Redefining Total Rewards: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Work Stipends on Preventing Burnout and Managing Work-Life Boundaries

In response to the rapid and long-term shift to remote or hybrid work, human resource (HR) teams are expanding their total rewards (TR) beyond just salary up to providing wellness budgets, home office technology allowances, and other allowances for remote workers. Although the use of stipends has increased, there is a lack of empirical research that relates stipend design to employee burnout and employee outcomes regarding engagement. This study aims to fill this void by testing for predictors of burnout and engagement related to the amount and nature of remote work stipend and the role of perceived work-life boundary management as a mediator between them. The study adopted a mixed methods explanatory sequential approach consisting of a cross-sectional survey of 310 remote and hybrid workers from organizations based in the UK and then followed by semi-structured interviews with 18 individuals. Data were analyzed quantitatively using multiple regression and mediation analysis and qualitatively through thematic analysis. Results showed that employees who were given a wellness benefit reported significantly lower burnout and significantly higher employee engagement in comparison to employees who were given strictly technology-based stipends, with this relationship partially mediated by the boundary management factor. Findings indicate that practitioners may want to expand the design of their stipends based on their rewards strategies in order to make explicit the psychological as well as material needs associated with remote-work.

remote work stipends, total rewards, burnout, work-life boundaries, employee engagement

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