Formal FWAs vs. Informal Flexibility I-deals and Well-Being: Examining Two Mechanisms

Abstract

This study investigates whether the association between flexible working and employee well-being differs according to the formal or informal nature of arrangements. Relying on the literature on HR processes and employee experiences of flexible working, we claim that informal flexibility i-deals have a stronger, more proximal connection to well-being than do formal flexible working arrangements (FWAs). We also explore the existence of two underlying mechanisms to this distinct relationship: (1) we examine how work effort mediates the connection between the two types of flexible working and well- being and (2) we investigate if the relationship between informal flexibility i-deals and well-being is relative to employee perceptions of formal FWAs. Using data from employees working at the Spanish division of an international consultancy firm, results show that there is a positive and significant association between informal flexibility i-deals and employee well-being and that informal i-deals appear to have a more proximal connection to well-being than formal FWAs. They further confirm that work effort, intensive or extensive, acts as a mediating mechanism that transmits part of the effect of informal flexibility i-deals to well-being. They also indicate that individuals take formal FWAs as a baseline to contrast their own deal