The growing blur between work and home boundaries—exacerbated by digitalization, remote work, and constant connectivity—makes daily employee well-being a pressing concern for organizations and society. Responding to calls from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) to improve psychosocial risk management, this study addresses a critical gap by moving beyond static, cross-sectional research and investigating the dynamic, everyday interplay between work and home domains. Specifically, we examined how transformational leadership (TFL) and boundary control—as stable organizational and personal resources—shape daily experiences of job autonomy and job demands, and how these, in turn, mediate both positive and negative work-home spillover.
Using the Work-Home Resources (W-HR) model, we conducted a two-week daily diary study among 88 full-time employees in Spain (N=844 observations). Multilevel path analysis showed that personal boundary control—rather than TFL—was a robust predictor of both greater daily autonomy and lower job demands. These, in turn, were associated with reduced negative, and for job demands, increased positive work-home spillover. The influence of TFL on these daily processes was limited, emphasizing the central role of employees' personal agency in managing boundaries, particularly in flexible, post-pandemic work settings.
Our findings provide timely, evidence-based recommendations for organizations seeking to foster sustainable work-life integration and enhance employee well-being, including actionable strategies to strengthen boundary control and redesign work demands. By highlighting the importance of boundary management alongside supportive leadership, this research supports progress toward the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—specifically SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Implications for policy and organizational practice are discussed.