Work-Life Balance Culture, Boundary Control, and Work-Life Balance in Sustainable Future Work: Longitudinal Evidence from On-Site and Remote Work Arrangements

As work–life balance (WLB) is considered the main premise of a sustainable workforce, organizations and policymakers direct their efforts toward helping employees attain it. However, there is a lack of research on organizational efforts to sustain WLB across different work arrangements. This study, therefore, explores the relationships among WLB culture, boundary control, and WLB among teleworkers and on-site workers. A two-wave survey with a six-month time lag involved 379 white-collar employees from various industries. The results showed that WLB culture was associated with greater boundary control over time. Moreover, this effect was significant only among office workers but not among teleworkers, suggesting that WLB culture is more important when working on site. Additionally, greater boundary control was related to a higher affective dimension of WLB, but not with the effectiveness dimension, six months later. Practical and empirical implications for organizational practices that enhance work–life balance across various settings are discussed.