Family Roles as Moderators of the Relationship Between Schedule Flexibility and Stress

Employer initiatives that address the spillover of work strain onto family life include flexible work schedules. This study explored the mediating role of negative work - family spillover in the relationship between schedule flexibility and employee stress and the moderating roles of gender, family workload, and single-parent status. Data were drawn from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, a nationally representative sample of working adults (N = 2, 769). The results indicated that schedule flexibility was associated with less employee stress and that these associations were mediated by perceptions of negative work - family spillover. This study found the moderating relationships of gender, family workload, and single parenting in the relationships between schedule flexibility and negative work-family spillover and stress. Schedule flexibility had stronger relationships in reducing negative work- family spillover and stress among women, single parents, and employees with heavier family workloads. The findings provide empirical support for intervention efforts involving schedule flexibility to reduce workplace stress among employees with family responsibilities.Key Words: family workload, gender, single parents, stress, work-family spillover, work schedule flexibility.Today, almost all employees have multiple roles through the domains of work and home, and many employees experience workto-family strain in their daily lives as they cope with employment demands and family responsibilities, including the care of dependent children and others (Matos & Galinsky, 2011; Schieman, Milkie, & Glavin, 2009). For some employees, work demands can spill over to affect family life in negative ways, including lack of time to meet family obligations and increased tension and stress at home (Emslie, Hunt, & Macintyre, 2004; Keene & Reynolds, 2005; Mennino, Rubin, & Brayfield, 2005). Employers' formal efforts to reduce negative work -family spillover and enhance work -life integration include "family friendly" policies such as flexible work schedules, job sharing, and family leave (F. W. Bond, Flaxman, & Bunce, 2008; Galinsky, Friedman, & Hernandez, 1991; Jang & Zippay, 2011). Work schedule flexibility, which allows employees to vary their work hours within certain parameters, has been found to be positively associated with employee commitment, job satisfaction, work- life balance, and mental well-being (Halpern, 2005; Hill, Hawkins, Ferris, & Weitzman, 2001; Jang, Park, & Zippay, 2011; Saltzstein, Ting, & Saltzstein, 2001). Schedule flexibility has been identified as a relatively low-cost employer strategy for promoting employee satisfaction and the management of multiple work and family tasks (Galinsky et al.; Hill et al., 2001; Krausz, Sagie, & Bidemann, 2000). This study contributes to this knowledge base by examining the degree to which associations between schedule flexibility and employee stress are mediated by perceptions of negative work- family spillover and moderated by gender, family workload, and single-parent status. We drew on a nationally representative sample of 2,795 working adults in the United States from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW; see http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/ nscw08variablelist.pdf). Much previous research has focused on the direct relationships or associations of schedule flexibility and work-to-family conflict or stress, with little attention to mediating and moderating influences. The results of the present study have implications for workplace policies that use schedule flexibility to address issues of workplace and family strain, with attention to populations that may be especially vulnerable to work -family stressors, including women, single parents, and individuals with heavy household workloads.BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW: COMPETING TIME DEMANDS, NEGATIVE SPILLOVER, SCHEDULE FLEXIBILITY, AND STRESSCompeting demands of paid work and unpaid family responsibilities that are incompatible in some way are described in the research literature as work- life conflicts, and such conflicts have been associated with employee exhaustion; stress; major and minor depression (Frone, Russell, & Barnes, 1996; Hies et al. …