We all know that it’s important to maintain a happy work-life balance, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. Over the past decade, more and more employees, most of them women, have turned to job sharing to strike that balance. Job sharing allows you to essentially split a job (and its title, responsibilities, and salary) with another person, meaning you both work part-time.

Aside from the obvious benefits for the job-sharing employee, a job share can actually work out pretty well for employers, too. It often results in happier, more productive employees who are extremely thorough in their work. It also means better job coverage, since one job-sharing partner simply fills in while the other is sick or on vacation.

Even if your company doesn’t currently offer any shared positions, it might be open to doing so. One friend worked herself into a job share by writing up a detailed proposal for her boss and getting a partner on board with her plan ahead of time; another friend did the same with her teaching job in order to spend more time with her young kids. Is job sharing something you’d ever consider?