There is an ongoing discussion about the impact of flexible forms of work on travel behavior. Though it is generally accepted that telework decreases distance commuted, there are mixed conclusions ...about the notion that non-work-related journeys could be offsetting any saved commute. This paper investigates the influence of two flexible working arrangements – namely telework and flextime – on commutes, non-work traffic, and peak-period travel in Switzerland. Using the 2015 Swiss Mobility and Transport Microcensus (MTMC), this study analyzes flexible working arrangements with respect to their effects on traffic. The results show that people who work partly from home – compared to those who never telework – do indeed commute less; however, their non-work travel increases. This rebound effect completely offsets the saved commutes, resulting in a zero impact on the total distances covered. Only people who work exclusively remotely show less total mobility compared to those who never telework. However, only a small minority of people work only from home, with most teleworkers combining working on-site with some degree of working from home. Moreover, this study finds only slight potential for relieving traffic congestion through flexible working arrangements: Whereas teleworkers are less likely to commute during evening peak periods, people working flextime are even more likely to commute during morning rush hours. Hence, the distinction between morning and evening peak periods should be taken into account in future studies. Furthermore, research on flexible working arrangements and travel behavior benefits from the consideration of both non-work travel and total travel as well as the separation of part-time from full-time telework.
•Part-time teleworkers commute less than those who never telework.•There is a rebound effect in non-work travel for part-time teleworkers.•Overall, part-time telework does not affect the total distances traveled.•Telework relieves evening rush hour commutes, but flextime promotes morning peaks.
How do national-level work–life balance policies shape the role of flextime in maternal labor market re-entry after childbirth? It is well known that such policies influence the adoption, provision, ...and support of flexible work arrangements by organizations, but whether they shape the relevance of these arrangements for workers has been neglected in past research. This article analyzes whether mothers’ and partners’ flextime facilitates maternal labor market re-entry after childbirth in Germany, where family policy reforms have been implemented in the last two decades. Event history analysis based on German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data from the years 2003–2013 revealed that mothers were more likely to re-enter the labor market if they had used flextime before childbirth. However, this effect existed only before the implementation of family policy reforms, namely the introduction of parental leave in 2007 and the expansion of public childcare. Moreover, the use of flextime before childbirth did not encourage mothers to maintain previous work hours (the legal right to work part time has existed in Germany since 2001). Partners’ use of flextime before childbirth was found to be less relevant for mothers’ return to work after childbirth. The analysis indicates that generous national-level work–life balance policies can diminish the effectiveness of organizational work–life balance policies for mothers’ employment behavior.
Based on a survey of a sample of employees (n = 726), we examine whether work-to-family enrichment mediates the relationship between two types of flexible work arrangements (i.e. flextime and a ...compressed workweek) and two work-related outcomes (job satisfaction and turnover intention). In addition, we examine the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between flexible work arrangements and work-to-family enrichment and between work-to-family enrichment and the work-related outcomes. The results show that work-to-family enrichment acts as a mediating factor between flexible work arrangements and outcomes. In addition, the relationship between work-to-family enrichment and turnover intention is stronger for female employees. Finally, the implications for research and practice are discussed.
Summary
Increasingly, organizations around the world need employees to work weekends and during hours that fall outside of a traditional 9‐to‐5, Monday through Friday, schedule. At the same time, in ...recent years, employees have sought more flexible working arrangements that result in longer work shifts that occur on fewer days each week. Although nonstandard work schedules have important organizational implications, much of this research has occurred outside of the management literature. Further, within the management literature, there has been little attempt to review and integrate the findings of prior studies of nonstandard work schedules. In this paper, we review research that has investigated nonstandard work shifts and how they affect work‐related outcomes (e.g., job behavior and job attitudes), health‐related outcomes (e.g., physiological, behavioral, and psychological consequences), and personal/family‐related outcomes (e.g., work–family conflict, divorce, and parent–child relations). Following our review, we identify avenues for future investigations, with a particular emphasis on methodological improvements and research that would facilitate the development of integrated conceptual models that more fully consider the implications of work schedules in the context of other important areas of organizational scholarship.
•We study the link between female employees and family-friendly practices.•We hypothesize the link to depend on the country-context.•We focus on a country’s care regime and its support for maternal ...employment.•Via theoretical sampling, we choose Sweden, Germany and Poland as country cases.•We find the link to vary between countries and practices (daycare vs. flextime).
This paper examines the role of a country’s care regime as a potential moderator of the link between the share of female employees and the provision of family-friendly practices in companies. Based on theoretical sampling, we compare the provision of flextime and day care services in companies in three country contexts (Sweden, Poland, and Germany) with varying degrees of de-familialization and support of maternal employment to exemplify our model. Our empirical analysis is based on 732 observations from 152 public companies listed on the Swedish OMX, the Polish WIG20 and the German DAX/MDAX, during the period 2005–2015. Random effects logistic regressions reveal that there is no automatism concerning a demand-driven push towards employer-provided family-friendly practices. Rather, the care regime seems to play an important role for whether the provision of family-friendly practices in companies is affected by the share of female employees and which family-friendly practices are affected.
Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are widely implemented for organizational purposes including recruitment. Theoretically, these arrangements alter temporal and physical boundaries around work. ...However, the time and place dimensions are frequently confounded in research, making the separate and joint effect of each on various outcomes unclear. To determine the relative importance of FWA dimensions as anticipated resources, this study experimentally manipulates discretion over when (flextime) and where (flexplace) one is expected to work on anticipated organizational support (AOS) and organization attraction. Prospective employees (N = 130) participated in a 3 × 3 within‐subject experiment in which they rated nine hypothetical organizations that varied in flextime and flexplace. Results indicated main effects for both flextime and flexplace on both AOS and organization attraction with flextime having the stronger impact. Although the combination of a high level of both flextime and flexplace yielded the highest ratings of AOS and organization attraction, the interaction between flextime and flexplace was not statistically significant, suggesting flextime and flexplace have independent effects on recruitment outcomes. Relationships between flextime and flexplace and organizational attraction were slightly stronger for individuals who prefer to integrate their work and non‐work roles. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Practitioner points
Potential applicants rate flextime without a required core time as significantly more supportive and attractive than flextime with core time.
Potential applicants rate flextime with a required core time as significantly more supportive and attractive than no flextime.
Potential applicants rate working from home 2 to 3 days a week as significantly more supportive and attractive than not being able to work from home at all.
The supportiveness and attractiveness of flextime does not depend on the supportiveness or attractiveness of flexplace or vice versa.
What makes a compressed workweek successful? Munyon, Timothy P.; LeClaire, Christine; Pace, Lorien ...
Organizational dynamics,
April-June 2023, 2023-04-00, Volume:
52, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Initial evidence shows that compressed workweeks offer significant value to organizations and their employees. However, little guidance is available on how best to implement these practices. In this ...paper, we evaluate the evidence on the efficacy of compressed workweeks, present a case study of an organization that implemented compressed workweeks, and discuss best practices for organizations seek to implement this practice.
This study examines the associations between flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and turnover intentions by testing four perspectives with consideration of the subprocess (i.e. indirect effects) that ...each conveys. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was applied to test the direct, indirect, and total effects of flextime, telecommuting, and overall flexibility on turnover intentions (n
1
= 1,505 employees, n
2
= 64 work units). Support was found for the subprocesses that involved job control and work engagement. Flexibility was associated with more job control and work engagement which were in turn related to lower turnover intentions. That telecommuting was associated with higher work-to-family conflict and indirectly to higher turnover intentions raised questions about the net effects of flexibility. The discussion recasts the narratives that have guided research into the possible outcomes of work arrangements that provide flexibility.
Greater access to flexible work arrangements is considered a solution to many working parents’ challenges balancing the demands of work and family, yet it remains unclear whether such arrangements ...are associated with parents’ time in the active caregiving activities linked to children’s development and parents’ notions of quality time. We examine this question using data from the American Time Use Survey and Leave and Job Flexibilities Module (2017–2018) (n = 1,874 mothers, n = 1,756 fathers) and linear regression and inverse probability weighting techniques. Results indicate that access to flextime is associated with more active caregiving time for mothers but not fathers. They also provide suggestive evidence that flexplace is associated with more active caregiving time for mothers and fathers and strong evidence that it is associated with more passive caregiving time for both parents. The findings highlight the importance of expanding parents’ access to flexible work options, and the limits of doing so.
The lockdown regulations aiming at avoiding the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 have caused disruptions in organizations of all types or sizes. In order to survive and remain competitive, ...enterprises have moved online. In line with the dramatic changes around the globe triggered by the regulations as a part of preventive measures, social enterprises switched to working from home. As a result, entrepreneurs have to learn new digital skills to capture the potential of digitalization as it is considered to have an ability to accelerate economic recovery after the pandemic. Yet digitalization influences organizational processes and operations and requires changes in strategies. In light of these transformations, researching social enterprises from different angles is of particular importance when economies are facing the threat of recession, as social entrepreneurship addresses market failure and can tackle social problems. Social entrepreneurs can find innovative solutions to modern challenges and help society and economies to transform. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the feasibility of remote working and digitalization in social enterprises. The paper outlines remote working concerns in social enterprises in the Republic of Georgia and analyses flextime opportunities for enterprise employees. The empirical study is based on a qualitative research approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with the seventeen Georgian social entrepreneurs to explore the research questions. The paper contributes to understanding remote working in social enterprises and offers suggestions for future study directions in this under-researched area.
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