The impact of insecurity of flexible work arrangements on workers work-life outcomes: A study of Public Sector workers in South Australia

Previous research has demonstrated the impact of job insecurity on worker outcomes;
such as poorer physical and psychological health. This study represents the first time
that the concept of insecurity has been applied to flexible work arrangements. The
study looked at measures of work demands, perceptions of organisational and
managerial support and a number of worker outcomes to investigate the impact of
flexible insecurity. The study was conducted within two South Australian
Government Agencies and is based on a subset of 109 subjects within a larger PhD
study. Results showed that workers with high security flexible work arrangements
perceived greater support for balancing their work and life from their manager and
had higher perceptions of organisational support. In addition, the high security
flexible workers experienced lower work demands (though not lower hours of work)
and experienced significantly lower levels of burnout. Implications for future
research, policy and practice are discussed.