Where’s my flexibility at work?

Workplace flexibility (i.e., adjusting when or where you work) is widely promoted as a solution to the competing pressures of work and family life. Yet, how flexibility actually gets distributed inside organizations remains poorly understood. This research examines a specific form of flexibility called a flexibility i-deal (short for "idiosyncratic deal"): an individually negotiated arrangement between an employee and their manager to change work hours or location. Rather than assuming flexibility i-deals are universally available or universally helpful, we explored who asks for flexibility, who is likely to receive this requested flexibility, and does receiving this requested flexibility improve employees' lives over time?

The findings reveal a troubling pattern. Flexibility i-deals are rare, whereby only about 9% of employees both asked for and received one. More importantly, employees most likely to ask for flexibility i-deals were those under the most pressure: women, caregivers, those with heavier workloads, and those reporting higher stress and burnout. However, the employees most likely to receive a "yes" were those already advantaged: men, white employees, knowledge workers, and those in financially secure households.

Further, receiving a requested flexibility i-deals also turned out to be a double-edged sword. They did help employees cope with the stress of work spilling into family life, but they also intensified that spillover, making heavy workloads more likely to follow employees home. Flexibility, in other words, can simultaneously reduce one harm and amplify another.Duxbury, L., & Halinski, M. (2026). But what about me? An exploration of who seeks and negotiates flexibility i-deals (external link, opens in new window) . Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 99, e70121.