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The purpose of this paper is to integrate job demands–resources theory and the episodic process model to examine the relationships between episodic cognitive mechanisms (i.e. cognitive interference and attentional pull), work engagement and performance. It is hypothesized that an episode characterized by less cognitive interference and more attentional pull (i.e. attraction toward the work activity) is associated with the highest levels of work engagement and job performance. Additionally, it is hypothesized that episodic challenge/hindrance job demands boost/diminish the positive relationship between episodic job resources and work engagement.

Using experience sampling methodology, 48 employees used their smartphones to complete surveys three times a day for one week, resulting in 266 observations.

Results of multilevel analyses suggest that episodic hindrance job demands (but not challenge job demands) moderate the positive relation between job resources and work engagement.

This study is unique in that it captures fluctuating cognitive processes (i.e. attentional pull and cognitive interference) that take place during work activities.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of work–life balance (WLB) on the employee motivation (EM), job satisfaction (JS) and emloyee performance (EP) of academic staff at universities.

In this regard, the authors collected 490 valid data from academic staff of major public and private universities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. WLB was evaluated under three dimensions as work interference with personal life (WIPL), personal life interference with work (PLIW) and work personal life enhancement (WPLE).

The results of the analyses showed that WIPL and PLIW negatively and significantly affected EM but did not have any significant impact on JS. WPLE affected both JS and EM significantly and positively. Lastly, JS did not have significant impact on EP while EM did.

As the research was conducted in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, it cannot be generalized to other countries and cultures.

Besides, the study suggests theoretical and practical implication as it was a special study proposed during COVID 19 lock downs.

There are very limited or no research works which attempt to study the pros and cons of WLB during such a catastrophic time, the study is useful for the university administrators and researchers in this field.

Examines the influence of family‐ and work‐specific determinants of multiple forms of family interference with work (FIW) and work interference with family (WIF) conflict. Using a Hong Kong university sample (including both academic and non‐academic staff), finds that parental demands and hours spent on household work were important determinants of FIW conflict and that role conflict, role overload, and hours spent on paid work influenced WIF conflict. Differential gender effects for FIW and WIF conflict support the traditional gender roles embedded in Confucian ethics. Moderating effects of spouse support, supervisor support and domestic support were also found, although the latter was opposite to the direction hypothesized. Implications for future researchers and managers are discussed.

This study, using a comprehensive job demand–resources (JD-R) model, aims to explore the pressures of workload, work–life interface and subsequent impacts on employee stress and job satisfaction, with implications for employee job performance, in the context of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A cross-sectional sample of employees at seven universities (n = 4,497) and structural equation path analysis regression models are used for the analyses.

The results show that a partial mediation JD-R model was supported, where job demands (such as workload and actual hours worked) and job resources (including expectations, support and job security) have relationships with work interference with personal life and personal life interference with work. These have subsequent negative path relationships with stress. Further, stress is negatively related to job satisfaction, and job satisfaction is positively related to employee job performance.

Potential policy implications include mitigation approaches to addressing some of the negative impacts on workers and to enhance the positive outcomes. Timely adjustments to job demands and resources can aid in sustaining balance for workers in an uncertain and fluid environmental context.

This study makes a contribution to knowledge by capturing sentiments on working arrangements, perceived changes and associated outcomes during a key period within the COVID-19 pandemic while being one of the rare studies to focus on a comprehensive JD-R model and a unique context of highly educated workers' transition to working from home.

This paper aims to attempt to explore the nature of relationship between work–life balance and emotional exhaustion experienced by the employed individuals while working from home during the pandemic COVID-19 induced nationwide lockdown in the Indian setting.

Data were collected from 180 working professionals in North India who were working from home during the lockdown. PROCESS macro developed for SPSS was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings depicted that in comparison to men, women felt more emotional exhaustion due to personal life interference in work during work from home period. Surprisingly, the relationship between work interference with personal life, and emotional exhaustion did not differ by gender. It was found that the participative leadership could contribute to reduction of work interference with personal life, and through such an influence, emotional exhaustion experienced by an employee could be reduced to some extent.

Many previous studies have explored the nature of the relationship between work–life balance and emotional exhaustion, but rarely any study could cover any Pandemic affected working scenario. This study attempted to investigate such a relationship when employees were obligated to mandatorily work from home during the countrywide lockdown.

The paper seeks to examine the relationships between various work demands and resources and satisfaction with work‐family balance in a sample of German office workers. Work‐to‐family conflict is expected to mediate several relationships between dependent and independent variables.

A sample of 716 office workers from two service sector organizations in Germany participated in a comprehensive online survey. Hierarchical multivariate regressions were used to test the predicted relationships.

Perceived high organizational time expectations, psychological job demands and job insecurity were found to be negatively related to employees' satisfaction with work‐family balance. Work‐to‐family conflict partially mediated those relationships. Social support at work and job control revealed positive relationships with satisfaction with work‐family balance, but contrary to predictions this association persisted after controlling for work‐to‐family conflict.

The study used a cross‐sectional design and employees' self reports which may be problematic in drawing causal conclusions.

The majority of studies in work‐family research look at either work‐family conflict, or more recently, at work‐family facilitation/enrichment, but little research has been conducted on employees' overall assessment of satisfaction with work‐family balance. By investigating relationships between various work demands and resources and the mediating role of work‐to‐family conflict in a sample of German office workers, the study extends previous research and contributes to the work‐family literature by clarifying the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and satisfaction with work‐family balance.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many working mothers in India adopted involuntary telecommuting work option for the first time. However, no research explored their adjustments and experiences in the new work setting. This paper aims to gain an in-depth understanding of Indian working mothers' lived experience of involuntary telecommuting.

A phenomenological research design was adopted. The authors conducted 14 in-depth, semi-structured telephonic and online interviews. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework.

The data analysis yielded two interconnected superordinate themes in this research: (1) characteristics of involuntary telecommuting and (2) the impact of involuntary telecommuting. Under the first theme, four sub-themes emerged: long working hours, increased family demands, reduced interaction with coworkers and technology-enabled communication with supervisors. The second theme comprised five sub-themes: time-based work interference with family, time-based family interference with work, strain-based family interference with work, absence of emotional and professional support and performance management concerns. Involuntary telecommuting mothers faced challenges due to lack of control over their daily work schedule and demands, along with an increased burden of unpaid household work, leading to difficulties in managing their work schedule and negotiating their professional role identity within the family. These findings emphasize that working mothers who participated in involuntary telecommuting encountered bidirectional time-based conflicts and unidirectional strain-based conflict.

The study examines a particular subset of women telecommuters who were working mothers with young children. These potential limitations are to be addressed in future research.

The findings suggest that managers should develop HR policies and telecommuting ecosystems in order to enhance effectiveness of telecommuting. Specifically, organizations offering telecommuting work options should create opportunities for informal interaction among peers and formal one-to-one interaction with managers. Moreover, HR managers should develop and implement employee-friendly telecommuting policies.

The research contributes to HRM and gender literature.

The paper contributes to the discourses of work-life balance, workplace relationships and work policies within telecommuting literature.

Recent research along with anecdotal evidence suggests that exercise may play a role in mitigating perceptions of work-family conflict (WFC). However, the temporal effects related to this relationship have been ignored. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by testing for the effects of acute and long-term exercise on the work-family interface.

Employed females (N=46) were randomly assigned to a treatment (exercise) or control group (no exercise) and data were gathered at three points in time, over four weeks. Linear Mixed Model processes were conducted.

The authors found that there is a statistically significant long-term exercise effect on strain-based work interference with family and family interference with work.

The sample was restricted to sedentary females, was predominantly white/Caucasian, and held white-collar jobs, limiting the generalizability of the findings.

Results from the current study suggest that exercise assists individuals in managing the work-family interface. While this is not a broad-sweeping call for all employers to offer on-site exercise facilities, the authors suggest that employers consider offering accommodations to individuals seeking to utilize exercise as a way to reduce WFC and general stress.

This is the first empirical study that examines the temporal impact of exercise on the work-family interface.

A sudden shift of work from the office to home amid global lockdown demands exploration of factors that facilitate or obstruct remote working and their impact on practical and psychological outcomes for the employee when individual mandatorily telecommutes full-time with no prior experience of the same. Based on job demands and resources model (JD-R), the present study explores the role of certain job demands and resources on negative and positive outcomes through mediating role of strain and well-being, respectively.

A data sample of 371 IT sector employees was collected and confirmatory factor analysis model was run to assess the model fit indices, convergent and divergent validities of the data. While proposed hypotheses of the study were tested using structural equations modeling (SEM) technique.

It was found that workload pressure, task interdependence, professional isolation and family interference in work lead to exhaustion and further stress, whereas the presence of autonomy and schedule flexibility and sufficient technology resources improve employee work-life balance and further better productivity and performance and job satisfaction. Improved well-being was also found to reduce stress for full-time telecommuters.

This study provides implications that will help in doing away with exhaustion and stress for employees and ensure business continuity in emergencies like COVID-19 pandemic.

There are no past instances of mandatory full-time telecommuting arrangement by organizations, and researchers never had the opportunity to study it. This research, based on the JD-R model provides for the first time empirical insights into the experiences of mandatory full-time telecommuting during COVID-19 induced lockdown.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between role overload (RO) and the work–family interface (work–life conflict and work–life enrichment) among bank employees and the moderating effects of personal life characteristics and commitments on this relationship. It aimed to bring out the importance of contextual factors in individual's interactions across various roles.

A structured questionnaire based on validated instruments was designed and administered to 279 employees from the banking sector in India. The instrument was adapted to the local language to ensure ease of comprehension.

RO was positively correlated with both work interference with personal life (WIPL) and personal life interference with work (PLIW), and negatively correlated with work–personal life enrichment (WPLE). Gender, number of children and age of the youngest child significantly moderated the relationship between RO and WIPL.

This study was limited by the use of self-reported data and its cross-sectional nature. Future studies will need to include a larger sample with people from across the workplace hierarchy.

This paper provides valuable insight into the influence of personal life characteristics and commitments on RO and the work–family interface.

The banking sector is among the top 10 most stressful workplaces in India due to high work pressure and the threat of competition. These working conditions make it important to understand employee perceptions of RO and its impact on the work–family interface.