Walking on a thin line! Empirical examination of work–home boundary violations faced by employees during forced work from home
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2021-0515 |
| Published date | 12 September 2022 |
| Date | 12 September 2022 |
| Pages | 277-303 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | S.M. Ramya,Jasmine Banu,Aswathy Asokan Ajitha,Rupashree Baral |
Walking on a thin line! Empirical
examination of work–home
boundary violations faced by
employees during forced work
from home
S.M. Ramya and Jasmine Banu
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Aswathy Asokan Ajitha
Indian Institute of Management Amritsar, Amritsar, India, and
Rupashree Baral
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Abstract
Purpose –This research aims to study employees’pandemic-induced work–home boundary violations using
the work–home boundary model. Boundary theory and social theories provide the theoretical underpinnings
for this study. The authors study the role of gender, gender role ideology, and fear of COVID-19 in explaining
the relationship between work–home boundary violations, work–family conflict (WFC), and subjective
well-being (SWB) among working professionals.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were gathered using an online survey on married and working
individuals (N5354) and analyzed using the multi-group analysis technique in structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings –Results show that men faced higher WFC due to job insecurity, while women reported higher WFC
due to traditional gender role ideology. Surprisingly, men reported lower subjective well-being due to WFC
compared to women, when fear of COVID-19 was low. One promising finding is the potential in using problem-
focused coping strategy (PCS) as a boundary-work tactic for both men and women to ensure boundary control
(BC) to reduce WFC and improve SWB during the new normal.
Practical implications –This study contributes to boundary theory, social role theory, and social support
resource theory, along with practical implications for employees, organizations, and policymakers.
Originality/value –This study dissects the primary role of problem-focused coping as a valid coping
mechanism for managing the issues arising from the pandemic-induced unfavorable working conditions.
Keywords COVID-19, Work–family conflict, Boundary violation, Boundary incongruence, Fear of COVID-19,
Problem-focused coping strategy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The COVID-19pandemic is one of thebiggest crises ever faced, which has affected many lives
around the world. Several organizations rolled out mandatory work-from-home (WFH)
programsaround the globe,which pushed everyoneinto remote mode,and is here to stay as an
opportunity. For example, Google and Twitter have already announced WFH even into 2022
and beyond. Although organizations are able to save the risks and maintenance costs (The
Guardian, 2021a) and so,welcome permanentWFH conditions,employees facesevere stress due
Work–home
boundary
violations during
COVID-19
277
The authors are thankful for the comments and feedback received for an earlier version presented at the
81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM, 2021): A Virtual Annual Meeting. The
authors sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor, Prof. Dennis Nickson, for their
insightful comments and suggestions during the review process.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 27 November 2021
Revised 13 July 2022
23 August 2022
Accepted 23 August 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 2, 2023
pp. 277-303
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2021-0515
to WFH (The Guardian, 2021b). In addition, fear and anxiety associated with COVID-19 can
worsen individuals’mental health conditions (WHO, 2020).
The compulsory WFH imposed by many organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic
lockdown significantlyblurred the boundary between work andfamily, posing severalunique
challenges for employees. The lack of clear boundary between work and family life or boundary
violation (incongruence) augmented work–family conflict (WFC). Greenhaus and Beutell
defined WFC as “a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and
family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect”(1985, p. 77). WFC was severe in
forcedWFH during thepandemic such thatemployees calledit “unbearable”and expressedthat
they felt they were a “failing parent and a failing professional”(BBC News, 2020). More
specifically, women faced greater consequences of WFC due to the persistent gender role
attitude associated with household and child care responsibilities, especially in developing
nationssuch as India (ThePrint, 2020). As COVID-19and WFH are expected to persistfor quite
some time,it is important to find solutions to theissues related with boundary violations faced
by employees. Even thoughthe literaturesuggests that profoundchanges in societyhave made
WFC a new normal among married employees in different countries (Adisa et al., 2016;Ferri
et al., 2018), research on WFC is even more important because of the newly added challenges
from the COVID-19 pandemic (Carnevale and Hatak, 2020).
In sum,the COVID-19 pandemichas created severeeconomic (job insecurity), organizational
(forced remote work), physical (ailments), and psychological (fear) issues for the working
professionals. Hence, it is crucial to unpack the black box on work–home boundaryviolations
faced by employees working from home during the pandemic. Thus, this research asks: To what
extent does work–home boundary violations affect subjective well-being? And what role does
gender, gender role ideology, and fear of COVID-19 play in explaining this relationship?
Specifically, buildingon the model of work–home boundarywork by (Kreiner et al., 2009), and
integrating boundary theory (Ashforth et al., 2000),social role theory (Eagly, 1987), and social
support resource theory (SSRT) (Hobfoll et al., 1990) an extension of conservation of resource
theory (COR)(Hobfoll, 1989), this research examinesthe moderating role of gender,gender role
ideology (GI), and fear of COVID-19 on the work–home boundary violationsarising from (a) a
salientenvironmentalinfluence–job insecurity;(b) a family dimensionof incongruence –spouse
support(SS); (c) a boundarywork tactic –copingstrategy; and (d)the consequencesof boundary
violation –WFC and loss of subjective well-being (SWB).
Literature review and hypothesis development
In this research, we draw from the model of work–home boundary (Kreiner et al., 2009), which
explainshow individualsadapt to and managethe conflictsbetween the boundariesof work and
home. We posit that one’s socially constructed boundary between work and home, a
fundamental aspectof work, has beenseverely affectedfor all the workingindividualsdue to the
COVID-19pandemic. Based on the findings, the authors illustrated that work–homeboundary
incongruences occur based on the differences between the individual’s boundary preferences
and other environmental factors, which further leads to boundary violations and conflicts.
Similarly,boundary theory(Ashforth et al., 2000) helps us to understandhow individualsdesire
to create,organize, andsimplify life domains.The strengthof the boundariesbetween work and
family domain varies from individual to individual as they are delineated based on personal
limits (Clark, 2000). To negotiatethe boundarieson this continuum,it is classifiedas thin (weak)/
integrated/blurred, or thick (strong)/segmented (Kreiner et al., 2009). Both the in tegrators and the
segmentorshave to work in a weak boundarybetween work and home. Supporting the same,
recent findings claim that “employees do not alwaysget to work in an environment consistent
withtheir segmentationpreference, and,conceivably,the mismatch betweentheir segmentation
preferenceand work environments isoften inevitable”(Choet al., 2020, p. 545).Hence, we believe
ER
45,2
278
To continue reading
Request your trial