Working 9‐to‐5? A review of research on nonstandard work schedules

Summary Increasingly, organizations around the world need employees to work weekends and during hours that fall outside of a traditional 9‐to‐5, Monday through Friday, schedule. At the same time, in recent years, employees have sought more flexible working arrangements that result in longer work shifts that occur on fewer days each week. Although nonstandard work schedules have important organizational implications, much of this research has occurred outside of the management literature. Further, within the management literature, there has been little attempt to review and integrate the findings of prior studies of nonstandard work schedules. In this paper, we review research that has investigated nonstandard work shifts and how they affect work‐related outcomes (e.g., job behavior and job attitudes), health‐related outcomes (e.g., physiological, behavioral, and psychological consequences), and personal/family‐related outcomes (e.g., work–family conflict, divorce, and parent–child relations). Following our review, we identify avenues for future investigations, with a particular emphasis on methodological improvements and research that would facilitate the development of integrated conceptual models that more fully consider the implications of work schedules in the context of other important areas of organizational scholarship.