Employees' use of work-family policies and the workplace social context

This article analyzes the effects of workplace social context on managers' and professionals' use of work-family policies in a financial services corporation. These official policies are ambiguous and contested and, as institutional theory implies, may fail to become fully implemented. We use a multilevel model to determine the individual-level and work group-level factors that affect respondents' policy use. In addition to individual- level factors, the social context of the work group affects employees' decisions to use work-family policies. We find support for our hypotheses stressing the social resource of power and protection: employees are more likely to use these policies if they work with powerful supervisors and colleagues, who can buffer them from perceived negative effects on their careers.