Abstract
ObjectiveDue to recent trends such as globalization and digitalization, more and more employees tend to have flexible working time arrangements, including boundaryless working hours. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of various aspects of boundaryless working hours (overtime, Sunday work, and extended work availability) with employees’ state of recovery. Besides, we examined the mediating and moderating role of recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) in these relationships.MethodsWe used data from 8586 employees (48% women; average age of 48 years) who took part in the 2017 BAuA-Working Time Survey, a representative study of the German working population. Regression analyses were conducted to test main effects as well as mediation and moderation.ResultsOvertime work, Sunday work, and extended work availability were negatively related to state of recovery. Psychological detachment mediated these relationships. Furthermore, we found that relaxation and control mediated the association between extended work availability and state of recovery. However, no relevant moderating effects were found.ConclusionsAltogether, our findings indicate that various aspects of boundaryless working hours pose a risk to employees’ state of recovery and that especially psychological detachment is a potential mechanism in these relationships. In addition, the results suggest that a high level of recovery experiences cannot attenuate these negative relationships in leisure time. Therefore, employers and employees alike should try to avoid or minimize boundaryless working hours.
Highlights
Recent trends such as globalization and digitalization have contributed to the emergence of a 24/7 economy, in which traditional nine-to-five jobs are increasingly replaced by more flexible working time arrangements (AmlingerChatterjee 2016; Fagan et al 2012)
To address all three working time dimensions, in this study, we address overtime referring to boundaryless working hours in terms of duration, Sunday work relating to position, and extended work availability as an aspect of flexibility
To measure boundaryless working hours, we considered three aspects of blurred boundaries related to the duration, position, and flexibility of working time, namely overtime, Sunday work, and extended work availability
Summary
Recent trends such as globalization and digitalization have contributed to the emergence of a 24/7 economy, in which traditional nine-to-five jobs are increasingly replaced by more flexible working time arrangements (AmlingerChatterjee 2016; Fagan et al 2012). In 2015, almost half of the employees in Germany regularly worked on weekends (48%), 48 percent of employees were at least. We define boundaryless working hours as working hours that lie outside the contractually defined working hours or exceed them, thereby increasingly blurring these boundaries. Studies have shown that various aspects of boundaryless working hours, such as overtime work Jansen et al 2003) or extended work availability (e.g., Rau and Göllner 2019), are negatively related to employees’ recovery. Only few studies investigate the impact of other aspects of boundaryless working hours on recovery. Little is known about the effect of work on typically work-free days, such as Sunday work in Germany, on employees’ recovery
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