| Summary: | The present research study investigated the relationships between perceptions of justice in the work and home environments and work-family balance. For purposes of this study, justice perceptions in the workplace were explored in terms of the work-family support policies, practices, and procedures provided by organisations to assist their employees in balancing their work and family demands. Similarly, justice perceptions in the home environments were explored in terms of the family-work support arrangements provided by individuals’ home environments in order to assist them in balancing their family and work demands.
As the scales used to measure justice perceptions were modified versions of the original Organisational Justice Scale (Judge & Colquitt, 2004), a pilot study was conducted in order to assess their internal validity and reliability. The pilot study sample consisted of 44 South African working parents who fit the requirements of the sample (between the ages of 25 and 50, in a relationship, and had at least one child for whom they were responsible). Factor analyses and Cronbach Alpha estimates suggested the modified scales were suitable for use in the main study.
The sample for the main study consisted of 213 working parents obtained from various organisations who met the criteria for participation (between the ages of 25 and 50, in a relationship, and had at least one child for whom they were responsible). The modified justice scales, as well as the Work-Family Conflict Scale (Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams, 2000) and Work-Family Enrichment Scale (Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006), were used to assess the variables of interest.
Additional factor analyses and reliabilities conducted for both modified justice scales in the main study supported a four factor structure for both scales. Descriptive statistics established that participants experienced average amounts of perceived distributive, procedural, and informational justice and a slightly higher amount of interpersonal justice in both environments. Participants in the study also reported experiencing average amounts of work-family conflict and slightly higher amounts of work-family facilitation.
With regard to the relationships between justice perceptions and work-family balance, the results indicated that participants who perceived their work-family policies, practices and procedures in their organisations and their family-work policies in their home as more just experienced less conflict and increased enrichment between the two domains.
The current study also explored whether perceived organisational justice, perceived home justice, work-family conflict, and work-family enrichment differed based on the level of support provided in the work and home environments. Results indicated that differences in the amount of support provided by organisations created differences in employees’ perceptions of procedural, interpersonal, and overall organisational justice; but not in perceptions of distributive and informational organisational justice. In addition, the amount of workplace support provided by organisations did create differences in overall levels of experienced work-family balance. Support in the home environment did create differences in levels of perceived home justice but did not create differences in levels of work-family balance experienced by participants.
Overall, the study was successful in modifying and validating the Perceptions of Justice Scales, in stressing the importance of these perceptions regarding support provided to working parents in both their work and home environments, and in exploring the relationships between these justice perceptions and work-family balance.
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