<p>Boss phubbing is an employee’s perception that the supervisor is distracted by a smartphone when they are talking or in close proximity to each other. Based on Effort-Reward Imbalance theory, we proposed that supervisor phubbing behavior may have two contradictory influence paths on subordinates, and subordinate overcommitment can unify these two contradictory paths. Specifically, subordinates with high overcommitment are less likely to reduce their work efforts in response to supervisor phubbing behavior. They tend to generate negative emotion and increase work stress due to the strong sense of effort-reward imbalance. Conversely, subordinates with low overcommitment are more likely to adjust their effort levels to maintain a balance between effort and reward, thereby facilitating psychological detachment and reducing work stress. Across two studies combining questionnaire survey and scenario-based experiment, we found that negative emotion consistently mediated the stress-enhancing effect of supervisor phubbing. In contrast, the mediating effect of psychological detachment differed across studies and the moderating effect of overcommitment was not supported. This study expanded the research on phubbing behavior and provided theoretical support for managers to regulate the use of mobile phones in the workplace.</p>