Less than ideal: the role of the ideal worker norm and fear of backlash on leave-taking policy utilization

Experiencing a balance between work and personal priorities is an important objective for many people. A trend in organizations is to implement human resource policies to improve this work life balance, but often these policies go underutilized. These policies are often seen as symbolic, where the policy exists but employees do not feel as if they can or should use the policies. In the case of unpaid leave policies, individuals may feel that they cannot afford the economic costs associated with taking leave. However, even paid leave has been shown to be underutilized.

This research examines the social pressure that makes people feel as if they should not use leave taking policies. I specifically look at the social pressure that comes from the Ideal Worker Norm which includes expectations that employees prioritize work and spend a large portion of their time at or doing work. Full-time employees from a variety of organizations were surveyed at multiple times. They were asked how much those within their environment believed in the Ideal Worker Norm. They were then asked how much they were worried that they would receive backlash if they used leave-taking policies, and what their intentions were to use leave-taking policies in the future and whether they intended to leave their current organization. Results showed that when those within the individuals’ environments believed more strongly in the Ideal Worker Norm, the individuals experienced more fear of backlash, and were less likely to intend to use leave taking policies in the future.