Implications of Workday Free Time on Resisting Work Intensive Organizational Environments

• In Event: 256 - Section on Organizations, Occupations and Work Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Overwork and Work Schedule Control

Abstract

Intense time demands from workplace organizations are becoming the expected way to work. In the current study, we test the relationships between work intensive organizational environments and access via communication technology on feeling overworked. Further, we contend that workday free time (free time on days one works) is used as resistance strategy, as such, moderates these relationships, and reduces feeling overworked. Using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, we investigate both the moderating effects of the amount of workday free time, the evaluation of one’s free time and organizational environments on feeling overworked. The results clearly indicate that characteristics of the organizational environment increase feeling overworked. Long work hours, however, do not significantly predict feeling overworked. The amount of workday free time is not a significant moderator. Free time evaluation, however, does moderate the relationship between some work intensive organizational environment indicators and feeling overworked. Further, the results differ for men and women such that free time evaluation reduces feeling overworked for men, but this is not the case for women. Together, the results of the current study demonstrate the important role of organizational environments on feeling overworked and the gendered nature of time use.

Authors

• Sabrina Speights, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

• Beth A. Rubin, University of North Carolina-Charlotte