Dissecting reasons for not telecommuting: Are nonusers a homogenous group?

Studies examining the association between telecommuting and the work–life interface have often defined telecommuting use dichotomously (“used” vs. “not used”). Drawing on Organizational Justice Theory, it was hypothesized that nonusers would differ in their perceptions of organizational work–life balance support (WLB support), and such differences could be predicted by the reason for not telecommuting. In particular, employees who chose not to telecommute were expected to report similar WLB support and WLB as users of telecommuting. Survey data from the Singapore Public Service were used in the analyses. Results largely supported the hypotheses, suggesting that past studies that defined telecommuting use dichotomously might have inadvertantly introduced a confounding factor in their design. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.