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There is considerable interest in flexible work arrangements in the business community. Recent evidence from the National Study of Employers ([32] Galinsky et al. , 2008) indicates significant increases between 1998 and 2008 in the percentage of employers offering various flexible alternatives, including schedule flexibility such that employees are allowed to change their starting and quitting times daily. Whereas 24 percent of employers reported providing this benefit to some employees in 1998, the corresponding percentage in 2008 was 31 percent. The rationale underlying much of this interest is that flexibility offers organizations a competitive advantage in the marketplace and helps in attracting and retaining high quality employees. Indeed, a recent report endorsed by [18] Corporate Voices for Working Families (2005), a consortium of over 50 employers, 70 percent of whom are listed in the Fortune 500 (p. 27), concludes that:
... whether in driving financial performance or leveraging human capital, flexibility contributes powerfully to business success. But the positive benefits of flexibility cannot be realized until it is expanded to more workplaces with more varied and effective implementation. It is time to take action to unleash the power of flexibility and accomplish its expansion.
Although there is a common belief that flexible work arrangements, particularly schedule flexibility (formal or informal arrangements) or providing workers the ability to determine start and stop times of work, contributes to valued organizational outcomes, it is not clear how this occurs ([55] Konrad and Mangel, 2000). As far back as 25 years ago, researchers suggested the need to consider the experiences at the work-family interface in this process ([8] Baltes et al. , 1999; [70] Pierce and Newstrom, 1983; [71] Pierce et al. , 1989). However, the mechanisms linking schedule flexibility with desired outcomes like job satisfaction or performance are not well understood. We believe that one mechanism linking flexible work arrangements with outcomes are experiences at the work-family interface, specifically work-to-family enrichment and conflict. Schedule flexibility is a boundary-spanning resource that helps workers accomplish both their work and family responsibilities ([47] Hill et al. , 2008a; [85] Voydanoff, 2004). Schedule flexibility therefore creates the opportunity to minimize work-family conflict, promote work-family enrichment and improve functioning and performance at work and home. From emerging models of the work-family interface...