The impact of mandated work from home on employee work-life balance in Ireland

Griffin, Niamh (2022) The impact of mandated work from home on employee work-life balance in Ireland. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Objective: Many employees were forced to work from home (WFH) during COVID-19. For many this increased/decreased their work-life balance (WLB). However, there remains little understanding regarding mandated work from home (MWFH) and the variables that contribute to increased/decreased WLB when working from home.

Participants: Employees in Ireland (N = 139) completed an online questionnaire examining the impact of MWFH on WLB.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was utilised and following quantitative research methods an online questionnaire was distributed to participants using non-probability sampling. The questionnaire included demographic questions and questions from four pre-existing scales: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), The Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFCS), a Financial Scale and the Interruption Prevalence Scale (IPS), all of which achieved a Cronbach’s Alpha of over 0.7. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to discover the predictors of WLB, a MANOVA was utilised to determine the impact of WFH on mental health and WLB and independent samples T-tests were conducted to compare the WLB of employees depending on workplace and gender.

Results: Female gender, interruption prevalence since COVID-19 and mental health were found to be predictors of WLB. No association was found between MWFH and (1) mental health and (2) WLB of employees during COVID-19. No difference in WLB was found between genders or workplaces.

Conclusions: WFH did not impact employee WLB in Ireland. Rather it was found that significant predictors identified effect WLB, therefore place of work has no bearing on WLB. Consequently, organisations must address significant predictors by implementing policies and benefits to increase WLB.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > Ireland H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Quality of Work Life / Job Satisfaction
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	18 Nov 2022 15:41
Last Modified:	18 Nov 2022 15:41
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/5882

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