Flexitime and employee turnover: the polycontextuality of regulation as cross-national institutional contingency

Abstract

This paper introduces a multi-theoretical, multi-level framework to explore the role of national regulation as (a) an institutional pressure on use of flexitime in organisations, and (b) a contingency influencing the relationship between flexitime and employee turnover. Using data from 21 countries to capture diversity in regulatory frameworks, we empirically test this framework. Results show that state support in relation to childcare policies and the industrial relations system have a direct influence on flexitime usage, while working time legislation, social expenditure and the industrial relations system are significant contingencies on the relationship between flexitime use and turnover. This framework enriches scholarship on working time flexibility from an organizational perspective by capturing the regulatory conditions under which flexitime is most used and more likely to have an impact. Results suggest the complexity of regulatory frameworks, showing how the significance of different structures changes when examined together. Findings have implications for managers, policy-makers and researchers. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group