Pay Increases Subsequent to FMLA Leave: The Role of Organizational Justice

Research indicates the importance of studying organizational justice and its impact. Further, research has indicated a relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and pay increase decisions. However, the present research is the first to incorporate the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave into the equation. In short, this research addressed whether an employee's absence for FMLA-covered reasons impacts the perceived justice of subsequent pay increases for that employee. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the employee's length of absence, tenure, performance, and/or pay increase would impact justice perceptions. Participants evaluated vignettes manipulating these factors, then rated the fairness of pay increase decisions. Results revealed that the employee's performance interacted with the amount of pay increase to account for the largest amount of variance injustice perceptions. However, a main effect for pay increase, an interaction between performance and the length of the employee's leave, and an interaction between performance, tenure, the length of the employee's leave, and the pay increase decision were observed. Finally, among employees who received a full pay increase, performance was the strongest predictor of justice perceptions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Psychology

Year

2008

Author dc:creator

• Berry, Douglas

• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/364

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1367