Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work–family effectiveness

We examine professionals’ use of telecommuting, perceptions of psychological job control, and boundary management strategies. We contend that work–family research should distinguish between descriptions of flexibility use (formal telecommuting policy user, amount of telecommuting practiced) and how the individual psychologically experiences flexibility (perceived control over where, when, and how one works, boundary management strategies regarding separation between work and family roles). Survey and interview data were collected from 245 professionals in two Fortune 500 firms with telework policies. Employees who perceived greater psychological job control had significantly lower turnover intentions, family–work conflict, and depression. Boundary management strategies higher on integration were positively related to family–work conflict. Although we found a main effect for formal policy use and higher depression, an interaction existed where women users with children had lower depression. Formal use positively related to supervisor performance ratings. Future research should distinguish between descriptive use and psychological experiences of flexibility.