Employee and human resource managers perceptions about family-friendly work practices: A case study focused on perceived organizational support

Abstract

This chapter looks at employee’s perceptions regarding the type of family-friendly work practices available to them by their employing organizations and, at the same time, it conveys their views on the organizational support received on these matters. The empirical research is based on a case study design that includes four companies belonging to different industries in Portugal. Overall, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews with both operational employees and human resource managers. The findings show that the HR managers in all the companies admit not having formal procedures on family-friendly work practices but only a set of informal practices that vary according to the functional level and the employee rank. The company size and resources, the type of operational activities or the work schedules are important explanatory factors for the scant adoption and implementation of family-friendly practices in these companies, and seem to play a more influential role than institutional forces. Immediate supervisor and co-worker support are perceived by the employees as fundamental sources of organizational support in the work-family life conciliation. The study limitations and future research suggestions are also presented.