Returning to work after maternity leave: work-family policies and work related attitudes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine processes in the relationship between WFP and work-family conflict in addition to work related attitudes of women returning to work after maternity leave who hold management positions. Design/methodology/approach Data is gathered from the responses of 238 female managers working for companies throughout Italy who have recently returned to work after maternity leave, to a self-report questionnaire. Findings The results show that the availability of WFP is directly or indirectly related to work attitudes among female managers. Work-family conflict is shown to partially mediate the relationship between the availability of WFPs and work engagement and the availability of WFPs moderates the relationship between work engagement and work-family conflict. Practical implications Therefore provision of communication and psychological support and flexible time-management policies would provide the organizational structure to produce a healthy work-life balance. Originality/value This paper has an original approach by examining the psychological mechanisms underlying the availability WFP on attitudes of women managers returning to work after maternity leave.

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osman M. Karatepe ◽  
Georgiana Karadas

Purpose Using person–job fit, congruence and conservation of resources theories as the theoretical underpinnings, the purpose of this study is to propose and test a research model that investigates work-family conflict and family–work conflict as mediators of the impact of person–job fit on work engagement. The model also examines the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between conflicts in the work–family interface and life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Data gathered from frontline hotel employees two weeks apart in three waves in Romania were utilized to assess the abovementioned relationships via structural equation modeling. Findings Two directions of conflict act as partial mediators between person–job fit and work engagement. Work engagement fully mediates the relationship between work–family conflict and life satisfaction, while it functions as a partial mediator of the effect of family–work conflict on life satisfaction. Originality/value This paper contributes to current knowledge by investigating the interrelationships of person–job fit, two directions of conflict, work engagement and life satisfaction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 459-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Conte ◽  
Bryan Aasen ◽  
Caitie Jacobson ◽  
Casey O’Loughlin ◽  
Lukas Toroslu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine whether polychronicity, an individual difference variable that involves a preference for multitasking, moderates the relationships between work-family conflict (WFC) and two work criteria, job satisfaction and work engagement; second, to examine two measures of polychronicity (the multitasking preference inventory (MPI) and the inventory of polychronic values (IPV)) and investigate whether polychronicity moderates the relationships between WFC and work criteria differently when measured by the MPI or the IPV. Design/methodology/approach The study’s sample included 257 respondents from the Amazon Mechanical Turk service who completed an online survey. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test whether polychronicity moderated the relationships between WFC and two work criteria, job satisfaction and work engagement. Findings Polychronicity was found to significantly moderate the relationship between the work engagement and WFC. Follow-up analyses indicated that those who were lower in polychronicity had a significant decrease in work engagement as WFC increased, whereas those who were higher in polychronicity had relatively the same work engagement level regardless of changes in WFC. The results suggest that individuals higher in polychronicity have more personal resources and may be more resilient than those lower in polychronicity when it comes to not letting conflicts between their work and family lives affect how engaged they feel in their work. Originality/value This study extends the application of polychronicity to new domains of WFC and work engagement. The current study also contributed to the literature by investigating two measures of polychronicity (MPI and IPV) and finding that the MPI significantly moderated the relationship between WFC and work engagement, but the IPV did not. These findings indicate that there are important differences between the MPI and the IPV, and additional research is needed in comparing these two polychronicity measures.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Costantini ◽  
Stephan Dickert ◽  
Riccardo Sartori ◽  
Andrea Ceschi

Purpose This study aims to expand our knowledge on the processes through which work–family policies relate to work–family conflict as well as work–related attitudes among women in management positions returning to work after maternity leave. Design/methodology/approach A total of 238 women in management positions who recently have returned to work after maternity leave completed a self-reported questionnaire. Findings Results show that the availability of policies was either directly or indirectly positively related to work attitudes among female managers. Also, findings show that work–family conflict partially mediates the relationship between the availability of communication and psychological support and flexible time management policies with work engagement, and policy availability moderates the relationship between work–family conflict and work engagement. Originality/value Managers have a crucial role in conveying the value of work–family policies and in creating a culture supporting the management of work and family. By investigating the processes underlying the role of work–family policies in influencing work attitudes of women in managerial positions, this study sheds light on how the awareness of the available policies might be an important determinant of work-related well-being and organizational commitment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-326
Author(s):  
Yanah Ria ◽  
Palupiningdyah Palupiningdyah

This study aims to Determine the effect of work family conflict and work engagement on life satisfaction through work life balance as a mediating variable of study in female nurses at RSI who are married. The type and design of research used in this study is quantitative research. Sampling in this study using proportional sampling sampling technique and Obtained sample size that must be used is 118 female nurses who are married, the analytical method used is the instrument test (validity and reliability), classic assumption test, and hypothesis testing with the application of SPSS 23. Data collection methods using interviews, questionnaires, and literature studies. The results of this study indicate that five hypotheses were accepted, and two hypotheses were rejected. So it can be seen that work family conflict has a negative and not significant effect on life satisfaction. Work engagement has a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction. Work family conflict has a negative and significant effect on work life balance. Work engagement has a positive and significant effect on work life balance. Whereas the work life balance is only Able to mediate the relationship between work engagement and life satisfaction.Suggestions for future research are to develop other variables that can mediate the relationship of work family conflict in the life satisfaction of female nurses, for example social support. While the advice for the hospital is to reduce the activities that make-female nurses so tired, and provide time off when it is Necessary to reduce conflicts that occur


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neuza Ribeiro ◽  
Daniel Gomes ◽  
Ana Rita Oliveira ◽  
Ana Suzete Dias Semedo

Purpose The incompatibility between the sphere of work and the family is a reality that plagues many workers today. The difficult articulation of these two domains leads to the experience of the phenomenon called work–family conflict (WFC). This paper aims to assess the impact that WFC may have on employee engagement and performance, as well as on their turnover intention. It is also intended to test the mediating effect of engagement on the relationship between WFC and performance, and between WFC and the turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach One hundred and sixty-seven employees from various Portuguese organizations were surveyed. Respondents reported their perceptions of own WFC, engagement, performance and turnover intention. Findings The results revealed that employees who feel a higher WFC have lower levels of engagement and greater intention to leave the organization. The WFC showed no relation to performance. Engagement takes on the mediating role in the relationship between WFC and the turnover intention. Practical implications The relevance of this study is related to the implications that it may bring to companies in the context of implementing work–family balance strategies to reduce the referred conflict. Originality/value This study contributes to WFC literature by attempting to integrate in the same model four concepts in a single study to provide a model that depicts the chain of effects between WFC, engagement, individual performance and turnover intention, which has never been done in the Portuguese context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 372-385
Author(s):  
Marijana Matijaš ◽  
Marina Merkaš ◽  
Barbara Brdovčak

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effects of job autonomy and co-worker support on job satisfaction, and the mediational role of work–family conflict (WFC) in the relationship between these job resources and job satisfaction in men and women. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was used. Participants (n=653) completed the WFC scale (Netemeyer et al., 1996), the job autonomy scale (Costigan et al., 2003), a scale of co-worker support (Sloan, 2012) and a new short multidimensional scale of job satisfaction. Findings Higher job autonomy and co-worker support contribute positively to job satisfaction in women and men. Co-worker support has an indirect effect on job satisfaction via WFC in women, but not in men. The WFC did not mediate the relationship between job autonomy and satisfaction in men and women. Originality/value This paper contributes to the research on the effects of job resources on WFC and job satisfaction, and on gender differences in the relationship between work and family.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-440
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Yu ◽  
Xiaotong Meng ◽  
Gang Cao ◽  
Yingya Jia

Purpose Conflict between work and family is a significant issue for entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of entrepreneurial failure on both family–work conflict (FWC) and work–family conflict (WFC) and the moderating role of perceived control of time and organizational slack based on conservation of resources (COR) theory. Design/methodology/approach This study used a questionnaire to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial failure, FWC/WFC, perceived control of time and organizational slack. Data were collected from the Chinese context in 2018 and as a result received 318 valid questionnaires, obtaining a response rate of 63.6 per cent. Findings The study finds that entrepreneurial failure has a significant relationship with FWC but a nonsignificant relationship with WFC and that perceived control of time and organizational slack moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial failure and FWC/WFC. Originality/value This study aligns the field of family–work (work–family) conflict and entrepreneurial failure. It addresses a research gap in the conflict literature by introducing one form of resource loss: entrepreneurial failure as a source of conflict between work and family based on COR theory and the work–home resources model. The study also enriches the literature on the social cost of entrepreneurial failure by exploring the crossover effect of entrepreneurial failure on conflicts in the family domain. Furthermore, the study advances the understanding of managing conflict between work and family after entrepreneurial failure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Freire ◽  
Claudia Bettencourt

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating effect of the work–family conflict in the relation between ethical leadership and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was answered by 234 nursing professionals working in Portuguese public health institutions.FindingsRegression analyses indicate that there is a positive relationship between ethical leadership and satisfaction and a negative relationship between ethical leadership and the nurse's work–family conflict. Furthermore, it was revealed that the work–family conflict mediated (partially) the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsEthical leadership was measured by assessing the nurses' perceptions of their leaders' character. The cross-sectional data limited the possibility of establishing the causality of the study variables, where the generalization of results was not possible due to the fact that data were obtained in public health institutions alone.Practical implicationsConsidering that ethics precede good relations between the manager and collaborator, it is recommended that organizations develop ethical training for their leaders, more specifically in the case of head nurses.Originality/valueThe added value of this empirical study lies in the mediated role of the work–family conflict in the analysis of the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihe Li ◽  
Hanying Tang ◽  
Hongyu Ma ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Nan Zhang

PurposeThis study introduced a focus on work flexibility-worry and intended to test whether work flexibility-worry would weaken the strengthening power of work flexibility-willingness on the relationship between work flexibility-ability and work–family conflict from the perspective of person–situation interaction.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were 924 employees recruited by the snowballing technique. They completed questionnaires about demographics and work flexibility. Multivariate stepwise regression was used to analyze the collected data.FindingsResults showed that work flexibility-ability can reduce work-to-family conflict. However, this effect is most pronounced only among individuals with a high work flexibility-willingness who simultaneously experience low work flexibility-worry.Practical implicationsFor organizations that want to provide work flexibility benefits to employees, they should not only pay attention to employees' personal preference for work flexibility but also create a climate in which all employees are allowed to use the flexibility supply without criticism from coworkers and without impacting organizational evaluations, which can benefit employees' functioning in both their work and family roles.Originality/valueThis study clarified the joint role of willingness and worry in predicting the extent to which work flexibility-ability reduces work–family conflict, which helps organizations to better understand the conditions under which work flexibility can better reduce work–family conflict.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junwei Zheng ◽  
Xueqin Gou ◽  
Hongyang Li ◽  
Nini Xia ◽  
Guangdong Wu

PurposeFollowing the conservation of resources theory and job demands–resources model, this study aims to explore the relationship between work interference with family (WIF) and emotional exhaustion and the boundary condition for construction professionals.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected 319 valid samples from Chinese construction projects and examined the established integrative moderated mediation model using regression analysis and bootstrapping.FindingsThe results indicated that WIF was positively related to emotional exhaustion. The surface acting strategy mediated the relationship between WIF and emotional exhaustion. Emotional intelligence alleviated the indirect effect of WIF on emotional exhaustion via surface acting.Originality/valueThese findings unveil the resource depletion process of work–family conflict in the construction project context, enrich the emotional intelligence literature to demonstrate the buffer function on the negative impact of emotional resource depletion and address the implications for the construction labour workforce.


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