May I work part-time? An exploration of predicted employer responses to employee requests for part-time work

Increasing numbers of professional and managerial employees are requesting a shift from full-time to part-time work. In a policy-capturing study, 200 attorneys (including both partners and associates) rated how likely their f irms would be to accept different hypothetical attorneys' requests for part -rime work. Supporting predictions based on dependency theory, respondents reported that their firms would be most likely to approve requests to work part-time from attorneys who perform well, would be difficult to replace, h ave strong organizational connections, and threaten to leave if their reque sts are denied. Supporting predictions based on institutional theory, respo ndents reported that their firms would be more likely to approve requests f rom women than from men and from attorneys seeking part-time work to take c are of a child rather than to pursue a personal interest for which there is less institutional support. (C) 2000 Academic Press.