The Role of ‘Voice’ in Matters of ‘Choice’: Flexible Work Outcomes for Women in the New Zealand Public Services

Abstract

Flexible work arrangements have traditionally been framed in terms of individual choice, where workers are regarded as having the ability to reconcile the demands of family life with those of work. In response to calls for greater workplace flexibility and worker choice, the New Zealand government has recently introduced ‘right to request’ legislation. This research reports on a large-scale survey of women public service workers’ experiences of flexible work arrangements in this legislative context. Against a backdrop of rising workloads and time pressures, it finds that while there is considerable choice in how women do their tasks and take their breaks, there is little voice in the organization and pace of that work. In this context, the burden of implementing flexible work arrangements and managing competing workloads is borne by the individual. This article argues that absent from, but pivotal to, the framing and discourse of workplace flexibility is the role of voice. Implications of this research include a broadening of the legislative framework that supports flexibility outcomes and the inclusion of more varied voice mechanisms into the implementation and management of workplace flexibility.