Furloughed Employees' Voluntary Turnover: The Role of Procedural Justice, Job Insecurity, and Job Embeddedness

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 20; no. 9; p. 5664
• Main Authors: Ballesteros-Leiva, Felix, St-Onge, Sylvie, Dufour, Marie-Ève
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Communicable Disease Control; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Employee retention; Employee turnover; Employment; Employment security; Furloughs; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Layoffs; Pandemics; Personnel Turnover; Shelter in place; Social Justice; Time measurement; Canada; furloughed employees; job embeddedness; procedural justice; voluntary turnover; job insecurity
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20095664

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, several employers used furloughs, that is, temporary layoffs or unpaid leave, to sustain their businesses and retain their employees. While furloughs allow employers to reduce payroll costs, they are challenging for employees and increase voluntary turnover. This study uses a two-wave model (Time 1: = 639/Time 2: = 379) and confirms that furloughed employees' perceived justice in furlough management and job insecurity (measured at Time 1) explain their decision to quit their employer (measured at Time 2). In addition, our results confirm that furloughed employees' job embeddedness (measured at Time 1) has a positive mediator effect on the relationship between their perceived procedural justice in furlough management (measured at Time 1) and their turnover decision (Time 2). We discuss the contribution of this study to the fields of knowledge and practice related to turnover and furlough management to reduce their financial, human, and social costs.