Coworker informal work accommodations to family: Scale development and validation

Drawing on research regarding the utility of coworker support in mitigating work/ family conflict, the authors developed a scale to measure Coworker-enacted Informal Work Accommodations to Family (C-IWAF). C-IWAF differs from coworker support in that it describes actual behaviors coworkers engage in to help one another deal with incompatible work and family demands. Results based on a sample of 390 working caregivers provide support for the independence of C-IWAF from other forms of coworker support. Analyses of the factor structure obtained for this instrument indicate that C-IWAF is composed of six unique factors: child care assistance, facilitating telework, continuing work modification, short-term work modification, helping behavior, and deviating behavior. Implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.