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Cited by 341Work-Family Balance ChallengesEmployment, Labor, and Gender StudiesEmployee Performance and Management

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 128 of the 128 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility and exploring options for new directions.

Putnam, Linda L, Myers, Karen K, Gailliard, Bernadette M·2014·Human Relations
DOI 10.1177/0018726713495704
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Abstract

Workplace flexibility initiatives as a potential remedy for work–life conflicts are the focus of a considerable number of investigations. Despite their contributions, research findings reveal tensions and contradictions in the ways that employees, managers and organizations develop, enact and respond to these flexibility initiatives. This critical review identifies three primary tensions (variable vs fixed arrangements, supportive vs unsupportive work climates and equitable vs inequitable implementation of policies) that reveal inconsistent and sometimes contradictory findings. We tie these tensions, and the management of them, to an overarching dilemma in implementing workplace flexibility, the autonomy–control paradox. To develop alternatives for handling these tensions, we recommend reframing them through changing organizational cultures, adopting a philosophy of adaptability, customizing work and making workplace flexibility an employee right. We conclude by urging organizations and society to reframe the tensions between work and life, to treat them as enriching rather than competing with each other and to transcend these opposite poles through exploring third spaces.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0018726713495704

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128 of 128 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Citations

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Show all 128 references

Research works printed but not linked: 17

  1. *Bohen HH, 1981, Balancing Jobs and Family Life: Do Flexible Working Schedules Help?
  2. *Buzzanell PM, 2007, Human Relations, 60, 453
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  13. *Moe K, 2010, Glass Ceilings & 100-Hour Couples: What the Opt-Out Phenomenon Can Teach Us about Work and Family
  14. *Society of Human Resource Management, 2011, 2011 Employee Benefits Report: Examining Employee Benefits Amidst Uncertainty
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Metadata

Authors
Putnam, L. L., Myers, K. K., & Gailliard, B. M.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
Corresponding author
  • Putnam, Linda L
  • Myers, Karen K
  • Gailliard, Bernadette M
ORCID
Venue
Human Relations
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2013-10-08
Volume
67
Issue
4
Pages
413-440
ISSN
  • 0018-7267 (ISSN-L)
  • 1741-282X
DOI
10.1177/0018726713495704
OpenAlex
W2131299909
Cited by
341
References
128
Citations by year
2026: 28 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 2
FWCI
42.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Human Relations (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Employee Performance and Management
Keywords
work flexibility, work-life balance, work-life conflict, organizational culture, adaptability, workers' rights, third space, work-life tensions

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