Perceived Impacts of Family Leave Policy: Do Organizational Factors Matter?

A pressing public management concern, as we move into the 21st century, is the ability of employees to balance their commitments to both work and family. Despite some recent studies that point toward the importance of organizational culture and management support for family leave policy, a significant gap remains in our understanding of the contextual and organizational factors that contribute to the success or failure of such a policy in public organizations. How do organizational factors affect the implementation of family leave policy? This case study finds that work units' support and teamwork management are associated with employee perceptions regarding the positive impacts of family leave on organizational commitment, work satisfaction, reduced work stress, and productivity. In addition, the results of stakeholder interviews show that supervisors' support and personnel administrators' commitments to family leave policy facilitate the Implementation of family leave. A discussion of the implications of the findings from this study for public personnel management and organizational leadership concludes the paper.1