Work-from-home adjustment in the US and Europe: the role of psychological climate for face time and perceived availability expectations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a massive adoption of high-intensity work-from-home (WFH), a form of work organization that is expected to persist. Yet, little is known about the predictors and mechanisms underlying employees’ successful adjustment to high-intensity WFH. Drawing on signaling theory, we identify psychological climate for face time (i.e., an employee’s perception that their organization values physical presence in the office) as an antecedent of WFH adjustment. We argue that when WFH employees perceive that their organization encourages face time, they may view availability as a signal of their dedication to work, replacing visibility. Consequently, they feel expected to be extensively available (e.g., check emails outside of regular working hours). In turn, these perceived expectations predict lower adjustment to WFH. We further explore whether this process differs in the US and two European countries, France and Spain, given different employment protection and right to disconnect legislations, and different meanings attached to work ethics. In a two-wave study on a sample of 532 full-time WFH employees, structural equation modeling analyses show that perceptions of availability expectations mediate the negative relationship between psychological climate for face time and WFH adjustment, and that this process is accentuated in the US.