title: Changing Work and Work-Family Conflict: Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Network*
abstract: Schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life are work resources that may help employees manage the work-family interface. However, existing data and designs have made it difficult to conclusively identify the effects of these work resources. This analysis utilizes a group-randomized trial in which some units in an information technology workplace were randomly assigned to participate in an initiative, called STAR, that targeted work practices, interactions, and expectations by (a) training supervisors on the value of demonstrating support for employees' personal lives and (b) prompting employees to reconsider when and where they work. We find statistically significant, though modest, improvements in employees' work-family conflict and family time adequacy and larger changes in schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life. We find no evidence that this intervention increased work hours or perceived job demands, as might have happened with increased permeability of work across time and space. Subgroup analyses suggest the intervention brings greater benefits to employees more vulnerable to work-family conflict. This study advances our understanding of the impact of social structures on individual lives by investigating deliberate organizational changes and their effects on work resources and the work-family interface with a rigorous design.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moen
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Oakes
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Public Health.
authors.forename: Cassandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Okechukwu
authors.affiliation: The Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: Kelly D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Portland State University.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.affiliation: Purdue University.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kossek
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
authors.forename: Rosalind Berkowitz
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
authors.forename: Ginger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: RTI International.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mierzwa
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Casper
keywords: experiment; group-randomized trial; organizations; schedule control; work-family conflict