Working from home is the new normal. As the world adapts to this new boundaryless work environment, the issue of managing boundaries comes to the forefront. Who benefits more from working from home, and how? To answer these questions, we build on past research on boundary control theory to examine the effect of perceived Temporal Boundary Control (TBC) on work-family balance satisfaction and job engagement, and the moderating impact of work-home identity integration (HWII) for employees who work from home. We tested our hypotheses via a field study (N =218) and a lab experiment (N= 402) in which we recruited employees working a substantial amount of time from home. Results confirmed that perceived TBC positively impacts work engagement through increasing work-family balance satisfaction. Perceiving more control over the temporal boundaries of work and home activities resulted in more satisfaction with work-family balance, and this effect is significantly stronger for individuals who have less integrated work and home identities. Our research contributes to the literature of boundary control for work-from-home employees, as well as the literature of job demands and resources perspective by introducing new dimensions of job crafting.
