Variable work hours are an understudied source of work-to-family conflict (WFC). We examine the relationships between the magnitude and direction of work hour variability and WFC and whether work hour control and schedule predictability moderate these relationships. We estimate a series of linear regressions using the 2016 US General Social Survey, examining women and men workers separately and together. Findings indicate that as the magnitude of work hour variability increases, so does WFC, controlling for the usual number of hours worked. Work hour control helps to protect workers, especially women, from WFC when work hour variability is high and hours surge. Although schedule predictability tempers the relationship between work hour variability and WFC, its potency diminishes as variability increases. Our study emphasizes the potential benefit to workers and families of government policies and employer practices that promote work hour stability, schedule predictability, and equity in employee work hour control.

中文翻译：

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工作时间的变化对工作与家庭的冲突有何影响

工作时间不固定是工作与家庭冲突 (WFC) 的一个未被充分研究的根源。我们研究了工作时间变化的幅度和方向与 WFC 之间的关系，以及工作时间控制和日程安排的可预测性是否调节了这些关系。我们利用 2016 年美国综合社会调查估计了一系列线性回归，分别和一起研究了女性和男性工人。研究结果表明，在控制通常工作时间的情况下，随着工作时间变化程度的增加，WFC 也会增加。当工作时间波动较大且工作时间激增时，工作时间控制有助于保护工人（尤其是女性）免受 WFC 的影响。尽管日程安排的可预测性缓和了工作时间可变性和 WFC 之间的关系，但其效力随着可变性的增加而减弱。我们的研究强调了促进工作时间稳定性、时间表可预测性和员工工作时间控制公平性的政府政策和雇主实践对工人和家庭的潜在好处。