An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of the Use of Family-friendly Benefits

This study tests a theoretical model of antecedents (e.g., reporting to a family-supportive supervisor) and outcomes (e.g., family-work conflict) of employees making use of family-friendly employment benefits. We measured benefit usage both in terms of overall use and by examining the use of four specific family-friendly benefits (i.e., telecommuting, ability to take work home, flextime, and family leave). Although the major test of our model involved the use of cross-sectional data, data gathered at a later point in time also were used to test hypotheses. Our findings highlighted the importance of reporting to a family-supportive supervisor (having such a supervisor was associated with the use of family-friendly benefits, less family-work conflict, and greater job satisfaction). In terms of the use of specific benefits, flextime was associated with lower reports of family-work conflict and higher job satisfaction.