The effects of offering flexible work practices to employees with unpaid caregiving responsibilities for elderly or disabled family members

• Author: Keith Townsend,Hugh T. J. Bainbridge
• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22007
• Published date: 01 September 2020

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The effects of offering flexible work practices

to employees with unpaid caregiving responsibilities

for elderly or disabled family members

Hugh T. J. Bainbridge

1

| Keith Townsend

2

1

School of Management, Business School,

University of New South Wales, Sydney, New

South Wales, Australia

2

Department of Employment Relations and

Human Resources, Nathan Campus, Griffith

University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Correspondence

Hugh T. J. Bainbridge, School of Management,

Business School, University of New South

Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

Email: h.bainbridge@unsw.edu.au

Abstract

Approximately one in 10 employees in Australia, the United States, and Europe have

unpaid caregiving responsibilities for elderly or disabled family members. This combi-

nation of employment and caregiving roles is problematic when there is conflict

between their simultaneous demands. Flexible work practices can be an important

mechanism for assisting these employees. However, limited attention has been given

to determining the benefits of flexible work practices for these employees, or the

process by which these effects arise. We address these gaps via a survey of

employees with unpaid caregiving responsibilities for family who are elderly or dis-

abled. Results indicate that greater availability of flexible work practices improves

perceptions of workplace support for combining caregiving and employment. This

effect was partially and sequentially mediated by disclosure, practice utilization, and

practice helpfulness. Additionally, practice availability had a direct positive effect on

practice utilization, while disclosure had a direct positive effect on perceived support.

Overall, the findings demonstrate the benefits of flexible work practices for

employees with caregiving responsibilities. The study also points the way to interven-

tions that can improve the effectiveness of flexible work practices by demonstrating

how the potential benefits of these practices are translated into actual improvements

in perceived support.

KEYWORDS

caregiving, disclosure, family friendly, flexibility, people with disabilities, support, work–family,

work–life

1|INTRODUCTION

Organizations increasingly offer flexible work practices to help

employees manage a diverse range of family and job responsibilities.

These practices provide employees with greater scope to manage job

demands with the often conflicting demands of other life roles

(Wheatley, 2017). Flexible work practices improve job satisfaction and

organizational commitment (Chen & Fulmer, 2018; De Menezes &

Kelliher, 2017) while reducing inter-role conflict (Bayazit & Bayazit,

2019), and turnover intentions (Kröll & Nüesch, 2019). They also send

an important signal to prospective employees, improving perceived

person-organization fit and resultant job seeker attraction and job

pursuit intentions (Firfiray & Mayo, 2017). In short, these practices,

potentially at least, benefit both the employee and their organization

(Kelly et al., 2008).

The examination of flexible work practices has historically cen-

tered on their application to employees with parental childcare

responsibilities (Stavrou & Ierodiakonou, 2018). However, flexible

work practices can also help employees to manage family commit-

ments that extend beyond the developmental assistance provided to

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.22007

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