Affective commitment, home‐based working and the blurring of work–home boundaries: Evidence from Germany

• Published date: 01 March 2023
• Author: Yvonne Lott,Anja‐Kristin Abendroth
• Date: 01 March 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12255

Received: 7 December 2021

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Accepted: 2 August 2022

DOI: 10.1111/ntwe.12255

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Affective commitment, home‐based working

and the blurring of work–home boundaries:

Evidence from Germany

Yvonne Lott

1

|Anja‐Kristin Abendroth

2

1

Insitute of Economic and Social

Research, Hans‐Böckler Foundation,

Düsseldorf, Germany

2

Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld

University, Bielefeld, Germany

Correspondence

Anja‐Kristin Abendroth, Bielefeld

University, Bielefeld, Germany.

Email: anja.abendroth@uni-bielefeld.de

Abstract

Analysis of data from the representative German

Linked Personnel Panel revealed that, overall, the use

of home‐based working is associated with a higher

affective organisational commitment on the part of

employees. However, this is less often the case when

the use of home‐based working involves the blurring

of work–home boundaries. Perceived trust and

fairness on the part of supervisors mediates the

association between employees' experiences with

working from home and their affective commitment.

These results show that experiences with home‐based

working shape employees' perceptions of trust and

fairness in their exchange relations with supervisors

and thus their affective commitment to the organisa-

tion. Employees' experiences with home‐based work-

ing that reflect its supportive implementation by their

employers and supervisors are critical for their

commitment. Our results provide the first evidence

that in exchange relations between employees and

supervisors,perceivedfairnessisasimportantas

perceived trust.

New Technol Work Employ. 2023;38:82–102.82

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ntwe

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2022 The Authors. New Technology, Work and Employment published by Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

KEYWORDS

affective organisational commitment, blurred boundaries,

employee–supervisor relations, experiences with home‐based

working, fairness, home‐based working, social exchange, trust,

work–life balance

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, digital connectivity with co‐workers, supervisors and customers has increased

(Messenger & Gschwind, 2016),leadingtoagrowthinhome‐based working (Felstead, 2022; Felstead

&Henseke,2017; Vilhelmson & Thulin, 2016). This trend has been reinforced by the COVID‐19

pandemic, and will most likely persist post‐pandemic in the form of hybrid working whereby

employees and teams work partly at the workplace and partly from other locations (Felstead, 2022).

While around 12% of employees in Germany worked regularly from home before the pandemic, a

quarter of employees did so during the pandemic (Abendroth et al., 2022;Arntzetal.,2020).

This development is benefitting the growing number of employees calling for home‐based

working to achieve a better work–life balance. Empirical evidence from Sweden shows that among

teleworkers, individuals with families and children are overrepresented and one of the fastest

growing groups (Vilhelmson & Thulin, 2016). The European Union and national policymakers

have formulated expectations that encourage organisations to offer the option of working from

home as a resource to help their employees better integrate work and family life (Eurofound & the

International Labour Organisation [ILO], 2017). Consequently, organisations are under increasing

pressure to offer the option of working from home as a work–life balance arrangement.

The current business case arguments for the use of home‐based working suggest that employers

can benefit from implementing and expanding this arrangement if employees reciprocate by

increasing their commitment to the organisation (Den Dulk et al., 2012; De Menezes & Kelliher,

2011). Organisational commitment refers to an employee's attachment to the work organisation

(Chen & Fulmer, 2018;Choi,2018; Kelliher & Anderson, 2010; Meyer & Allen, 1991;Wang&

Walumbwa, 2007). It is a crucial resource for employers who—especially in times of shortages of

skilled labour—must retain and compete for skilled workers. Although reciprocation in the form of

increased commitment would be a win–win situation for both employees and employers (Kossek,

2016), evidence showing that working from home does indeed increase employees' organisational

commitment has been inconsistent (for a review, see Kelliher & de Menezes, 2019)inthatitis

unclear whether the actual use of home‐based working rather than its mere availability contributes

to commitment. In a meta‐analysis, Martin and MacDonnell (2012) found positive associations

between telework and commitment; Choi (2018) found higher turnover intentions for teleworkers

compared with nonusers with access to telework, whereas those with no access to telework had the

highest turnover rates. In line with Choi's (2018) finding regarding nonteleworkers by choice, Chen

and Fulmer (2018) showed that flexible location was more positively related to organisational

commitment for nonusers with access to telework than for users. One explanation for this might be

related to the finding that the use of digital communication devices has contributed to ‘24/7

availability’(Täht & Mills, 2012), and that as a result, home‐based workers often experience an

increase in work–home conflict rather than an improvement in their work–life balance (for a

review, see Chung & van der Lippe, 2020).

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