PurposeSmart device use for work during family time is a growing issue of concern and is likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors test a broad range of well-being outcomes (job anxiety, job depression and insomnia) to extend the literature. Work–family conflict was included as a mediator with age as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses representative data from 422 New Zealand employees across a wide range of occupations, sectors, and industries from late 2020. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the data was used and moderated mediation analysis was conducted.FindingsOverall, hypotheses were supported, with mWork positively influencing work–family and family–work conflict, and all well-being outcomes. Work–family and family–work conflict acted as mediators and age interacted with mWork leading to more conflict for older workers. Finally, moderated mediation effects were supported with age acting as a boundary condition, whereby the indirect effect of mWork on well-being outcomes increases as age increases.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings highlight the danger of using mobile devices to work in family time and highlight the additional risks for older workers.Originality/valueThe mWork literature has a limited focus on well-being outcomes, and the New Zealand data provides insights from a largely underrepresented population in the literature. Further, the use of age as a moderator of mWork towards well-being outcomes provides further originality.

Technology has made life more complex, and mobile working (mWork) captures the way employees’ smart‐device use (e.g. smartphones, laptops etc.) can facilitate working during family time at home and what the effects of this use are. Engaging in mWork is expected to be detrimental to employee outcomes. In this study, mWork is explored as it relates to turnover intentions and work–family and family–work conflict, with conflict expected to mediate the influence on turnover. Furthermore, given the potential dynamics from gender and parental status, these are both included as moderators, and ultimately a moderated mediation model is tested. Using data from 419 New Zealand employees just after New Zealand's lockdown finished in May 2020, there is overall strong support found for the direct and mediation hypotheses. Overall, mWork influences turnover intentions by blurring the line between work and personal life (leading to higher work–family and family–work conflict), and these also influence turnover intentions.