Stealing Time on the Company’s Dime: Examining the Indirect Effect of Laissez-Faire Leadership on Employee Time Theft

Biyun Hu, Crystal M. Harold, Dayoung Kim

Journal of Business Ethics · 2023 · Volume 183 · Issue 2

Abstract

Employee time theft is a costly and prevalent unethical work behavior. Yet, this construct has received less attention compared to other unethical behaviors, and as such, the literature has only a rudimentary understanding of why employees engage in time theft. Thus, the primary goal of this research is to provide greater insight into bothwhyemployees engage in time theft andwhois most likely to engage in time theft. To do so, we draw from social information processing theory to examine the effect of laissez-faire leadership on employee time theft. More specifically, we propose that laissez-faire leadership is related to employee time theft through workplace time theft norms. We further propose that this indirect effect is contingent on employee conscientiousness, such that the indirect effect of laissez-faire leadership on employee time theft is stronger for individuals lower in conscientiousness. We conducted two three-wave field studies to test our predictions. The results of Study 1 supported our prediction that workplace time theft norms mediate the effect of laissez-faire leadership on employee time theft. Study 2 replicated and extended this finding by offering evidence for the conditional indirect effect of employee conscientiousness. Implications for future research and managerial practice are discussed.

Keywords

Employee time theft, Laissez-faire leadership, Workplace time theft norms, Conscientiousness

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