, it should be recognized that vulnerable consumers will be amongst the worst affected by the pandemic and are likely to be unable to bear the financial impact to the same extent as the majority of citizens. Also, states will find themselves able to support citizens and businesses to different degrees with many developing countries only able to provide minimal support. Specific rights call therefore also for effective, and potentially collective, solutions.

Existing Legal Regimes
Contracts can contain provisions specifying what should happen when unforeseen circumstances arise. In some legal systems, this may be subject to a good faith provision to prevent abuse of rights. Traders may plausibly argue that the scale of the pandemic takes it outside any potential scenario envisaged and thereby justify renegotiation of existing contracts. Equally, in consumer contracts, any term that is imbalanced against consumers may be subject to challenge under laws controlling the use of unfair contract terms.
Absent express clauses, legal systems have a limited number of tools to seek to achieve justice in changed circumstances. One traditional criticism of legal rules on force majeure or impossibility or, in common law systems, the doctrine of frustration, is that they set a high threshold for invoking them as these generally require that performance has become impossible. For COVID-19-related cases, this will often not be a barrier as legislation enforcing lockdowns has made many consumer contracts impossible or unduly burdensome to perform. Potentially, it may be an issue when a contract is suspended for only part of its duration, as in the case of an annual gym membership or contract for a live sports channel, or where only limited services are offered. Such rules have also traditionally, in most legal systems, failed to take adequate account of life events (illness, redundancy, etc.) that impact on the consumer's ability to perform the contract. Furthermore, the remedies are typically rather blunt and not well suited to fashion solutions for the situations generated by COVID-19.
The common law knows of no obligation to renegotiate. Either the contract is frustrated or the original obligations remain in place. Many civil law systems use the principles of good faith and rebus sic stantibus to impose a duty to renegotiate in extraordinary circumstances, and to allow the courts to impose solutions where agreement cannot be reached. However, there is little guidance as to what renegotiated contract terms should be imposed in response to COVID-19-induced change of circumstances. There are also laws governing specific sectors that provide for tailored solutions. In Europe, the Package Travel Directive is one notable example of such legislation.
A problem with all these traditional private law solutions is that they rely on individualized renegotiation or litigation. This is unrealistic in the COVID-19 context as the volume of claims would fall like an avalanche on the legal systems.

Actions Taken in Response to the Pandemic
Several states have taken specific action to address the pandemic problem. Some, like Germany, have introduced moratoria on consumer debts or, like South Africa, have introduced restrictions on the enforcement of debts. In the United Kingdom (UK), similar results have been achieved by the financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), fine-tuning their rules. The period of moratorium varies typically between three and six months. However, there remains uncertainty about the consequences of the moratorium and what happens when it ends.
Belgium and Italy are two countries that have introduced legislation that permits, subject to certain conditions, vouchers to be given in respect of cancelled events or package travel holidays. Although the South African Consumer Goods and Services Ombud has acknowledged consumers' right to a refund, she tried to persuade consumers to accept vouchers where this was possible and, somewhat confusingly, ends a press release by suggesting that suppliers may not be liable for a refund after all if a consumer unreasonably refuses the supplier's offer to supply comparable goods or services later (Consumer Goods and Services Ombud 2020).
The problems raised by the pandemic are crying out for a principled approach. The European Law Institute has made a start by setting out Principles for the Covid-19 Crisis with principle 12 on moratorium of regular payments and principle 13 on force majeure and hardship being of relevance (ELI 2020). However, the consumer context raises particular issues we consider merit more specific guidance and an approach that balances the interests of consumers and traders in these unique circumstances.

Principles for Responding to the Pandemic
All private law regimes have some doctrine concerning the impact of changed circumstances. These have various contents and use various labels. However, what they can offer is not enough with regard to the challenges raised by the pandemic for several reasons.
The impact of the pandemic is felt on an unprecedented scale for both businesses and consumers. As a global crisis, and a crisis that affects all branches of society and economy, it goes far beyond what the traditional legal means were developed for. It is not the context for which consumer law, and general private law, was designed. In addition to issues on a micro-level of individual contracts, there are simultaneously macro-level issues of a more systemic nature. The latter include a need for relatively quick solutions, to ensure that money is paid or reimbursed rapidly, to avoid further insolvency issues, as well as a need to prevent as much as possible that courts are paralysed with several thousand additional COVID-19-related cases. The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and the Euro crisis which followed taught us that consumer debts have an impact on the economy at large. In those instances, consumers were the debtors. The pandemic has added a new complication: Consumers are turning into creditors of the tourism and leisure industry, where their individual rights for refunds are not being honoured. We argue that a solution has to be guided, at least to some extent, by new principles.

A Dynamic and Cooperative Understanding of Contract
First, as the impact of the pandemic is felt everywhere, the number of potential legal disputes related to the pandemic is both globally and nationally overwhelming. This makes the use of traditional legal means related to changed circumstances impractical, as they often heavily rely on an assessment of the individual case, ultimately by courts. Potentially new procedural means should be fostered, as presented below. They need, however, to be driven by a more relational understanding of contract. The idea of co-operation is much more developed in long-term contracts. Even in the case of spot contracts, matters do not end with the initial execution of the contract either-spot contracts also have a post-contractual phase. This issue has gained fresh significance due to the pandemic. Therefore, the principle of pacta sunt servanda should be conceived in a more dynamic and cooperative way, imposing a duty on parties to collaborate in finding creative solutions to keep the contractual relationship and parties afloat, and sharing in a fair way the consequences of the pandemic.
Much of the impact of the crisis affects all parties to the contractual chains involved. Many actors are suffering. Therefore, a traditional private law on/off-solution might not be the best instrument in such cases, since it might affect randomly parties in the contractual chain, without an understanding of the overall perspective. Compromise solutions should be agreed both in bringing to the table as many parties of the contractual chain involved as possible, and in distributing the burden between the parties in a fair way. For example, in landlord and tenant relations, one should not only envisage moratoria ("breathing spaces") or longer periods of time to pay the rent (see below), but in some instances provide for a fair reduction of the rent for a certain period. In consumer lease contracts, such a fair reduction may be triggered by the fact that tenants have lost their jobs or had to accept reduced salaries due to partial unemployment related to COVID-19 measures.

Social and Societal Force Majeure
For consumers, the situation can often be classified as a situation of social force majeure (Wilhelmsson 1992, pp. 180-216), protecting consumers who, as a result of unforeseeable developments, have been hit by unemployment or illness. Here, there are lessons to learn from the Euro crisis. Those consumers who were most in need of support were not the ones who benefitted from national support programmes aimed at banking liquidity at that time. Quite the contrary seemed to be true. Consumer law needs to develop principles on how to deal with conflicting needs, similar to the discourse on intersectionality in the context of discrimination law, by seeking to identify those who are in greatest need of support.
As a kind of "extraordinary contract law" (Pichonnaz 2020), the search for co-operative solutions entails displacing the more rigid contractual or legal devices for allocating unforeseen risks and changed circumstances, when dealing with the contractual consequences of the measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present principles better reflect the collective impact of the pandemic on all the involved interests, not only consumers but also businesses. They should seek to balance the impact on the whole of the economy, rather than just protecting one player, be it a business, be it a consumer, or more specifically be it business sectors and particular types of consumers. A principle of "societal force majeure" could recognize that not just consumers are financially impacted, but that also businesses are in severe and unexpected financial difficulties.

Incentives to Encourage Cooperative Solutions
A case-by-case basis is inappropriate; the current situation requires an approach that combines individual and collective remedies, not only for procedural reasons, but also to prevent strong parties in a contractual relationship from abusing their power during individual negotiations, either because of their contractual power, or their ability to allocate their risk on more contracts, or even because of their better knowledge of the effects of some measures taken by the authorities. The answer to these threats is, however, not only procedural, by relying on collective or sectorial negotiations or further means (see below). It should also go to the substance. For example, authorities should not inject huge amounts of money to sustain travel agencies and airline companies without requiring them to give their contractual parties a real and effective right to get a fair refund of their advance payments.

Incentives to Encourage Sustainable Solutions
An approach that combines individual and collective remedies and seeks to balance the impact on the whole economy also creates opportunities to favour those solutions that facilitate the transition towards more sustainable consumption and production (Sarkis et al. 2020). In terms of sustainable consumption, the current crisis has triggered behavioural changes with both negative (such as increased use of packaging, substituting private for public transport) and positive effects (such as the increased uptake of shorter producer-to-consumer models, less (unnecessary) commuting) (Boons et al. 2020). In the search for cooperative solutions to this crisis, the sustainability aspect can and must be taken into account. Thus, for example, when renegotiating public transport subscriptions, an extension of the contract term could be combined with more flexibility to allow for continued teleworking.

Response 1: Moratoria
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects rights and obligations of both creditors and consumers as contracting parties to credit agreements across the world. Due to loss or decrease of income, consumers face serious financial difficulties resulting in their inability to repay credit instalments on a monthly basis. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing some consumers to overcome the poor financial situation by entering into new consumer credit agreements, often at higher interest rates. Bearing in mind the devastating economic consequences that could result from the significant imbalance in contracting parties' rights and obligations caused by the pandemic, many jurisdictions reacted with the so-called "moratorium" proposals suspending or postponing consumers' credit payment obligation from three to six months (Act of 20 May 2020 on Consumer Credit, to Help Borrowers Combat the Crisis Caused by the Coronavirus (Belgium); Act to Mitigate the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic under Civil, Insolvency and Criminal Procedure (Germany); Royal Decree-Law on Urgent Special Measures To Tackle the Economic and Social Impact of COVID-19 (Spain); Ordonnance COVID-19 bail à loyer et bail à ferme (Switzerland)). In some instances, the obligation has not been suspended, but a moratorium has been placed on enforcement of any default. For example, in the United States of America (USA), there is a moratorium on payment of federally backed student loans for 180 days, but no rules on private student loans (CARES Act, sec. 4022).
A federal moratorium exists on evictions (but not on the payment of rent) for tenants in certain types of properties backed by federally protected mortgages, but only limited state-bystate legal protections for other tenants (CARES Act, sec. 4024(b)) and a state-by-state limit on collection efforts, such as garnishment and lawsuits, for consumer debt (e.g., Texas Supreme Court, Emergency Order 15 -Issued 05/14/2020). England and Wales paused possession actions for private rentals for 3 months (Coronavirus Act 2020, s.81 and Schedule 29) but provided no moratorium on rental payments. These legislative and non-legislative measures often deal only partially, or not at all, with a variety of issues related to consumer loans. 1 Below, we identify the most important issues affecting contracting parties to consumer loans, namely the question of interest rates during and after the moratorium, the impact on credit ratings and the length of the moratorium. We also propose measures for protection of mortgage and rent payers.

Interest Rates During and After Moratorium
Many moratoria permit interest to continue to run during the moratorium period (Financial Conduct Authority 2020a, b). There are examples of legal solutions, where demanding payment of any additional contractual costs in form of fees or interest is not allowed (e.g., in Belgium). This is the rule in the US for federally backed student loans, which suspends interest and does not allow fees or late charges.
There might be concerns that loan contracts are renegotiated in a manner that banks are "paid" for a moratorium, e.g., through additional fees or charges. Such commercial behaviour could in the future be challenged in a number of individual and collective consumer redress proceedings. On the other hand, due to mandatory arbitration agreements prohibiting collective redress in most financial agreements, this probably is not an option in the USA. Despite the amendments being presented as an "option" to consumers, the contractual terms on "paid" moratoriums could be challenged under EU law using the unfairness test (Directive 93/13/EEC, Art. 3(1)). However, such contractual terms could be qualified by national courts as essential elements of the contract if they are affecting the amount of the loan's principal (as main subject matter) and interest (as price). In that case, contractual terms would be excluded from the unfairness test if they satisfy the so-called transparency requirement (Miscenic 2018, p.143). In contrast, EBA guidelines do not consider adaptation of variable interest rate during moratorium as an amendment of the contract (EBA 2020).
In the light of foregoing and bearing in mind that "moratorium" means suspension, postponement or reducing of party's obligations, we suggest that during the moratorium period, requiring payment of additional contractual costs in form of fees or interest should not be allowed. This legal solution is accepted in Spain when the borrower is under a situation of economic vulnerability according to the requirements of the new regulation.

Prolongation of Contract Duration
Since the pandemic is affecting both sides of the contractual relationship and is unlikely to have run its course within the three-month period of most current moratoria, we argue that the costs incurred by the creditor are best mitigated by extending the credit contract duration. Consumer credit agreements should either be extended for the time period of the "moratorium" and for several months after, or a compromise reduction agreed in the obligations of the parties. Such a legal solution would ensure the returning to balance of the contracting parties' rights and obligations during the extended period of time. The prolonged contractual period would extend the instalments payments under a credit agreement and give consumerborrowers the opportunity to adapt their financial situation to new life circumstances and the new economic situation on the labour market whilst ensuring a greater likelihood of ultimate repayment. This proposal should not in any case affect other consumer rights under the loans contract, such as the right to early repayment of a loan.
As an example, Section 4022 of US CARES Act provides relief to student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 national emergency. Federal student loan borrowers are automatically being placed in an administrative forbearance, which sets interest at 0% and allows borrowers to temporarily stop making monthly loan payments. This suspension of payments and interest will last until September 30, 2020. Borrowers may still make payments, which will be applied to the principal.

Impact on Creditworthiness Assessment
Although, the issue is extensively regulated by EU Directives on consumer credit (Directive 2008/48/EC, Art. 8; Directive 2014/17/ЕU, Arts. 4(17) and 18-21), norms of anti-discrimination, and data protection, the conditions affecting the "credit scoring" are partly regulated by national credit laws or are determined by internal criteria and assessment of credit institutions. These criteria usually encompass the personal and economic status of the debtor, liquidity and assets, debtor's income and prospects on the employment market, as well as exposure to interest, exchange and other financial risks. This gives credit institutions leeway to adjust their rules on creditworthiness assessments that should be adequately adapted to the circumstances of the credit market during the moratorium stage. Bearing in mind the effects of the moratorium and our proposed legal solution on extending contracts, we propose postponement of creditworthiness assessments during the moratorium, and, after the moratorium has expired, preventing adverse inferences in respect of a consumer's creditworthiness if they have benefitted from a moratorium. 2 For instance, Belgian law provides explicitly that the suspension may not be recorded in the central credit registry as a default (Act of 20 May 2020 on Consumer Credit, to Help Borrowers Combat the Crisis Caused by the Coronavirus).

Prevention of Foreclosure Proceedings and Evictions
Closely related to the moratorium of contractual rights and obligations under consumer credit agreements are the use of foreclosure in the case of mortgages or eviction by landlords. According to the current extraordinary laws of many states, enforcement proceedings have, in principle, been stayed during the time period of three-six months, depending upon the respective country (Act to Mitigate the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic under Civil, Insolvency and Criminal Procedure Law (Germany)). For example, in the USA, there is a six-month federal moratorium on evictions for tenants in certain types of properties backed by federally protected mortgages, but only limited state-by-state legal protections for other tenants (CARES Act, sec. 4024(b)). However, once that moratorium is over, evictions could continue and eventually cause a lot of both economic and personal damage to consumers, who will lose their homes and assets due to their inability of repay the debts. The purpose of Spanish legislation on moratorium in mortgage and other credit loans, and also for renters, is to guarantee the right to housing for borrowers in a situation of special vulnerability, whose income has been reduced as a consequence of health crisis (see preamble of the Royal Decree-Law of 17 March 2020).
The prolongation of the contract period should be used by both parties to re-establish a proper balance between contracting parties' rights and obligations. Moreover, the importance of the 'fundamental right to a home' must be taken into account as protected under ECHR and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A United Nations Guidance Note suggests considering moratoria on evictions and rent payments, and even "rent and mortgage forgiveness for particularly vulnerable households" (United Nations 2020, no. 8

Response 2: Refunds and Vouchers
Business Cancellation or Substantial Delay 444 R. Alderman et al.
A very disruptive element of a crisis such as the pandemic is the cancellation or substantial delay of a pre-paid event, or services, due to restrictions imposed by state or local government. Weddings, sports events, cruises, air-travel, concerts, and similar events are planned in advance and it is not easy, or sometimes even possible, to reschedule. Businesses may lack sufficient resources to issue immediate refunds, and such an obligation may cause it to lay off employees, exacerbating the number of financially vulnerable consumers. Three alternative approaches present themselves. First, consumers may be entitled to a full refund, or at their option a voucher for future use, if the event is cancelled or substantially delayed. This is currently the rule in several countries, and many airlines, with respect to airfares (Regulation (EC) 261/2004; Cathay Pacific 2020; US Department of Transportation 2020). In favour of such a policy is the consideration that the economic burden is often substantially greater for the consumer.
To encourage consumers to choose a voucher for future use, it is suggested providers offer a "bonus amount," such as 15-25%, should the consumer agree to receive a voucher instead of a refund. This is currently the policy for some companies, e.g., Singapore Airlines (2020). If a voucher is issued, it should be valid for at least 18 months from the date of issue, regardless of the contract's terms. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has stipulated that any credit vouchers or notes issued should have an expiry date "long enough" to enable consumers to make use of the voucher (ACCC 2020). The European Commission has recommended a minimum validity of 12 months. Also, vouchers may be made "attractive" by allowing consumers to use them for any services offered by the provider (or other entities of the same group), or by making them transferable to other travellers without additional costs (European Commission 2020).
A second possible approach is to have a special dispensation for a crisis such as the pandemic, obliging consumers to accept vouchers, subject to some safeguards. Because many pre-planned events are purchased at a substantial discount, any "voucher" offered by the business must be for the same class of ticket or service for the future event, even if the cost has risen. Safeguards regarding recreational events in Belgium are (i) the voucher must have the same essential characteristics; (ii) the event will take place within two years of the original event date; (iii) the voucher represents the entire price of the ticket, no surcharges; and (iv) the voucher explicitly mentions the COVID-19 crisis (Ministerieel besluit betreffende de privé-en publieke activiteiten van culturele, maatschappelijke, festieve, folkloristische, sportieve en recreatieve aard 2020). A similar solution has been adopted in Italy with the following safeguards: (i) buyers must have claimed for reimbursement within 30 days from 19 May 2020 or from the communication of the impossibility of performance; (ii) the event will take place within 18 months of the original event date, and (iii) the voucher represents the entire price of the ticket (Law Decree on urgent measures regarding health, sustain to labour and economy, as well as social policies connected with the epidemiological emergency 2020).
Other safeguards may be that vouchers have a cash-in value at a later point, and that there be some protection if the business goes insolvent, e.g., by government.
The third, intermediate, approach, again for specific application in the context of a crisis, is to require consumers to accept vouchers equal to the value of their original ticket, unless the consumer can show that they are in financial difficulties, e.g., due to being furloughed or unemployed, or are otherwise unable to take up the service later. Otherwise, to cancel, the consumer must pay the cancellation fees subject to the original contract terms.
Which solution is best will probably vary across legal systems. Countries of the global south, such as many African countries, have considerably fewer resources than developed ones to help prevent businesses from going insolvent, and for social security to assist the unemployed, which may have devastating effects such as hunger leading to social unrest and crime. The refund option may be far harsher on businesses, their employees and society in general in these countries and so it is suggested that the third option may be more appropriate there. The African principle of ubuntu, which stresses human interdependence, co-responsibility, and concern (S v Makwanyane 1995, para.224), may further justify such an outcome in African countries with low resources. However, in more developed countries, it is proposed that the refund option coupled with strong incentives to choose vouchers instead is the best one. We recognize requiring a refund imposes an economic toll on the service provider, however, and we assume some negotiation regarding refund or voucher will take place.
A related issue is the effect of the pandemic on consumer rights with respect to services. For example, the Australian Consumer Law requires businesses supplying services to guarantee that those services are appropriately rendered 'fit for purpose' (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, sch 2, s 61), while businesses are also prohibited from receiving payment for services they do not intend to supply. For example, a river cruise company's failure to provide tour services of an enjoyable nature due to high river levels was deemed to contravene this provision (Moore v Scenic Tours Pty Limited 2017). It is conceivable consumers impacted by COVID-19 could make similar arguments regarding affected travel plans. This situation may also arise where, for example, a gymnasium continued charging subscribed members under their membership contracts knowing their facilities cannot be operating while under restriction.

Consumer Cancellation or Rescheduling
A more difficult situation arises when the event is not directly adversely affected by the pandemic, but rather by the consumer's concerns and fears regarding the safety of attending or conducting the event. Examples might include a scheduled cruise that is to set sail months after restrictions have been put in place due to the pandemic, a scheduled event is available after limits on large groups are lifted, or a flight is scheduled after restrictions are ended. Consumers may still feel unsafe to travel or hold the event at that time.
In such cases, the remedy should be a refund or travel voucher in the amount paid for future use, but at the option of the provider. If the consumer insists on a refund, the contract terms or other applicable law should control, unless the terms are found to be unfair or unconscionable. Some countries' existing legislation may allow cancellation of all bookings, subject to payment of a reasonable cancellation penalty, e.g., in South Africa (Consumer Protection Act 2008, section 17).
We argue that all parties should act reasonably and fairly and work together to minimize the impact of the decision to provide a voucher, but recognize that the business may incur costs due to the rescheduling. In such cases, contract terms regarding fees for rescheduling should be considered, and negotiated. Due to the nature of the pandemic and legitimate fears regarding resuming normal activities, providers should also consider extending the time period during which events may be rescheduled to 18 months, even in cases where contracts provide for a shorter period.

Resolution
To address some of the more pressing issues, states have sometimes adopted emergency regulations imposing solutions to solve some of the issues linked to consumer credit or mortgage, to commercial leases or, sometimes even, to ordinary private leases, as well as for package travel and other transport contracts that have been cancelled. These legislative solutions may be coupled with administrative sanctions in case of infringement, but often they do not provide for an effective remedy to implement the solutions provided for in the regulation. There is a pervasive idea that parties will mostly be willing to follow the regulations. Given the extraordinary economic pressure both on professionals and consumers, it is however far from sure that parties will be ready or even able to follow the solutions.
The principles of social and societal force majeure as presented above may call for more co-operative solutions. The scope and impact of the crisis may, however, also affect the way these cooperative solutions are arrived at and eventually enforced. The sheer number of cases linked to both individual cooperative solutions and enforcement of regulatory solutions may well overwhelm both courts and ADR systems, if cases are handled in an individualized way. Those bodies might well not be able to deliver the swift decisions that are required to avoid further insolvencies and harmful economic adverse situations.
A more collective resolution mechanism is therefore also needed. Although the collective dimension is not novel to consumer law, the effective resolution of mass cases remains a weakness both in many national systems and at EU level, notwithstanding the various recent initiatives that were taken in this regard (European Commission 2018). Even in national jurisdictions where collective actions (or even class actions) are possible, the adversarial character, complexity, and potential length of the proceedings may stand in the way of the swift and balanced outcome sought for in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. However, their procedures may also provide possibilities to come to a negotiated solution that can then be declared binding on all consumers involved by the court (thus, e.g., the WCAM system in the Netherlands that allows to declare a settlement binding on an opt-out basis and the Belgian class actions Act that has an obligatory negotiation phase before the (adversarial) part procedure can be continued).
Such collective negotiations may however also take place outside of a formal class actions system. One could envisage sectorial negotiations between national representatives of specific businesses and national or regional consumer protection organizations. These sectorial negotiations would be monitored by a COVID-19 mediator, who could, for example, be appointed by the Ministry of Trade in given countries. The COVID-19 mediator would be aware of other similar negotiations, so the creative models that may be found in one area might be adapted or reproduced in other. The result of such collective negotiations could then be implemented by parties, instead of having to seek individual solutions (unless doing so would result in a more suitable outcome). In the absence of consensual implementation, each party would then be able to ask for quick and efficient enforcement (Pichonnaz 2020, pp. 150-153). This combination of attempting voluntary solutions backed by effective enforcement as a fall-back could be effectively implemented, leaving enough room for individual parties to find more appropriate solutions when this is possible. A negotiated solution may also enhance the readiness of parties voluntarily to enforce those solutions, without an intervention of a public enforcement body.
In the absence of voluntary compliance, the additional powers granted in recent years to some public enforcers, allowing them to negotiate or impose a solution that includes redress or compensation for consumers and to accept commitments in case of an infringement of consumer law, may be a welcome tool to deal with the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. Good examples in this regard are the powers of the UK Financial Conduct Authority to impose consumer redress schemes (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s.404) as well as the UK's Consumer Rights Act (2015) that allows a broad range of public enforcers to decide on a case by case basis what is the best way to deal with an infringement (Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills 2015, p. 7). At EU level, the revised CPC regulation requires member states to ensure that national consumer authorities have the power to seek or accept commitments in case of an infringement of consumer law (Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, Art. 8).

Conclusion
One lesson we can learn from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers is that many of our traditional consumer protection rules are ill-suited to deal with the circumstances consumers around the world now face. Our focus on moratoria and refunds shows that national governments and regulators are confronting similar problems but are experimenting with different ways of addressing these concerns. The rapid adoption of new rules often lacks a sound principled basis, and the after-effects of these measures, once lifted, tend to be as-yet unaddressed. Furthermore, the differential impact of the crisis on consumers and the associated challenges for consumers to enforce their rights will necessitate a much more thorough review of dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms. Our discussion seeks to provide guidance to legislators and regulators around the world for moving forward.


Digital Transformation in Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Implementations

Organizations have realized the importance of the Logistics channel in a Supply Chain as it plays a critical role in gaining the competitive advantage for their businesses, especially in the current highly competitive and challenging business environment. And, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) is being one of the important and critical IT systems that helps the Logistics business to be visible and transparent for all the stakeholders in a business, thus gaining the advantage. As it evolves the technological developments in the market in the last decade or so, it has huge impact on the IT systems and WMS has no exception to it. Logistics businesses have been adopting these digital technologies to cope up with the technological advancements which helps to meet the customer expectations and requirements efficiently and thus help to provide the better customer service. This research article details out the digital technological transformation that has happened in the past decade in the Logistics business, in WMS implementations in particular, by conducting a case study in a leading Logistics and Supply Chain company.

INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management is all about managing all the business partners involved in a business as they intend to work very closely to deliver the results effectively and efficiently. The Supply chain management concept arose from the Manufacturing where it was a challenge to manage the materials flow from one business partner to another. And, the primary objective of a Supply Chain was to get the materials delivered from the supplier to consumer with the right product, right quality and at the right time. A typical supply chain model is shown below to understand the major entities or components involved as an example.
It is clear that the businesses have been emerging or started to emerge onto their supply chain to make it lean and fast to meet the customer expectations. And, bringing the visibility of the supply chain to all their business partners is important to achieve that expectations.

Fig 1. A Typical Supply Chain Model (source: Iron Systems Inc)
One of the key business entity in a Supply chain is the Logistics which helps greatly in meeting the customer expectations on the Warehousing and Distribution arena. As it can be seen in the below Logistics model diagram, it is a core and integral component in a Supply Chain which helps an enterprise to achieve the objective of a Supply chain. The primary activities in a Logistics channel are shown below and these activities can be carried out together by the same business partner or can be managed separately by individual business partner as it depends upon entirely on the nature and requirements of the service provider.
Each of these business entities contribute to the logistics channel in a business to maintain the inventory accurately and fulfill the customer requirements efficiently. And, when the logistics business model becomes much complex, it becomes very tedious and almost impossible to run the business with no IT capabilities.
Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) is one the key and important Logistics and Supply Chain applications that help the businesses to track and trace the inventory effectively, which ultimately helps them to evolve as a leader in the logistics and supply chain market compared to the ones who do not use the IT or WMS applications.

Fig 2. A Typical Logistics Model (source: wordpress.com)
The major functions within WMS are; Receiving, Putaway, Picking & Packing, Shipping, Cycle count and Replenishment. And, managing these functions in a business with no IT or WMS application becomes impossible when the customer expectation is to manage the entire supply chain process real-time and instantaneous.
Warehouse Management System can be selected based on the business and customer requirements as there are many in the market and choosing and implementing the right one is critical for the success of the business.
As it can be seen, there have many new technologies been evolved in the market in the last decade or so in general and these digital technologies are helping the businesses and changing the traditional way of doing any business and Logistics and Supply chain has no exception to it. The key here is to evaluate if and which technology is suitable for the business and get it implemented with the right strategy.
Very interestingly, the IT product companies have been taking advantage of these technologies and getting them implemented onto their IT applications. Thus helps the businesses to advance their IT capabilities which has a great impact on their logistics and supply chain to keep them seamless.
Hence, it is important to understand the impact of these latest digital technological developments on the Logistics and Supply Chain, WMS implementations in particular, by conducting a real-time study which is attempted in this research article.

LITERATURE REVIEW
MIT Center for Digital Business and Capgemini Consulting (2011) [1] revealed on their research that the Companies in all industries and regions are experimenting withand benefiting fromdigital transformation. And, they also had added that the digital technology provides a wealth of opportunity to those willing to change their businesses to take advantage of it. And, their research results conclude that the Globalization is dictating efficient integration of businesses which can only be achieved through digital processes and collaborative tools. This shows evidently that the logistics and supply chain providers are changing their mind set to move towards the digitalization. WEF (2016) [2] reported that the digital transformation of the logistics industry is already under way and a number of suggested concrete investments in digital capabilities that will form the building blocks of a successful digital logistics business follow. Their analysis also tell us that the there is a $1.5 trillion of value at stake for logistics players and $2.4 trillion impact on the society as a result of digital transformation of the industry through 2025. By looking at the number, the author could see the impact of the digital transformation on the market and on the society in the coming years. PwC (2016) [3] clearly cautions that the Supply chains are extremely complex organisms, and no company has yet succeeded in building one that's truly digital. Indeed, many of the applications required are not yet widely used. But this will change radically over the next five to 10 years, with different industries implementing systems at varying speeds. And, they envision that the real goal will be the many new business models and revenue streams the digital supply chain will open up. And, it is going to greatly benefit almost everyone in the community. Marzenna Cichosz (2018) [6] found that the more technology an industry had, the more intense competition within it became. -the top performers-were racing ahead of the rest to explore and exploit new technology-enabled business models. They were homesteading on a digital frontier, opening up new territory that others would eventually settle in. As the industry is learning from the other providers and competitors in the market who have already adopted these digital technologies, gives the confidence and comfort to others in the market. Delfmann, W. et al (2002) [7] had identified the two major changes induced by e-commerce, which were disintermediation and the upcoming electronic marketplaces. For both changes, the authors have specified the logistically relevant drivers. These are for electronic market places; the duration of relationships, the geographical dispersion of customers and vendors, the type of goods traded at emarketplaces and the type of contracts which are concluded. This tells that the digital is greatly disturbing the industry. European Commission (2016) [8] explained that the Digital transformation is characterized by a fusion of advanced technologies and the integration of physical and digital systems, the predominance of innovative business models and new processes, and the creation of smart products and services. The digital transformation of EU business and society presents enormous growth potential for Europe. European industry can build on its strengths in advanced digital technologies and its strong presence in traditional sectors to seize the range of opportunities that technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, advanced manufacturing, robotics, 3D printing, block chain technologies and artificial intelligence offer. This will enable the industry to capture a share in the emerging markets for the products and services of the future. Kayikci, Y. (2018) [9] described that the key promises of this Digital technologies concept are enabling real-time full-transparency from suppliers to customers, small lot sizes, multiple product variants, connected processes and decentralized, autonomous management. This study highlights the benefits of the digitization of logistics process and examines the sustainability impact of digitization in logistics. Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010) [10], developed the Business model generation techniques for every business. And, this can be modeled for Logistics and Supply chain business as well and to implement the Digital technology in particular into the Logistics and Supply chain system implementation. Paprocki W. (2017) [11] detailed out that the Transport and logistics operators take up the gauntlet of fundamental transformation of their activity in order to fulfill the challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The participants of the supply chain anticipate that their business partners will use the same technologies and adjust their business models to the changing demands of their customers.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN
As it is evident to know that Logistics is a core and key integral component of a Supply chain in ensuring delivering the right product, right time at right cost. And, IT systems, the Warehouse Management System (WMS), in particular help the Logistics business greatly in achieving the same.
Prior to any IT Systems or WMS, the logistics businesses were full of paper based and all of its where manual labor operations performed. Both were pretty expensive, time consuming, labor intensive and easy error prone. And, some of the very common issues that the Logistics industry faced when there was no WMS system were;  No inventory visibilityno business partner including the warehousing personnel in the logistics and supply chain could see the current inventory at the facility  Shipment processing errorsover shipping, under shipping, miss-shipping  Warehouse space utilization issuewarehouse space underutilization and/or over utilization  Manual and Paper worklots of paper work to be done and maintained for auditing purposes in addition to performing all the warehousing work manually  Safety Issues -Since there was no IT systems or any technological device used, it has caused safety issues at situations such as handling hazmat items, heavy items, special handling items etc.
When the Technology had started evolving few decades ago, it had contributed to the Logistics and Supply Chain as well to enjoy the benefits. And, as everyone could evidence that the industry is seeing tremendous advancements in the technology area in the last decade or so, it is contributing to the Logistics systems as well.
Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a great tool or application that helps the Logistics business to manage the inventory effectively and efficiently. And, it helps tremendously in providing the inventory visibility to all the business stakeholders.
The latest advancements in the digital technology field are also contributing to the WMS Implementations concurrently where WMS application is integrated with these digital technologies. This is due to the fact that the customer expectations are changing as these digital technologies are being evidently seen as the following primary value adds to their business;

A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
This case study has been conducted in a leading logistics and supply chain company to evaluate and understand the role of Digital technologies in a Distribution Center where the Warehouse Management System is managing the warehouse processes end to end and provides better inventory visibility to all the stakeholders. And, this company has been implementing different type of WMS application based on their customer and business requirements.
This study was conducted in a Warehousing and Distribution facility that has implemented the Tier-1 WMS due to the business complexity. And, based on the data collection thru project documentations and observations from the warehousing / distribution facility, it is found that the below key factors are contributing to the success of the Logistics business in the recent technological advancements thru WMS implementations; 1. RF Handheld devices / Vehicle Mounted Units (VMU)these devices help performing the day to day warehouse activities much more faster and with very low user error. As, these are integrated with the WMS, it helps in validating the data that the user is attempted to scan from the product. The facility has seen a 65% improvements in lead time in performing the warehouse activities such as receiving, picking, packing, shipping and cycle count while using these devices against the mode where there is no RF / VMU devices. And, the user error has come down to 3% from its 12%.
2. Automationthe Conveyors were being used at this facility for processing the packages -48% increase in volume in processing the packages. These Conveyors have the barcode scanners and the integrated with WMS that speed up the processing time of the packages and also improve the accuracy of the product handling per business requirements.

Trailer Management -Managing the trailers at both
Inbound and Outbound -37% reduction in erring transactions in managing the trailers on the yards. The Scanners were installed at the dock which helps to track the trailers and ensure the right yard slots / dock doors are assigned to it and also provide the carriers and the warehouse users the visibility on these trailers. 4. Customer Visibility -Real time and seamless -42% increase in communication speed against the traditional modes. This provides the customer insights into the Logistics systems and not just to see real-time how the warehouse is performing but also to understand how the business is performing in the market as well and thus helps in better planned forecasting.
5. Flexibility and Productivitywork from anywhere, anytime and any devicenew and advanced digital technologies help organizations to run their businesses anywhere from the world and by using different digital devices and with round the year business model with no down time. This increased the workforce productivity by 18% in this facility that has implemented this digitized model. As the WMS application was hosted on the Cloud, there was no down time required for any system maintenance.
6. Dashboard -KPI reporting -38% time savings in getting these KPI reports as opposed to manual report generation techniques. These digital technologies help to represent the business behavior in a very interactive and user-friendly manner. It is not only helping the management to report the data to the business stakeholders but also identify the opportunities to improve the areas where it lags.
7. Inventory Tracking -The RFID technology is helping to track the high value items in the facility. Every movement of these items are tracked from receiving thru shipping. This study shows that there is a 29% increase in speed in tracking such items.
8. Data Analyticsdata analytics toolthis tools helps both the customer and the Logistics service provider to understand and forecast the market behavior from the Logistics business model and align the warehouse resources accordingly at any given season or period. This provides the flexibility for the customer to extract the data as needed and analyze it for their internal purposes.

Advanced solutions -Robots and Artificial
Intelligence -51% increase in speed in processing. This study finds that the warehouse is using the Robots and Artificial Intelligence for moving the packages from once place to another to be able to sort them with no error and to run the business continuously with no interruption.
These are the major benefits that the business enjoys due to digital transformations in the WMS implementations in the recent times in this specific facility where this research was conducted.

CONCLUSION
It is proven already by many researchers and industrialists that these digital technologies are immensely helping the global community in general and thus greatly contributing to the Logistics business as well. In this research, it is evident that this Logistics service provider is enjoying the benefits of having these digital technologies incorporated in their WMS implementations, based on the findings detailed out in each of the area that it is contributing to.


s2fieldsofstudy: Business Psychology

text:
LINKING WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING: DO SUPERVISOR SUPPORT AND FAMILY SUPPORT MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP?

This study used the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method to investigate the influence of work-life balance (WLB) on individual well-being (career satisfaction and psychological well-being) among an Open Distance Learning (ODL) university’s staff. Furthermore, the moderating effects of supervisor support and family support on the relationship between WLB and both components of individual well-being were also examined. Data were collected via an online survey, in which 94 academic, academic support, and operational staff working in one of Malaysia’s ODL universities took part. The findings confirmed that the WLB of this institution’s employees influenced their career satisfaction and psychological well-being. Besides that, supervisor support and family support were found not to moderate the relationship between WLB and individual well-being. In addition, the findings have contributed to an improved understanding of the WLB of an ODL university’s staff.

INTRODUCTION
In Malaysia, public and private universities are experiencing an intense growth of student enrolment, course expansion in numerous fields, and a rise in Internet and web-based education (Wan, 2018). This change is due to a variety of drivers, which include demand pressures, a shift in a cultural aspect in which higher education is regarded, financial demands, structural and managerial diversity, and redefining the university mission or emphasis (Ehlenz, 2018). Nevertheless, demanding too much from both the academic and administrative staff can cause uncertainty concerning the management of their work and personal life, and this should be made In the quest of attaining quality programmes such as delivery and learning support, relevant jobholders and systems must be effectively mobilised, regardless of time convenience, which might require working after office hours. For example, the rising demand for online delivery, academic staff-student ratios and student-support, management of many part-time staff (tutors), reasonably high level of digital literacy requirements, and the rise of the 24/7 work culture in support services are requiring ODL institutions to remain competitive. Moreover, the growing demand for accountability, governance, managerialism, and profitability and the pressure to produce research outputs are translated into more workload for both academic and administrative staff.
Hence, employees are highly required to go above and beyond to meet the university's expectations, which could lead to an imbalance in their WLB. Workers could experience frustration, which would then cause them to become uninspired and disempowered leading to increased absenteeism, high turnover, subpar job performance, and 'presenteeism' or being present physically at work but working with less productivity. The Human Resource Department's statistics have shown an increase in employees' medical leave (18% in 2015 compared to 15% in 2014) and higher staff turnover (16.2% in 2014 to 20.3% in 2015). On the other hand, a higher retention rate of 59% was noted among administrative staff in comparison to 35% among academic staff with the same tenure. From the academic perspective, Li, Burch, and Lee (2017) have highlighted that when employees are wrestling to maintain composure in dealing with job complexities, a feeling of meaningless might strike. Meanwhile, Allan et al. (2018) has explained that meaningful work could cause eustress that can promote satisfaction, even if the situation is challenging. Eustress presents the level of cognitive appraisal when dealing with situations that can either benefit or enhance staff's psychological well-being.
Most studies on WLB and well-being have emphasised on work-family conflict and its impact on life satisfaction, physical and mental health, and organisational commitment. There are several studies that investigated university staff's capability in stabilising and resolving work-life conflicts (Bohle, 2016). Most of the research conducted that focused on ODL universities involved countries like South Africa (Bezuidenhout, 2015) and Namibia (Brown, Lewin, & Shikongo, 2014), while research in Malaysia was conducted based on conventional universities only. Therefore, this present study aimed to fill the research gap in WLB impacting individual well-being, particularly in the context of Malaysian ODL universities. The assumption made was that university employees will have a better WLB if they are highly satisfied with their work and are contented. WLB is attainable when workers feel energetic, are stimulated by their job, and feel happy both at home and work. Therefore, this present study's objective to examine the relationship between WLB and individual well-being (career satisfaction and psychological well-being) is timely. This research also aimed to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning support from both supervisor and family.

Work-Life Balance (WLB)
WLB may influence the attitude of employees towards their organisation. Deery and Jago (2015) believe that the WLB trend that could have leverage on workers' well-being and job outcomes can be probed. Issues pertaining to obtaining and sustaining a WLB have over the years received substantial scrutiny, however, this has not materialised in the higher education sector. WLB is a concept that is complex and can be seen from a 'work', 'life', and 'balance' standpoint (Direnzo, 2010). On the other hand, Ilies et al. (2017) have conceptualised WLB as the point in which an individual is equally engaged and feel fulfilled with their participation as an employee or family member. As such, an individual who has achieved high WLB may display equal investment of time and commitment to both the work and non-work domains. Basińska-Zych and Springer (2017) examined layoff survivors in a high technological organisation and determined that WLB was positively associated with job satisfaction. In another study conducted among police personnel, it was deduced that work-family conflict was significantly related to job satisfaction. Next, Kim (2014), who studied employee satisfaction, HR practices, and commitment, discovered that WLB was linked with organisational commitment and demonstrated that the organisation's efforts, which helped workers attain a balance between work and home life, was linked to the commitment from all groups of employees.

Career Satisfaction
Career satisfaction is derived from the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of an individual's career, which comprises of pay, advancement, and developmental opportunities (Kuvaas et al., 2017). The perceived career satisfaction of workers shows how they feel regarding their career-related roles, accomplishments, and success. A key predictor of career success is career satisfaction, which can be conceptualised as encompassing both extrinsic and intrinsic outcomes and calculated using both objective and subjective indicators (Otto et al., 2017). Objective career success indicates an 'external perspective that delineates more or less tangible indicators of an individual's career situation' including salary, promotion, family structure, and job level. Alternatively, subjective career success is defined as 'individuals' feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction with their careers' and is commonly measured using career satisfaction (Martínez-León, Olmedo-Cifuentes, & Ramón-Llorens, 2018). Subjective measures of career success have become more important (Dahling & Lauricella, 2017) and career satisfaction is one of its crucial predictors, which ultimately is the focus of this study.

Psychological Well-Being
Psychological well-being, a subjective concept, has a close relationship with quality of life. Quality of life can be described as a 'composite measure of physical, mental and social well-being, happiness and satisfaction involving many life situations, such as health, marriage, family, work, finance, education opportunities, self-esteem, creativity and trust in others' (DiRenzo, 2010). On the other hand, Yap et al. (2017) stated that the key aspect of subjective well-being comprises 'subjectivity, positive measure and global assessment of all aspects of a person's life'. Psychological well-being is seen as an amalgamation of feeling satisfied and being able to effectively serve customers. It is conceptualised as the 'overall effectiveness of an individual's psychological functioning' (Rahim, 2017;Berkman, 1971a). Nonetheless, psychological wellbeing work side by side with negative emotions and may interfere with an individual's capability to function in his or her everyday life. Warr (1990) has explained that the concept of feeling good includes positive emotions such as happiness and contentment and other emotions like interest, engagement, confidence, and affection. Looking at the psychological perspective, it involves the development of a person's potential, including setting limitations on his or her life, having a sense of purpose like working towards goals, and experiencing positive relationships (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2017).

Supervisor Support
According to Pandey, Schulz, and Camp (2018), supervisor support usually includes showing concern for and motivating workers, supplying important resources, a structured work environment, feedback, opportunities for career advancement, information, and help to cope with work-related stress. Besides, supervisor support could be more crucial to the workers compared to other sources of support due to the supervisor's position of power and hierarchical standing in the organisation (Sguera et al., 2017). Moreover, Holland, Cooper, and Sheehan (2017) have emphasised on the significance of supervisor support on career satisfaction whilst observing that supervisor support is vital for early career success by raising workers' self-awareness and personal goal setting. The authors further stated that when supervisors inform workers regarding career advancement opportunities and learn about their career goals, the turnover rate can be lower while performance can be enhanced.

Family Support
In western countries, family support has become a vital form of social support (Verma, Bhal, & Vrat, 2018). As stated by Kalliath et al. (2018), family support is an important resource that forms feelings such as love, care, etc. Positivity like this aids an employee to more efficiently transfer resources obtained in the family domain to the work domain. Moreover, it could function as an extrinsic motivator since it can present key advice and affective resources, which will assist workers to attain their job goals. Pluut et al. (2018) have reported similar results, whereby they proposed that family support encourages workers, particularly those who belong to collectivistic societies to work harder.

Underlying Theories
The following subsections discuss the underlying theories that became the foundation for the research framework of this study.

Work-family Border Theory
Work-family border theory has contributed to a better understanding of the work-family interface; nevertheless, it lends itself to validation and expansion since it is new. This theory identifies role centrality as a key factor influencing experiences of work-family balance or conflict (Clark, 2000). However, Clark (2000) has conceptualised this relationship. It is therefore imperative that a clear understanding of the relationships between role centrality, work-family balance, and conflict be empirically established. Moreover, role centrality establishes the extent to which an individual can control his/her experiences of work-family balance or conflict.

Social Exchange Theory
According to the social exchange theory, when one party treats another well, the reciprocity norm obliges the return of favourable treatment (Kurtessis et al., 2017). Furthermore, building on the norm of reciprocity, it is suggested that employees who perceive a high level of organisational support are more likely to feel an obligation to 'repay' the organisation in terms of affective commitment and work-related behaviour (Guest, 2017). That is, employees seek a balance in their exchange relationships with organisations and supervisors by having attitudes and behaviours that are commensurate with the degree of employer commitment to them as individuals. Figure 1 illustrates this study's research framework based on the work-family border theory and social exchange theory, comprising an independent variable (work-life balance), dependent variables (career satisfaction and psychological well-being), and moderating variables (supervisor support and family support).

Hypothesis Development
In this research, the hypotheses were formulated according to the research framework depicted in Figure 1. These hypotheses considered past empirical discoveries concerning the relationships among the variables, which were specifically selected to answer the research questions.

WLB and Well-Being
Previous researchers such as Karatepe and Karadas (2015) have highlighted that WLB practices adopted by organisations could increase the level of job/career satisfaction. Also, Shagvaliyeva and Yazdanifard (2014) Zheng et al. (2015) have emphasised that organisations' WLB policies can decrease work and family conflict, which consequently increase job satisfaction. A satisfied employee has been found to be more committed and has a lower intention to leave besides showing high performance that can ultimately affect the bottom line (Karatepe & Karadas, 2015). Thus, WLB practices not only increase job satisfaction but can reduce the overall turnover intention of employees. As such, the following hypotheses were formulated: As mentioned in Kalidass and Bahron (2015), supervisor support is claimed to be very important for subordinate work-related issues, but not all supervisors are supportive of their subordinates all the time. Supervisor support acts as an agent to communicate the organisation's goals and values to subordinates and evaluate their performance. As stated by Kaldi and Xafakos (2017), subordinates' organisation rewards, for example, merit pay and skill training, and working condition, like greater autonomy and recognition from upper-level management, are based on supervisor appraisals. Supervisors provide support in the presence of supportive behaviour, for instance, provide information, instrumental aid, and mentoring. Apart from leading to lower workfamily conflict, supervisor support can also decrease stress level at work, increase affective organisational commitment, and enhance job satisfaction happiness (Ghazali, Nashuki, & Othman, 2018). Based on these findings, it was hypothesised that: H3: Supervisor support moderates the relationship between work-life balance and career satisfaction H4: Supervisor support moderates the relationship between work-life balance and psychological well-being

WLB and Well-Being Moderated by Family Support
According to Bagger and Li (2014), family members can provide instrumental support. For example, a spouse can help by assisting in day-to-day household activities, relieving employees' household task, helping to take care of their children, and accommodating employees' work requirement. Thus, employees can focus their time and preserve their energy for work. According to Mauno and Ruokolainen (2017), family support is an important resource that influences both life and job satisfaction. Support from family members comprises listening and sympathising with work-family struggles and offering guidance or recommendations to handle work-family conflict. Such support can also lower employees' bad experiences and positively impact their lives and job satisfaction. On the other hand, Nielsen et al. (2017) described family support as family members accepting responsibilities to decrease the workload of other family members and is viewed as a vital factor that impacts both life and job satisfaction. Hence, the following hypotheses were formulated:

Population and Sampling
This study's population was 216 employees consisting of academic, academic support, and operational staff of a Malaysian ODL university. These staff were subjected to similar internal (company politics, performance management, and supervisor-subordinate relationship) and external (socio-cultural, economic, and technological) conditions.
In this study, purposive sampling was employed. This technique is restricted to a specific category of participants who can contribute information, whereby either they are the only individuals who can do so or conform to certain inclusion criteria set by the study (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). Every variable was measured at the individual level. Roscoe's (1975) rule of thumb was employed to find out the minimum sample size, whereby a sample size of more than 30 and less than 500 was the most suitable, whereas the minimum sample size should be 30% of the population. Based on this rule, the sample size of 94 (44%) was considered apt for this study.

Data Collection Procedure
A quantitative method, i.e. questionnaire survey was used to collect data via SurveyMonkey. Along with the questionnaire, a cover letter illuminating the purpose of the study, the steps to complete the questionnaire, guarantee of confidentiality, and voluntary participation information were provided. The contents were organised based on the measures of independent, dependent, and moderating variable items as well as the demographic questions seeking information. Each respondent's responses were computed and saved. Then, to perform quantitative analysis, the data were downloaded into SPSS 23.0 and Smart PLS M2 Version 3.0. Data collection was performed for three weeks in January 2017.

Measurement Items
The measures applied in this research were based on past studies with acceptable reliabilities. To measure the five items of WLB, scales developed by Greenhaus et al. (2004) were used. In this study, the coefficient alpha was determined to be 0.899. Career satisfaction was evaluated via the five items developed by Greenhaus et al. (1990), while for psychological well-being it was through the eight-item Index of Psychological Well-being established by Berkman (1971aBerkman ( , 1971b. The coefficient alpha for career satisfaction and psychological well-being was 0.901 and 0.872, respectively. For the moderating variable supervisor support, four items from Zimet et al. (1988) were employed to measure it. The other moderating variable, family support was evaluated via four items adapted from Rhoades et al. (2001). These moderating variables' Cronbach's alpha were 0.852 (supervisor support) and 0.893 (family support). Ratings for every variable in this research were based on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). To better comprehend the samples, this research collected demographic information.

Data Analysis
Partial Least Squares (PLS) method was applied to analyse the research model. Based on the twostage analytical procedure suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), the measurement model (validity and reliability of the measures) was tested first, followed by the structural model (testing the hypothesised relationship). Smart PLS M2 version 3.0 and the two-step analysis approach were employed to perform data analysis. The significance of the path coefficients and loadings from the bootstrapping method (500 resamples) were utilised to find out the significance level for loadings, weights, and path coefficients.

Descriptive Findings
In this section, respondents' demographic characteristics are presented (see Table 1). From 94 respondents, 72% were females, whereas 28% were males. Most respondents were aged between 35-44 (43%) years. Looking at qualifications, 45% were SPM holders. On the other hand, regarding employee grouping, most were operational staff (49%). Meanwhile, 40% had 4 to 7 years of working experience. For current position, 44% of respondents were in service between 4 to 7 years.

Assessment of the Measurement Model
The measurement model employed in this research comprised relationships among the latent variables and their (item) indicators. To test the hypotheses, it was necessary to first establish construct validity for the measurement model prior to evaluating the structural model. Construct validity was performed to determine the degree to which the indicators reflected their underlying constructs (latent variables). The measurement model items must show adequate convergent and discriminant validity as a condition for establishing construct validity. Factor loadings, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE) were utilised to evaluate convergent validity, as suggested by Hair et al. (2012).

Convergent Validity
Convergent validity, the extent to which multiple items are employed to measure the same concept, was in agreement. In this study, factor loadings, CR, and AVE were used to evaluate convergent validity (Hair et al., 2012). All the items' loadings should be 0.50 or higher, or ideally, 0.7 or higher, while items with loadings lower than 0.5 should be removed (Hair et al., 2012). The measurement model's results revealed that all the items had significant loadings, which ranged from 0.647 to 0.897. All the items in this research were determined to have fulfilled the internal consistency criteria with a CR value higher than 0.7, as proposed by Fornell and Larker (1981). Furthermore, the AVE value of every construct was more than the suggested benchmark value of 0.5 (Fornell & Larker, 1981). Even though the AVE value for psychological well-being (0.525) could be deemed relatively low, the value stayed within the guidelines recommended by Fornell and Larker (see Table 2).

Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT)
Discriminant validity of the constructs was measured using cross-loadings, Fornell-Larcker criterion, and Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT). HTMT is not a new method but Henseler et al. (2015) have proposed it as a new criterion for Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis. This suggestion was based on their findings that the two other methods lacked in reliability to detect discriminant validity. Their method is based on the multitrait-multimethod matrix and it measures the HTMT of correlations. Discriminant validity lacks if the absolute value of HTMT is higher than the threshold of value 0.85 or 0.90. In this study, all the values were more than 0.85, except for the connection between supervisor support (0.835), family support (0.847), and psychological well-being (0.794). Based on the Fornell-Larcker criterion, a close connection was seen between these three constructs. This might indicate a problem but since it was below the upper threshold of 0.90 and HTMT was regarded as the best criterion and all the cross-loadings were satisfactory as well, the discriminant validity was deemed good enough (see Table 3).

Common Method Variance
Harman's single factor order test was performed using SPSS by running an exploratory factor analysis to determine the common method bias. To find out the distinct factors that could explain the majority of the variance in the variables, the unrotated factor solution was examined. From the factor analysis, five factors emerged. However, from the total variance of 65.9%, only 29.3% was accounted for by the factor with the highest variance. Hence, the findings revealed that the first factor accumulated lower than 50% of the total variance explained. Furthermore, there was no indication of whether a single factor emerged from the exploratory factor analysis or a single variable accounted for most of the covariance among items. As such, according to the guideline by Podsakoff et al. (2003), the common method variance (CMV) was not an issue in this study.

Assessment of the Structural Model
After assessing the measurement model, the structural model was analysed. This model comprised the hypothesised relationships between exogenous and endogenous variables (see Table 4). The two hypotheses testing the relationship between WLB and career satisfaction and WLB and psychological well-being were supported. WLB had a positive influence on career satisfaction (β = 0.116, p < 0.05). Likewise, WLB also had a positive influence on psychological well-being (β = 0.082, p < 0.05). These findings provided support for H1 and H2. Another four hypotheses were put forth to determine the moderating effect of supervisor support and family support on the relationship between WLB and individual well-being (career satisfaction and psychological wellbeing). Nevertheless, none of these hypotheses were supported: H3 (β = -0.087, p > 0.1), H4 (β = -0.050, p > 0.1), H5 (β = -0.021, p > 0.1), and H6 (β = 0.125, p > 0.1).

Goodness of Fit (GoF) Index
The Goodness of Fit (GoF) Index is employed to evaluate a model's overall predictive performance (Tenenhaus et al., 2005). It is a geometric mean of the average communality and average R 2 for all the endogenous variables. Based on Wetzels et al. (2009), this research estimated a GoF value of 0.574, which surpassed the cut-off value of 0.36 that could serve as a cut-off value for global validation of PLS models. Thus, the findings implied that the model possessed a large prediction power compared with the baseline value (GoF small = 0.10, GoF medium = 0.25, GoF large = 0.36) (see Table 5). Even though the R 2 values in this study were relatively low, it is common to have R 2 values that are less than 50% when predicting human behaviour using models (Stone et al., 2013). This is attributed to the field of study as humans are simply harder to predict than, for example, physical processes. Hence, it is expected that the R 2 values are generally low.

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS
The present study has examined the relationship between WLB and individual well-being (career satisfaction and psychological well-being). This study also investigated whether supervisor support and family support moderated the relationships between WLB and career satisfaction and WLB and psychological well-being.
This study has revealed that WLB had a positive influence on career satisfaction and psychological well-being. This result concurs with that of Karatepe and Karadas (2015) who reported that WLB practices implemented by organisations can increase job/career satisfaction level. Moreover, Shagvaliyeva and Yazdanifard (2014) have proposed that work-life imbalances cause high levels of anxiety and depression, low quality of life, and decreased work effectiveness. Thus, it can be assumed that the WLB policies of the examined institution managed to lower work and family conflict, which consequently increased job satisfaction. When employees are satisfied, they become more devoted to their job and organisation and have a lower intention to leave besides demonstrating higher performance.
The findings also exposed that supervisor support did not moderate the relationships between WLB and career satisfaction and WLB and psychological well-being. As mentioned by Qureshi and Hamid (2017), supervisors are accountable for their workers' career, whereby they must allocate time to discuss the matter together to consider the steps to be taken for the sake of the workers' development. In addition, the supervisors must comprehend the development concept prior to facilitating their workers. When supervisors possess a clear understanding about the development concept, workers' confidence that their supervisor is qualified and can lead them increases. However, looking at the findings of this study, it is possible to assume that supervisors in this institution have neglected their role in supporting their workers in career development. Besides that, sometimes supervisors are reluctant to offer support to their workers by giving only negative feedback. Such supervisors observe only the negative side of their workers without noting that the workers have performed their task, duties, and responsibilities well. Consequently, the workers feel demotivated, stressed, and have a high intention to leave the organisation.
Similarly, the study has revealed that family support did not moderate the relationships between WLB and career satisfaction and WLB and psychological well-being. This result agrees with those of Aryee et al. (1999) who have investigated the relationship between role stressors, interrole conflict, and well-being and the moderating effect of spousal support and coping behaviours. Their study exposed that spousal support was unrelated to WLB. In this study, a likely explanation for this outcome could be due to the respondents being academic, academic support, and operational staff who were exposed to the ODL learning environment, in which the delivery of services requires digital literacy, competencies in Open Education Resource (OER) creation, usage, and delivery, and ability to operate Open Learning Platforms such as modules. This condition requires the respondents to work overtime and as a result, they would communicate less with family members and eventually receive reduced support from them.
Next, results from this research have provided empirical support for the theoretical relationships proposed in the research framework. The theoretical contribution is related to the moderating variables, i.e. supervisor support and family support. The contribution to literature would be that supervisor support and family support did not moderate the relationships between WLB and career satisfaction and WLB and psychological well-being. Future researchers are encouraged to apply a longitudinal approach to examine WLB and employee well-being. Furthermore, this study's respondents were an ODL university's workers; thus, research parameters could change if participants from other professional groups from different organisations are recruited. Not only that, future researchers can consider employing a comparative approach to study WLB and employee well-being among academic, academic support, and operational staff from various Malaysian ODL institutions.
In terms of practical contribution, this study proposes that the policymakers of the ODL university pay attention to creating sturdy support systems from the top-down, to set an example to front line supervisors who deal with workers every day. Besides that, providing resources like employee assistance programmes that supervisors can apply by referring workers, conduct sensitivity training for supervisors or teach them how to form an effective yet flexible team environment, could help supervisors build perceived supervisor support with their team. The policymakers of this ODL university are also recommended to establish and reinforce family support policies, which comprise emotional family support and sharing of household chores that can help balance cohesion and adaptability amongst family members. In turn, balance in cohesion and adaptability can positively affect work and thus improve employee well-being.
Like any research, this study has some limitations. Because this is a cross-sectional study, the outcome may differ if a qualitative approach was employed. Moreover, the findings could vary if the behaviour of the workers in the ODL university was observed for a longer period.


The Effect of Emotional Intelligence for Team Conflict: Case Study in Government Hospital

Organizational development requires human resources. Professional organizations manage systems and organizational mechanisms of existing resources to support flexible responses of change. As one of the service industries with a very complex business process, hospitals certainly have a quite large potential for optimization and efficiency improvements. This study was conducted in South Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi Province's hospitals. The study lasted for 6 six months in 2019. The sampling was done using the cluster method and stratified random sampling based on hospital type and level of health officers. The data analysis approach used for this research was Partial Least Square (PLS) using WarpPLS software. The results show that emotional intelligence significantly and positively affected the conflict team with a path coefficient value of 0.668 and a p-value <0.05. Emotional intelligence can create management and self-control of conflicts in teamwork and encourage a high level of customer attention.

INTRODUCTION
A professional organization needs human resources to manage the system and respond to an external change [1], [2]. Business environments that have characteristics of high complexity and uncertainty and intense competition require measurable steps of change [3]. The transformation from a sophisticated hierarchical level to a horizontal work communication network becomes a prioritized alternative [4]. The hospital is one of the service industries with very complex business processes but can optimize and efficiency [5]. The growth of hospitals in Indonesia has increased progressively in the last decade, from 1,608 in 2012 to 1,725 in 2013 [6]. Tight competition and perfect service demands from customers pushed hospitals to make management changes towards efficiency effectiveness on an ongoing basis [7].
The quality of human resources that is not reliable will affect the quality of health services [8]. One aspect of human resources needed is the ability to collaborate in a work team [9]. The quality of team collaboration is determined by the ability to share knowledge [10], cooperative attitudes [11], and competencies [12] between individuals. Team conflict will somehow always be included in a hospital, which, for a specified period, will damage the quality of interaction and collaboration achievement [13]. Emotional intelligence of health workers as a dominant factor that can reduce team conflict while increasing the quality of cooperation in providing health services [14].

Study location
The research was held at four government hospitals, including the Center of The General Hospital of Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo, Hasanuddin University Hospital, Undata Regional General Hospital and Anuta General Hospital. The scope of the study site covers two provinces, South Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi.

Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection was carried out for six months, starting in January -June 2019. A total sample of 144 people was determined using the cluster [15] and stratified random sampling [16], [17] method, which is based on the type of hospital and health officer position. Data obtained using a questionnaire that was arranged based on the scaled respondent question to measure and determine the respondents' attitudes related to the research variables.

Statistical Analysis
The study applied the graphic patterns [18], aiming to explain the interrelationships between the variables studied, including; emotional intelligence and team conflict (Fig. 1). The Partial Least Square (PLS) method [19] using WarpPLS software [20] to use for the analysis process.

Validity and Reliability Testing
The table below showed all variables and indicators, including their validity and reliability value. The whole of indicators for every variable has a correlation value larger than 0.30, and hence the research instrument is declared valid. Meanwhile, the Cronbach's alpha value for each of the variables is larger than 0.70. Thus, the research instrument is reliable, as well. (see Table 1).

The goodness of Fit Test
After calculating the data, the results showed that the predictive relevance percentage is 78.7% or 0.787. Therefore, the model owns predictive relevance. The value 78.7%, for predictive relevance, exhibits that the variety of the data depicted by the model is 78.7%. Hence, the model with 78.7% accuracy can describe the information of the data. Meanwhile, the residual 21.3% is illustrated by the unreachable variables -unavailable in the model-and errors. Hair Ringle (2011) reveals that Q2 > 75% represents a great model and can be analyzed for advanced hypothesis testing.

Partial Least Square Analysis Result
Internal model testing (structural model) is used as an initial test in analyzing research hypotheses. The t-test was chosen to be applied to test each direct partial effect Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 481 path. The complete of WarpPLS analysis results are provided in Table 2.  figure 2.

Figure 2 Hypothesis Testing Result in WarpPLS Inner Model
Indirect effect testing between emotional intelligence and team conflict shows the path coefficient value is 0.668, and the p-value is less than 0.001. The p-value is less than 0.05 means that emotional intelligence significantly affects team conflict. Given a path coefficient marked positive, it denotes that the connection was positive. It means that if emotional intelligence increases, the team conflict is going to increases as well.

Interpretation of Emotional Intelligence
Referring to someone's ability to adjust and restrain his emotions and others as well defines emotional intelligence. Simply put, they can affect other people's feelings, too [21]. Having emotional intelligence is a crucial necessity to be a leader. The five main elements in emotional intelligence are such as -mindful, selfregulation, encouragement, affinity, and social skills [22]. As a structured mechanism in human personality, emotional intelligence is elucidated as a configuration of emotional introspection that is at the beneath level of the personality pyramid. Psychological health, welfare index, life satisfaction, and stress levels are positively related to emotional intelligence [23].

Emotional intelligence as a skill
Health workers who have substantial emotional intelligence are explicitly more advantageous in settling conflicts than those with poor emotional intelligence [24]. Even if someone already has excellent conflict restraint abilities and negotiation techniques, giving emotional intelligence skills is a must. Conflict restraint is about cooperation, esteem, adaptability, collaboration, and settlement. Convincing conflict restraint training programs train people to retreat and contemplate the aftereffects from the approach of team objectives [24]. Frequently, debates about trivial matters can be agreed upon by the inclusion of protection and unfriendliness. The best conflict mediators conduct unfriendliness toward group objectives, group attention, and moments for accomplishing win-win solutions [25].

Implementation of Emotional Intelligence in the hospital
The variable of emotional intelligence empirically and significantly influences team conflict. Testing the direct effect between emotional intelligence and team conflict, the path coefficient value marks 0.668, with pvalue (0.001) <0.005. This number indicates the direct effect is at the level of full significance and positive relationship. Data interpretation states that if emotional intelligence increases, the team conflict will increase as well. In the conflict management approach, the emotional intelligence of service providers determines the dynamics in a hospital. Besides, health workers' level of concern contributes to increasing service user satisfaction, thereby reducing the potential for conflict. The primary goal of health service is customer satisfaction.
The role of emotional intelligence in sharing knowledge has implications for teamwork dynamics, so it needs to be maintained or enhanced [26]. Knowledge sharing behavior is a process in which individuals exchange information and opinions by discussing recent information and opinions. This research has explored the connection between information sharing variables, emotional intelligence, as well as team conflict. Besides, the work mechanism and structure of a work team, as well as scientific facts that are proven in hospital institutions, verify that the crucial factor in the hospital management system is emotional intelligence [27].

CONCLUSIONS
Constructed from the result of data analysis, we conclude that between emotional intelligence and knowledge management, between emotional intelligence and team conflict, as well as between emotional intelligence and team performance, have a significant Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 481 direct effect. Also, in the relationship between endogenous variables, it is found a significant effect of knowledge management to team performance, and team conflict to team performance. In the indirect effect testing, there is a significant indirect effect on emotional intelligence to team performance through knowledge sharing (mediation), and emotional intelligence to team performance variable through team conflict (mediation). The finding of this research is the higher value of knowledge sharing or team conflict, the higher the impact between emotional intelligence and team performance.