ABSTRACT
Work–family conflict (WFC) occurs when both an employee’s work and home responsibilities conflict with one another. As technology is making work more accessible any time and place, employees often find that the ability to work remotely can also take time away from their personal life. In particular, the increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) while at home can influence the presence of work–family conflict. Multiple scales have been developed to empirically assess work–family conflict, which vary on taking into account all forms (strain-based, time-based, and behaviour-based) and directions (work interfering with family and family interfering with work). WFC is consistently linked to negative general well-being outcomes (i.e. lower life satisfaction), as well as work-related (burnout/exhaustion) and family-related outcomes (family/martial satisfaction). Organizations often adopt work–family policies that emphasize flexible practices to help reduce WFC, but the effectiveness of these practices are mixed given barriers to employee use. Additionally, some flexible work practices include reliance on work-related technologies that can also have negative implications for WFC. Organizational solutions for managing work technologies include developing policies or practices around their use, modeling family-supportive practices among managers, and considering how to support the usefulness of ICT use outside of work.
