Freedom or fallout in local government? How work-life culture impacts employees using flexible work practices

Abstract

This exploratory study investigates five conceptually distinct dimensions of work-life culture which account for the gap between work-life policy provision and utilization: 'Manager Support'; 'Organizational Time Expectations'; 'Career Consequences'; 'Gendered Perceptions of Policy Use' and 'Co-worker Support', among 22 employees using flexible work practices (13 women, 9 men) in a local government organization in Australia. The findings inform the development of targeted strategies that help alleviate the cultural barriers preventing the use of work-life policies by eligible employees and contribute to the emergent area of organizational work-life culture as a theoretical construct.