Juggling work and family responsibilities when involuntarily working more from home: A multiwave study of financial sales professionals

Using multiwave survey data collected among 251 financial sales professionals, we tested whether involuntarily working more from home (teleworking) was related to higher time-based and strain-based work-tofamily conflict (WFC). Employees’ boundary management strategy (integration vs. segmentation) and
work–family balance self-efficacy were considered as moderators of these relationships. Data were collected one month before, three months after, and 12 months after the implementation of a new cost-saving policy that eliminated employees’ access to office space in a centralized work location. The policy resulted in employees being forced to work more from home. A voluntary telework program had been in effect before the new policy, implying that working more from home as a result of the new policy was involuntary in nature.
Results revealed that involuntarily working more from home was associated with higher strain-based WFC but not higher time-based WFC. However, moderator analyses revealed that the positive association between involuntarily working more from home and both types of WFC was significantly stronger among employees with weaker self-efficacy in balancing work and family. Boundary management strategy had no detectable moderating effect.