Employee Benefits and Policies: Do They Make a Difference for Work/Family Conflict?

Authors

Dina Banerjee, Shippensburg State University
Carolyn Cummings Perrucci, Purdue University

Keywords

Work/family policies, work/family conflict, flextime, childcare, human capital, workplace culture, workplace support

Abstract

This paper examines both the prevalence of employee benefits and whether the existence of any of numerous work/family policies is related to reduced perceived work/family conflict among a 2002 national sample of U.S. employees. We compare the impact of relatively standard employee benefits with more "controversial" work/family policies regarding flexible work time and child care. We determine whether the impact still remains when typical individual employee characteristics, human capital variables, workplace culture variables, and workplace support variables are controlled statistically in multiple regressions. We find that it is the relatively conventional benefits that are most available to employees. However, it is primarily policies pertaining to flexible work time that significantly affect perceived work/family conflict. These effects continue even when suportiveness of the workplace culture and of supervisors and co-workers are controlled. A supportive workplace culture is related to less work/family conflict. Caregiving policies do not impact perceived work/family conflict for this sample of U.S. employees.

Recommended Citation

Banerjee, Dina and Perrucci, Carolyn Cummings (2012) "Employee Benefits and Policies: Do They Make a Difference for Work/Family Conflict?," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 39: Iss. 3, Article 8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3687
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol39/iss3/8