Oavsett om hon är hemma eller på kontoret vill hon ha bättre balans.

Oavsett om means regardless of whether.

It introduces two or more alternatives and says that the result is the same in either case:

• Oavsett om hon är hemma eller på kontoret ... = Regardless of whether she is at home or at the office ...

It is a very common way to express it does not matter which of these situations is true.

Because oavsett om is the normal pattern when it is followed by a full clause.

Compare:

• oavsett väder = regardless of the weather
• oavsett tid = regardless of the time
• oavsett om hon är hemma = regardless of whether she is at home

So:

• oavsett + noun phrase
• oavsett om + clause

Here we have a clause with subject + verb: hon är hemma, so om is needed.

Because hemma is an adverb, while kontoret is a noun.

• hemma = at home
• på kontoret = at the office

In Swedish, hemma already contains the idea of at home, so you do not need a preposition like at.

Examples:

• Hon är hemma. = She is at home.
• Hon jobbar hemma. = She works from home.

But kontor is a regular noun, so Swedish needs a preposition:

• på kontoret = at the office

Because Swedish usually uses på for being at a workplace, school, store, office, and similar places.

So:

• på kontoret = at the office
• på jobbet = at work
• på skolan = at the school

I kontoret would sound more like inside the office room, focusing on physical location inside the space rather than being there as a workplace setting.

So in this sentence, på kontoret is the natural choice.

Because Swedish is a verb-second (V2) language in main clauses.

The sentence begins with the fronted phrase:

• Oavsett om hon är hemma eller på kontoret

After that, the main clause must still put the finite verb in second position:

• vill hon ha bättre balans

So the structure is:

• fronted element
• finite verb
• subject

That is why Swedish says:

• Oavsett om ..., vill hon ... or more commonly without a comma:
• Oavsett om ... vill hon ...

Not:

• Oavsett om ... hon vill ... ❌

Yes, it functions like a subordinate clause or subordinate clause phrase introducing the condition/background for the main clause.

Inside it, you have normal subordinate-clause word order:

• hon är hemma
• subject hon before verb är

Then the main clause follows:

• vill hon ha bättre balans

So the sentence has two parts:

1. Oavsett om hon är hemma eller på kontoret
2. vill hon ha bättre balans

The first part sets the condition; the second gives the main point.

Because after a modal verb like vill, Swedish normally uses the infinitive without att.

So:

• hon vill ha = she wants to have
• hon kan komma = she can come
• hon måste gå = she must go

This is similar to English, where modal-like verbs also often avoid to in some structures, though the systems are not identical.

So vill ha is correct and natural.

Yes. Bättre is the comparative form of bra.

• bra = good
• bättre = better
• bäst = best

It is irregular, so it does not follow a simple pattern like adding an ending to bra.

In this sentence:

• bättre balans = better balance

She wants an improvement, so the comparative form is used.

Probably not. In a sentence like this, balans usually means something like:

• better balance in life
• better work-life balance
• a healthier balance between home and office/work

So it is most likely abstract, not physical balance.

If someone were talking about literal physical balance, the context would usually make that clear.

Yes. A common alternative is vare sig ... eller ..., which also means whether ... or ... / neither ... nor depending on context.

For this sentence, you could say:

• Vare sig hon är hemma eller på kontoret vill hon ha bättre balans.

That is also correct. Compared with oavsett om, it can sound a little more formal or stylistically different, but both are natural.

Because Swedish often uses the definite form when referring to a known or typical place in context.

• ett kontor = an office
• kontoret = the office

In many everyday sentences, på kontoret means at the office in a general but still definite way, often referring to the office connected with the person or situation.

This is very common in Swedish:

• på jobbet = at work
• på skolan = at school
• på kontoret = at the office

English sometimes uses the in the same way, so this usually feels fairly natural to English speakers.

Usually, Swedish does not require a comma there.

So the normal version is:

• Oavsett om hon är hemma eller på kontoret vill hon ha bättre balans.

A comma is sometimes possible for style or clarity, especially in longer sentences, but in ordinary Swedish it is often omitted.

So if you are writing standard modern Swedish, leaving out the comma is completely normal.