flexible work solutions

iWin research on flexible work solutions focuses on the meaning, operationalization and the process of implementing flexible work options. iWin researchers are interested in determining the ways flexible work options contribute to positive outcomes for employers and employees, especially among a diverse workforce. Currently, iWin researchers and collaborators are engaged in research examining flexible work options for workers employed in the retail sector.

woman and children

Workplace Flexibility for Hourly Lower-Wage Employees:
A Strategic Business Practice
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator: Jacqueline James, Ph.D., Boston College

Flexible work options are becoming a popular organizational practice used to assist employees with meeting their work and family responsibilities. However, much of the work-family scholarship and many of the work-family policies offered within organizations focus on forms of workplace flexibility for professional workers, at the exclusion of workers in lower-wage hourly jobs. Using data from interviews with senior managers (N=40), this investigation examines the flexible work options offered to workers in lower-wage hourly positions and the associated benefits and challenges to businesses in offering flexible work options. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

This project was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Center on Aging & Work /Workplace Flexibility at Boston College. For more information about this project, please contact Dr. Jennifer Swanberg.