May I Work Part-Time? An Exploration of Predicted Employer Responses to Employee Requests for Part-Time Work☆☆☆

Abstract Increasing numbers of professional and managerial employees are requesting a shift from full-time to part-time work. In a policy-capturing study, 200 attorneys (including both partners and associates) rated how likely their firms would be to accept different hypothetical attorneys' requests for part-time work. Supporting predictions based on dependency theory, respondents reported that their firms would be most likely to approve requests to work part-time from attorneys who perform well, would be difficult to replace, have strong organizational connections, and threaten to leave if their requests are denied. Supporting predictions based on institutional theory, respondents reported that their firms would be more likely to approve requests from women than from men and from attorneys seeking part-time work to take care of a child rather than to pursue a personal interest for which there is less institutional support.

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