The importance of organisational justice on schedule satisfaction: a study of Latin American call centre employees

Abstract

Using organisational justice theory as a basis for hypotheses formation, we consider the relationship between fairness perceptions in how employee work shifts are assigned and reported employee satisfaction with their work schedule. Secondary survey data (N = 3,871) from employees working in call centres in Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina were supplied by the employing organisation. We randomly drew 400 replies from each country for use in hypothesis testing. The results suggest that feelings of justice are positively related to employee feelings of satisfaction with their work schedule. Procedural and distributive justices are the strongest predictors. Length of time with the company was found to moderate the relationship between interactional justice and satisfaction with the schedule, with the effect significantly greater for recently hired employees. We also consider the impact of national culture on the relationship between justice perceptions and reported schedule satisfaction. The findings suggest that the relationship between distributive and procedural justice and satisfaction with schedule is stronger for employees from the high power distance national culture of Brazil. Implications for theory and recommendations for practice are offered.