A Comprehensive Review of Work Connectivity Behavior After-Hours and Its Impact on Employees

Abstract

Work Connectivity Behavior After-Hours (WCBA) has become a prominent feature of the modern digital work environment, substantially reshaping how employees engage with their job responsibilities beyond standard hours. This article offers an extensive overview of the academic literature on WCBA, integrating studies from 2014 to 2025 to elucidate its theoretical underpinnings, empirical findings, and practical consequences. The analysis highlights four principal theoretical approaches (Conservation of Resources Theory, the Job Demands-Resources Model, Boundary Theory, and the Effort-Recovery Model) each providing unique perspectives on the impacts of after-hours connectivity on employees. The evidence suggests that WCBA presents a paradox: it may improve perceived job control and flexibility but also risks exhausting self-regulatory capacities, hindering psychological detachment, and fostering emotional exhaustion, burnout, and intentions to leave. Important moderating factors include individual characteristics such as core self-evaluations, personality traits, and segmentation preferences, alongside contextual elements like job complexity, social support, and organizational norms. Interventions designed to restrict after-hours connectivity, such as right-to-disconnect policies, seem to achieve only modest success unless accompanied by modifications in organizational culture and management practices. The review ends by pointing out important gaps in the research, such as unanswered questions about causality, cross-cultural applicability, technological nuances, and the effectiveness of interventions. It also suggests areas for future research.