Is work-related smartphone use during off-job time associated with lower conflict owing to the blurring of the boundaries between work and family life? Or does it help employees juggling work and family demands? The present four-day quantitative diary study (N = 71 employees, N = 265-280 data points) aims to shed light on the relationship between daily work-related smartphone use during off-job time, and daily work-family conflict and daily family role performance, respectively. Moreover, individuals' general segmentation preference is investigated as a potential cross-level moderator in the relationships between daily work-related smartphone use during off-job time and both work-family conflict and family role performance. Overall, the results of multilevel modelling support our mediated moderation model indicating that Downloaded from Human Relations 69 (5) for integrators more frequent work-related smartphone use during off-job time is associated with better family role performance through reduced work-family conflict. For segmenters, smartphone use does not have any impact on work-family conflict and family role performance. These findings suggest that for integrators smartphone use during off-job time may be useful to simultaneously meet both work demands and family demands, which has the potential to reduce work-family conflict and enhance family role performance; whereas for segmenters no effects were found.

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This article investigates the relationships between human resource management practices associated with New Ways to Work (employee empowerment, home‐based teleworking, and creating trust relationships) and work‐related flow as experienced by employees (absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation). Hypotheses, based on a combined perspective integrating insights from the HRM‐process model and the job demands‐resources model, are tested using multiactor multilevel data comprising employees (N = 1,017) and their line managers (N = 89), across 89 job categories in 30 organizations. Although organizations may implement management practices aimed at empowering employees in particular job categories, this study showed that anticipated effects on work‐related flow (particularly work enjoyment) are not achieved when employees themselves do not experience being empowered, and when they do not use and experience their working conditions as job resources (home‐based teleworking and trust relationships characterized by supporting leadership, collegial support, and collegial commitment). The article concludes with recommendations regarding organizational change aimed at implementing New Ways to Work and suggestions for future research. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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To cite this Article Peters, Pascale , den Dulk, Laura and van der Lippe, Tanja(2009) 'The effects of time-spatial flexibility and new working conditions on employees' work-life balance: the Dutch case', Community, Work & Family, 12: 3, 279-297 To link to this Article: