Although the literature on employee voice and diversity has grown in recent years, existing research shows mixed findings in terms of voice outcomes on employees’ wellbeing, and employees’ social class origins have rarely been investigated. In this study, we consider social class backgrounds as a form of employee diversity that may act as a boundary condition in the relationship between employee voice (direct and indirect) and employee outcomes related to psychological well-being (job satisfaction and meaningful work). The analyses conducted on 6,263 employees from the UK Working Lives Survey (UKWLS) show empirical support for social class origins' influence on voice outcomes. If social class backgrounds are not considered, direct voice is positively related to job satisfaction and meaningful work, and indirect voice is positively related to meaningful work. However, when social class is taken into account, the results show that direct voice matters only for employees of middle and higher class origins, whereas indirect voice matters only for employees from lower class backgrounds. By advocating that the outcomes of employee voice differ depending on the employees’ social class origins, the study opens new avenues for future theoretical and empirical research on employee voice.
