FinalThesisPaper-5

Running head: SOCIALIZATION, PEER RESENTMENT, WORK/LIFE BALANCE 1

Peer Resentment Messages and the Perception of Work/Life Balance of New Employees

Bonnie Costa and Connor McGraw

Santa Clara University

SOCIALIZATION, PEER RESENTMENT, WORK/LIFE BALANCE 2

Abstract

This research study aimed to examine how peer resentment messages affected an

employee’s perception in being able to use leave policies available to them. The targeted group

of participants were those undergoing the socialization process and had not been at their

organization for longer than a year. Findings through one on one interviews indicated that peer

resentment messages were only recognized when days off were “unmissable” and other

employees had to be present. Overall, despite the peer resentment identified, generally

participants identified their organizations as being supportive of leave policy use. When asked

about the newly implemented unlimited vacation policies some companies are adapting,

participants contended that it would be useful to increase the flexibility of the employee’s work

and home life if the organization itself could allow for it.


Peer Resentment Messages and the Perception of Work/Life Balance of New Employees

Humans are social beings and alter their actions based on the approval and disapproval of

others especially when in new environments and when undergoing the process of socialization.

Different organizations offer work/family policies in a variety of forms and within organizational

cultures that frame utilization of these policies. Thompson, Beauvais, and Lyness (1999) found

that work/family culture determined whether employees used the policies, and were more

committed to their workplace. When an individual is on leave, the workload stays consistent and

therefore needs to be taken care of by someone not on leave. This in turn can create an issue for

someone not wanting to take on extra work and then may communicate certain emotions that

influence the decisions of the person seeking leave. Persons may then not want to use policies

because there are negative connotations attached to it in the culture (Kirby & Krone, 2002). This

can be especially true for newcomers whom are not fully versed in what the exact policies in

place are, and in turn this pressure stops someone who has not been in the culture of the

organization for very long from using them.

Employee work/family life balance is important to organizations because it maximizes

the efficiency, dedication, and temperament of workers in the work environment (Clark, 2001).

Work and family are usually the two biggest spheres of influence in a person’s life, and finding a

way to find balance between them can be challenging. This can be amplified for the assimilating

individuals who do not want to cause problems in their new place of work. In this paper we will

discuss the process of socialization, work/family balance, schedule control, work/family culture,

coworker resentment, the unlimited vacation policy trend and how they relate to organizational


culture. We will then present a research question that involves peer resentment and the effects it

has on the utilization of work/family leave policies for newcomers.

Rationale

Process of Socialization

When an individual enters a new organization, socialization becomes an important

process that allows for them to make sense of the interworkings of that organization. According

to Maanen & Schein (1977), socialization is described as, “The process by which one is taught

and learns ‘the ropes’ of a particular organizational role...the process by which an individual

acquires the social knowledge and skills necessary to assume an organizational role” (p. 3).

Socialization is a complex process consisting of several different aspects. Performance

proficiency, people, politics, language, organizational goals and values, and history are some of

these identified aspects contributing to the experience of new employees (Chao, O’learyKelly,

Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994). Different aspects of socialization are applicable to different

organizations as well as to different socialization experiences. No socialization experience is the

same, and even the same socialization process within the same organization can differ. As a part

of the assimilation process, socialization facilitates the process by which individuals join,

become integrated into, and exist within an organization (Madlock & Chory, 2014).

Organizational newcomers utilize numerous tactics to learn as much information about

the culture and the way the organization functions through this socialization process. One of the

most useful resources available to organizational newcomers are the actual incumbent, or

existing members of the organization whom are no longer being socialized. These existing


members however may not remember their own experiences as being the new member, and

therefore do not provide enough important information for them (Miller & Jablin, 1991). In turn,

new members perceive, “information deprivation” (Jablin, 1984, p. 622) in which they don’t feel

adequately provided with as much information as everyone else in the organization. On the other

side of this, new members may be provided with too much information at one time, or

inadequately be able to understand certain messages (Jablin, 1987). This may cause issues such

role conflict, that begin to affect job satisfaction and produce uncertainty (Ashford & Cummings,

1985). Perceptions of work/family life then may also be affected by such feelings.

Work/Family Balance

Work/life balance is often thought of as evenly splitting the time and effort between work

and home life. A popular representation of work/life balance is an image of a scale that is evenly

balanced with work on one part of the scale and family, leisure, and non work on the other side.

With the focus on work and family, this imagery is a misrepresentation of balance because of the

interconnectedness between the two spheres (Clark, 2000). This demonstrates what Staines

(1980) calls ‘spillover theory,’ that describes that although work and family are physically

separated, elements from the two cross over into each other. One example Clark (2000) explains

is that, “the disappointment one may experience in one system may propel individuals to pursue

fulfilling activities in the other” (p. 748). Influence of one element on the other is illustrated

here, although outcomes may not always be as positive.

In order to better describe how individuals transition between the two spheres of work

and family life and the influences they have on each other, Clark (2000) developed the

work/family border theory. Through this theory, it is explained that individuals shape their lives


to create certain boundaries where they allow certain aspects to spill over between, and others to

not in order to create this perception of balance (Clark, 2000). The border theory also suggested

ways that organizations could increase work/life balance including obtaining the power to create

and structure one’s own work schedule (Clark, 2000). More control over the work schedule can

benefit the individual based on their needs for more work or more family time. In the next

section, a study involving white collar workers and the ability to structure work schedules

showed that the schedule control reduced work/family conflicts, a potential negative

consequence when the perceived balance is off (Kelly, Moen, & Tranby, 2016).

Schedule Control

Schedule control for employees is usually expressed through methods that still require

them to perform their work during specific hours with specific routines (Kelly & Kalev, 2006).

ROWE or Results Only Work Environment was a contrasting program instilled at Best Buy Co.,

Inc. within its headquarters. Employees participating in ROWE were given ultimate flexibility

regarding when, where, and how they got their work done, which in turn was found to reduce

work/family conflicts, and improve work/family fit (Kelly, Moen, & Tranby, 2016). The

freedom to control the work schedule gave employees the perception that they had more control

of their personal work and family life commitments because they could make their schedules

based on their personal needs. The program was useful because the workplace initiatives

benefitted many different types of employees without stigmatization, due to the organization’s

culture normalizing the flexibility.

Personal obligations and commitments for employees have made controlling the time at

work and at home an important aspect of balance through this flexibility. Clark (2001) calls this


flexibility to alter one’s work ‘operational flexibility,’ however personally setting hours or

‘temporal flexibility,’ was not dealt with in the study. The operational flexibility afforded to

employees had a lot to do with the organizational culture and how supportive the coworkers and

supervisors were. This ties into the next section that deals with family supportive work

environments. The level of support from people within an organization affects employees’

work/life balance. Rogers (1993) found that flexibly scheduled work was rated as the most

valuable benefit option by employees.

Work/Family Culture

Employees form inferences about the family supportiveness of an organization’s

environment (Allen, 2001), which is summarized by the concept known as family supportive

organizational perceptions (FSOP). Allen (2001) found that employees that perceived the

organization as less family supportive experienced more work/family conflict, less job

satisfaction, and less commitment to the organization in comparison with employees that viewed

the organization as family supportive. In other words, a negative perception surrounding

acceptance of family in the organization affected the work/family conflict experienced, and led

to more negative spillover from the two spheres. Work/family culture is important to note

because it affects the utilization of work/family benefits. A study by Thompson, Beauvais, and

Lyness (1999) revealed that, “the perception of supportive workfamily culture was significantly

related to work attitudes above and beyond the availability of work/family benefits” (p. 409).

The managerial support of the employees was the most influential factor found in the utilization

of work/family benefits and programs.

Family supportive supervisors behaviors (FSSB) (Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner, &


Hanson, 2009) are closely related to the previously mentioned family culture support. The

managers and supervisors usually have the most influence on whether employees utilize

work/family benefits and programs which can be demonstrated through the four subordinate

dimensions of FSSB: emotional support, instrumental support, role modeling behaviors, and

creative work/family management (Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner, & Hanson, 2009). The

emotional involvement and support supervisors can provide has the potential for great influence

on worker perceptions of organizational outreach and support as a whole. An important part of

the study was the realization that there is a difference between general supervisor support and

supervisor support of family. A supervisor can be supportive of an employee but at the same

time could not support the family of the employee. A supervisor can support the employee and

the work achieved during a shift, but wouldn’t be supportive of the employee when the employee

focuses on his/her family (Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner, & Hanson, 2009). Related to

supervisor support and the effect a supervisor has on the organization culture, coworkers also

have an effect on the utilization of benefits and programs as mentioned as a highlighted part of

the socialization process.

Peer Resentment

Resentment is described by Smith, Parrot, Ozer, & Moniz (1994) as an emotional

response rooted in feelings of unfairness. Amongst coworkers, this resentment has the potential

to surface surrounding a peer’s use of a leave benefit. Kirby and Krone (2002) found that

coworkers had an influence on whether people utilized work/family policies because of the use

of resentment and producing feelings of guilt. When coworkers were not supportive of people

that used work/family policies and talked badly about the policies or the people that used them,


other people were hesitant about using the same benefits. This created an environment of peer

pressure and dissuaded people from using work/family policies provided. Coworker resentment

also dealt with gender especially between people that had children and people that didn’t have

children. Men in particular were more hesitant to use work/family leave policies because it was

expected of women to use it, and were viewed as being gifted time off instead of earning time off

(Kirby & Krone, 2002). In another study, Increased peer resentment messages overheard

resulted in a decrease in perceived ability to use work/family leave policies (Boren & Johnson,

2013).

Unlimited Policy Organizations

A new trend in recent years has been organizations offering unlimited vacation policies

for their employees. Because it is such a new implementation, studies on its implications have

not yet surfaced. Plotkin (2016) explains that specifically in the Silicon Valley tech industry,

companies get out of paying employees for unused vacation time (a California law) when they

offer this unlimited vacation policy. As appealing as it sounds, employees are still expected to

get their work done, yet it opens the door for attracting the top talent in the industry (Plotkin,

2016). Also known as discretionary time off (DTO), this type of policy has been only

recommended by experts for organizations containing, “entrepreneurial corporate culture and

excellent communication practices (Smolkin, 2015, p. 13).

The idea behind the policy’s creation was to offer more of need based system for time

off, yet it is highlighted by employers that constant communications are necessary to stay on the

same page about how the particular organization uses it (Smolkin, 2015). Unfortunately for the

employee though, if no time off is used and they decide to leave, there is no compensation for


them for not using those leave days (Smolkin, 2015). This kind of policy however may look

different depending on the organization and its culture. For example, Netflix uses a policy such

as this because it acknowledges the performance of their employees and not necessarily the

amount of time spent in the office, while IBM explains that the company doesn’t look at the

amount of time that employees are taking off because they trust their employees to get their work

done (HR Specialist, 2015). Unlimited vacation stands as an interesting new option for

employers to consider in terms of work/family balance of their employees, and work/family

culture of their organizations.

RQ1: How do coworker peer resentment messages affect the perception of organizational

work/family life balance for employees undergoing the socialization process?

Methods

For data collection, semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted because this

method seemed most appropriate for fully understanding perceptions, emotions, and examples of

participants. At each interview, participants first signed a letter of consent after the basis of the

study was explained to them. In this letter, participants were ensured privacy and gave

themselves a pseudonym in case a name was needed to be linked to their experience later in the

research process. A set list of questions (see Appendix I) were the structural guide of each

interview with allowed room to ask the necessary followup questions when the conversation

lead to them. Each interview was conducted in an one on one setting either on the campus of

Santa Clara University or another public place in the vicinity for approximately 30 minutes

without a recording device. The choice to not record interviews was due to prior research on


how participants may change or become anxious when they were aware they were being

recorded (Blaxter, Hughes, & Tight, 1996). Since we specifically asked about certain topics that

may be sensitive to participants, we wanted to reduce the risks of that insensitivity by providing

a pressure free environment. Extensive notes were taken during each interview and clarifications

were made in order to ensure that direct quotes were recorded properly.

Participants

The focus for participants was on individuals employed in organizations in the Silicon

Valley and surrounding areas essentially still undergoing socialization. Eleven women and three

men were interviewed for a total of fourteen participants. The age range of these participants

were between 22 and 30 with time in their organization ranging from 1 week to 1 year. Careers

in the Silicon Valley were of wide range and included a news media position, a ticket operations

assistant, business operations, sales operations, digital editor, researcher, clinical staff, account

manager, public relations, and an electrical engineer. The vast variance of employments in the

Silicon Valley were important in order to provide a context for themes extending across the

different borders of workplaces. We used a snowball technique by asking participants if they

knew of anyone else undergoing the socialization process to gather more participants as we went.

Analysis

In analyzing our interview data we used a thematic approach to develop themes and

subthemes based on the noted perceptions, experiences, and meaning collected. We organized

the notes taken from each interview into categories based on similarities between the experiences

and distinguished different emerging perceptions on many accounts using our set interview


question responses as a guide. This process allowed for a framework to be established on the

basis of our research question, and let us look deeper into the categories of thoughts that emerged

so that patterns could be established and analyzed deeper. The following subheadings introduce

the main themes uncovered with explanations and examples.

Findings and Analysis

With our RQ1, we hoped to get a broader understanding of the perceptions surrounding

leave policy use, and possible messages from peers that may have an effect on the perceived

ability to use these policies. Since policies regarding leave are related to the perception of

work/family life balance, this question allows to look deeper into the topic, and how it

specifically relates to newcomers of an organization. The set interview questions as apart of the

semistructured interview process were designed in order to lead to a better understanding of

what employees undergoing socialization thought about the culture and the support of their

organizations as a whole. Our data analysis uncovered a series of themes including peer

resentment, understanding of policy, organizational support, time at the organization, and

flexibility of unlimited vacation policy, which we will describe throughout this section.

Peer Resentment

The theme of peer resentment describes whenever a participant received messages from a

peer or manager in their organization that was characterized as resentful, and in turn made the

participant have an emotional response, such as guilt. We found these perceptions of peer

resentment messages through multiple experiences surfacing as a theme when it came to events

or days at work deemed “unmissable,” yet an employee needed to miss due to sickness or a type


of leave. These messages were found more commonly through technological means such as

email or text messaging, and came from both peers and managers. One participant explained

that she needed to get a shift covered and was reaching out to her peers, yet received responses

back such as, “you should really go in,” to try to convince her to go anyways. Another

participant explained having to email her boss about missing a certain day due to an extenuating

circumstance, and received a short response described as “passive aggressive,” and was

perceived as trying to make her feel guilty. This type of guilt is also demonstrated by a

participant who stated:

Sometimes my boss will say, “Oh no you can’t miss that,” but you do anyway. There is

definitely the guilt trip factor. You definitely feel bad about not attending, but you

don’t really have a choice.

Findings indicated that the actual peer resentment messages largely included superiors in

bringing feelings of guilt for missing an “unmissable.” Many participants discussed this guilt

surrounding sick policies in particular. This emotion was internalized, but did not affect the

decision to use the leave policy necessarily. One participant explained that in her organization,

paid time off and sick leave were linked together, so often times people would come into the

office even if they were sick because they didn’t want to use their paid time off. Once, this

participant needed to use the paid time off she hadn’t even earned yet because she fell ill and

didn’t have any days off to use. With the open style office setup of her organization, sickness

tends to spread fast, which is a potential problem if workers are choosing to come in sick.

Another example of pressures to come into work despite sickness was when a participant

discussed how their supervisors always stressed that there was so much work to do all the time.


Supervisors would constantly remind employees of the steady stream of work to be done. This

person perceived the messages sent by the supervisors as them not wanting people to take time

off and therefore felt obligated to come in on days she should have stayed home due to sickness.

The pressure from her bosses also made her take on more work than initially required especially

because she stated having been referred to the job, and wanted to make a good impression as a

hard worker.

Understanding of Policy

The understanding of policy theme was identified when participants commonly admitted

that they didn’t truly understand the leave policies that were available to them upon entering

their organizations, and therefore lacked knowledge. Leave policies are meant to be outlined

during the interview or job offer processes, but participants expressed overlooking them, and not

necessarily understanding the procedures surrounding them. Participants knew they could find

these policies in the work manual or could ask representatives in Human Resources if they

needed them, but didn’t actively seek out the information until then. One participant however

said that he felt uncomfortable asking his boss about available leave policies because he didn’t

have a “working” relationship with his boss yet. He felt uncomfortable approaching his boss

because he thought he should have been responsible for knowing about leave policies. This

finding reveals a general disconnect between policy knowledge and employees during the

socialization process because participants were unable to identify them when asked, despite

some having been employed for almost a year.

Another aspect found surrounding lack of understanding of available policies was when

participants’ roles changed within the organization. When a person’s role changes, his/her


available leave policies often change as well, and may not be explicitly stated. One participant

started as an hourly waged employee, but was later accepted as a salary paid member of her

organization upon a promotion. She knew that becoming a fully benefitted employee would

change her role in the organization, but she was never explicitly told what new policies were

available. Similarly, another participant transitioned from an intern into a benefited employee,

and was unsure of what some the leave policy procedures were, or how they were used within

her organization. These examples show that when an employee’s role changes, the socialization

process may start over in some ways, but is being overlooked by employers.

Organizational Support

The organizational support theme was identified when interview participants mentioned

perceived organizational support surrounding utilizing leave policies. This support was

characterized by perceptions that the organization was understanding in times of health leaves,

and excited in times of vacation leaves. The consensus from participants’ narratives was that

their organizations were overall supportive of workers utilizing leave policies specifically

surrounding more serious health situations and pregnancy leave. Participants expressed comfort

and perceived support from coworkers and supervisors when talking about utilizing these types

of leave policies. One participant explained that a coworker had just started a maternity leave,

and everyone was being very supportive giving her hugs and wishing her well. She even

mentioned a collective feeling of excitement expressed by peers toward this particular individual

going on leave.

In terms of vacation leave, as long as personal work was taken care of and employers

were given proper prior notice before workers took time off, the participants’ requests were


approved and time off was not withheld. One participant expressed that he gave many months

notice regarding his vacation, which was accepted by the organization with no issues because he

explained they had plenty of time to make accommodations for his time off. This similar

narrative was shared across many participants showing that they were apart of organizations that

displayed organizational support from coworkers and supervisors in these instances. One

participant noted that a coworker wanted to take a threeweek vacation and the entire office

made it a point to ask about what her plans were for the trip, and expressed their excitement for

her. The people in the office didn’t necessarily express resentment towards the employee that

requested to take the three weeks off, however it was mentioned that there would be workload

shifts. Another participant said that there was an understanding that workers that put in long

shifts earn their time off.

Time at the Organization

A theme that emerged regarding time spent at work was recognized when participants

explained that they did not necessarily feel the need to arrive earlier, but that staying later at the

organization occurred if the individual was responsible for something they felt they had to get

done. Participants that noted being responsible for an 8 hour work day discussed that if they had

gotten there early, then they would need to leave early which was perceived as, “not looking

good.” One participant discussed this in terms of what this negative aspect of leaving early

would look like for her:

No one pays attention to when you come in, yet they will be subtle and passive

aggressive if you want to leave early even though you may have come in at 7 and have

already worked a full 8 hours. Even if there is nothing else to be done, managers will not


understand if you want to leave early.

Along with this finding, some participants mentioned looking to see what their peers

were doing in terms of when to leave, and what the culture of the organization instituted such as

the quote above illustrates. One participant noted being confused at first when her actual shift

ended because some coworkers would stop working earlier than her every shift. She eventually

realized that this was apart of the culture of the organization and was socialized into this aspect

of her job. Pressure to stay later was motivated internally, and participants discussed that they

only did this when they personally needed to get something finished in order to fill their role in

the organization. It was not mentioned that this was specifically fueled by being a new member.

This shows a contrast between vacation and serious health/maternity leave acceptance versus the

more daily procedures at an organization.

Unlimited Vacation Policy

Because the implementation of an unlimited vacation policy is still a new and un

researched area within the organizational communication discipline, question number 7 (see

appendix I) sought to begin addressing the perceptions surrounding it as a policy. None of the

participants were employed by organizations that used this kind of policy officially, and

therefore little was known about the inter workings of what unlimited vacation would entail, or

how it would be enforced. One of the most prominent emerging themes however was the

perception of flexibility with unlimited vacation policy. This perception by one participant was

made by bringing up the “work hard, play hard” mentality and how it would make sense to take

time off if you have completed everything that needed to be done. The notion that as long as you

have pulled your weight, than you should be able to take the time off was expressed.


This flexibility was related to how flexible the actual work that needed to be done was.

Some participants specifically discussed how their line of work is by nature flexible, and

therefore a policy like this may work. These participants explained how their work entails them

to be accountable for responding to emails and other tasks even while they are at home. They

also have the ability to work from home if necessary, which is a quality that is not present in

every organization. Because of this flexibility, a policy like this would work for them because

their workload would be the same no matter where they were, and therefore they would be able

to manage it. Another part of this flexibility included defusing the stress associated with asking

for time off. As one participant put it, “There would be seemingly less pressure to ask for

vacation. Having unlimited vacation, you feel more trusted and valued by the organization.” In

this sense, identity perception is being linked to the nature of a certain type of leave policy.

Discussion

The findings of the study indicated that peer resentment messages were only recognized

when days off were “unmissable” and that there was a disconnect between new employees and

leave policy knowledge. Also, it was found that generally participants identified their

organizations as being supportive and that there were organizational cultures that influenced

what the time at the organization looked like on a daily basis. The general understanding

regarding an unlimited vacation policy was that it would be useful to increase the flexibility of

the employee’s work and home life.

Adding to the research on peer resentment, our findings supports what Kirby and Krone

(2002) found regarding the emotions of guilt surfacing as a result of perceived peer resentment


messages. When participants were asked straight up if they had experienced this resentment,

they generally replied with a no. But, when participants began explaining stories involving

asking for days off or having to use sick time when it was an important time for the organization,

these messages began to emerge and participants relived their reactions to them. This conflicted

with the consensus that participants normally identified their organizations to be very supportive

with illustrating narratives for themselves and their peers. The resentment only appeared in

times of inconvenience for the organization or the employees. This began to answer our original

research question because it showed that peer resentment messages did not impact the

participants’ perception of overall organizational work/family life balance, but that they did still

occur in the workplace.

The overwhelming finding that employees generally were not well versed of the details

of their leave policies provides a specific example to Jablin’s (1984) “information deprivation”

(p. 622). This finding is useful to employers because it shows that during the socialization

process, employees are either not taking the time, or not explained the extent to which policies

are available, and what they mean. Organizations could benefit from a process providing

newcomers with the support in understanding these policies because it will reduce uncertainty

amongst them and in turn make them more satisfied with their relationship to the organization

itself. This is also important when it comes to roles changing within the organization because it

may also mean policy changes that should be made aware of by the employer to combat the

disconnectedness that arose from our findings.

By starting to get some foundational perceptions surrounding unlimited vacation policy,

this study uncovered the link participants made between this type of policy and flexibility. As


the ROWE (Kelly, Moen, & Tranby, 2016) study showed, flexibility ultimately gave employees

the ability to create what they viewed as their complete work/family life balance. Organizations

may benefit from choosing to implement this kind of policy to not only reduce costs, but to also

increase company morale and trust with employees. Participants however stated only seeing this

policy working for organizations with work that is flexible by nature and able to do out of the

office. This supports Smolkin’s (2015) claim that experts only see a certain organizational

culture adapting this policy because a high level of communication is essential to it functioning

properly. High levels of flexibility would translate into more positive perceptions surrounding

work/life and family/life balance.

Limitations and Directions for Future Study

One of the biggest limitations of this study was sample size. With only 14 participants,

the study could have benefited from more experiences regarding the topics covered in our

questions. With significantly more females interviewed than males, the gender balance could

have been better as well. Also, since the target participants were those undergoing socialization,

it is difficult to ask questions regarding leave policy because some were too new to even have

gotten that far in their organizational life. Because the sample was selected using the snowball

effect, this was limiting because age range of participants was a small gap. Another limitation

was the decision to not record the interviews. Although the goal was to reduce the pressure on

the participant, it can be beneficial to re listen to participant’s words in their own voices.

Future research can take a closer look into more specifics of leave policies such as only

focusing on maternity/paternity leave, and the different gender perceptions when it comes to peer

resentment or peer messages. Another angle could look at the implications surrounding open


style versus closed style offices and the issues that arise when employees come in sick due to

perceptions surrounding leave policies. Also, organizations could benefit with more research

regarding unlimited vacation policies and how it succeeded or failed in different types of

organizations so that they may be better informed as to if it is a right fit for them.

Conclusion

Overall, this research study uncovered specific instances of peer resentment messages

surrounding leave policy use emerging when it was viewed that an employee should not miss.

These messages caused feelings of guilt for the employee receiving them, however did not

completely shape the view of organizational support as a whole for the use of policies and

work/family balance. Employees need to be better informed of these policies upon entering

organizations so that uncertainty and ambiguity can be reduced. An unlimited vacation policy is

a viable option for employers looking to increase flexibility in their organization while also

increasing the positive perceptions surrounding work/life and family/life balance.


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Appendix I

Participant Interview Protocol

Set Questions

1. When you first entered your place of employment, did you feel that you

understood all the policies available to you including sick time, vacation,

pregnancy leave etc.?

2. Was there ever an instance that you felt like you were unable to utilize any of

these policies?

3. Has a coworker ever made you feel like you couldn’t utilize a policy because of

something they said you? Examples?

4. Do ever feel pressure to stay later or arrive earlier than other employees because

you are new?

5. Do you think the culture of the organization you work in fosters an environment

where it is acceptable to use policies?

6. Does your workplace use a unlimited vacation policy? What are your views on

that? What do you think are its pros and cons?


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