Helping others not always helps ourselves: the relationship between victim incivility and emergency workers’ burnout through work-to-family conflict

Purpose – This study aims to analyse whether and when victim incivility may be related to work-to-family conflict and then burnout among emergency workers. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 304 Italian emergency workers from five firehouses and six emergency rooms completed questionnaires, examining: victim incivility, work-to-family conflict, social support seeking and burnout symptoms. Descriptive analyses, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models were conducted. Findings – Victim incivility was positively associated with burnout symptoms, both directly and indirectly, as mediated by work-to-family conflict. Additionally, social support seeking exacerbated (rather than mitigated) the impact of work-to-family conflict on burnout symptoms. Practical implications – Organisations can greatly benefit from implementing family-friendly practices and providing their workers with training programmes on how to deal with difficult victims. Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing literature on workplace incivility and work–life interface by supporting for the first time the notion that victim incivility can spill over into emergency workers’ family domain and by clarifying how and when victim incivility is related to burnout symptoms.