Lecture 4 knowledge clips Flashcards
1
Q
What is sickness absence?
A
Non-attendance when scheduled to work due to illness.
2
Q
What is sickness absence in NL?
A
Includes partial absence
- Working less hours because you’re sick
Includes work for therapeutic reasons
- You go to your work merely as a way to restore your health, not in order to be productive
- Usually you would have different tasks than normal
3
Q
What is not sickness absence?
A
Not working because
- You’ve had an argument with your boss
- You don’t feel like going to work
- Your child or mother is sick
- You’re on holiday
- You’re pregnant
- There isn’t enough work
4
Q
How are absences registered?
A
The sum of the not sickness absences is often registered as sickness absence, this means that registrations are often contaminated with other kinds of absences.
5
Q
Presenteeism
A
This is the counterpart to sickness absence
Being present, but not productive due to health problems (without reporting sick).
6
Q
Sickness absence in the Netherlands
A
About 50% of the employees have been absent due to illness at least once in the past 12 months.
The individual sickness absence percentage is about 4,5%.
- On all scheduled working days 4,5% is lost due to sickness absence.
The absence frequency is 1.2.
The average absence duration is 7 or 8 working days.
7
Q
What do absence frequency and duration include? And what does this mean?
A
They include zero absenteeism, which means that it is about twice as high for people that have been absent.
- So, for those that have been absent, an average of 15 working days have been lost. This is 3 full working weeks if you work full time.
8
Q
How long are people usually sick? And how does this affect the total sickness absence days?
A
Often people return to work in a few days or at least a week, but long term sickness absence, individuals who are ill for months, determine about 80% of the total sickness absence days. This strongly increases the average.
9
Q
A
10
Q
Why does absenteeism decrease from 2005-2014 and increases from 2014?
A
- This is due to the economic cycle
- In times of recession, employees are less likely to call in sick, but continue to work despite having a cold or feeling ill.
o They do so because they experience high job insecurity and frequent or long term sickness absence increases the chances of losing your job. - In years of economic growth, sickness absence is generally higher
- In 2020
o Sickness absence is influence by the corona virus
o Economic recession reduced sickness absence
11
Q
How high or low is sickness absence in the Netherlands compared to other countries in the EU?
A
It’s relatively high
12
Q
Why is the sickness absence relatively high compared to other countries in the EU?
A
This is due to differences in regulations in different countries.
13
Q
How can the difference in sickness absence be explained between the Netherlands and Denmark?
A
In the Netherlands employers need to pay the wage for ill employees for 2 years and cannot fire them in the meantime.
- This is likely to change in the near future.
In Denmark ill employees can be fired after 4 months of sickness absence. Which automatically leads to lower sickness absence.
14
Q
Is the sickness absence in Greece and Spain high or low? And how can this be explained?
A
In Greece and Spain the economic situation is rather bad leading to lower sickness absence.
15
Q
What are the different kinds of sickness absence theories?
A
- Medical model
- Withdrawal theories
- Stress theories
- Social influence
- Allegro & Veerman Model
16
Q
Medical model
A
Someone gets sick => goes to the doctor => gets treated => recovers => goes back to work
In this model
- The focus is on the nature of the health condition.
- The recovery of health is considered to be a necessary condition for returning to work.
- Medical doctors contribute to the recovery of health and therefore to the return to work.
17
Q
What is the current view on the medical model?
A
Nowadays, almost all the perspectives on sickness absence are fully reversed
- Medicalisation extents sickness absence
- Returning to work contributes to the recovery of health rather than the reverse
The medical model is considered old-fashioned and obsolete.
18
Q
Withdrawal theories
A
Sickness absence is a form of withdrawal. Employees withdraw from an unpleasant or unhealthy working situation by calling in sick.
19
Q
EVLN theory by Farrell (1983)
A
An overarching withdrawal theory about responses to job dissatisfaction.
He distinguishes four basic responses based on how active and constructive the response is.
20
Q
What are the four basic responses to job dissatisfaction according to the EVLN theory by Farrell (1983)?
A
Exit
- Active and destructive
- You leave the field/quit your job
Voice
- Active and constructive
- You speak up and complain about the bad working situation
Loyalty
- Passive and constructive
- You keep calm and carry on despite your dissatisfaction
Neglect
- Passive and destructive
- You do your job but in a lousy way
21
Q
Which of the four basic responses of the EVLN do employers like best? And which should they like best?
A
Employers like loyalty the best, but they should stimulate voice instead so that they get the chance to improve the working situation and do something about the dissatisfaction.
- Loyalty is not forever, if the working conditions do not improve, people are likely to move to neglect.
22
Q
Sickness absence in the EVLN
A
- Frequent sickness absence is generally seen as neglect
- Long term sickness absence is a form of temporary exit
23
Q
The equity theory by Adams (1965)
A
There should be a balance between investments and work outcomes.
This balance is compared and evaluated relative to the balance of relevant others.
If you feel like you invest a lot but your work outcomes are too low, you can call in sick to restore the balance.
24
Q
How can sickness absence restore fairness according to the equity theory?
A
Increasing own outcomes
- You have more spare time
- You can rest
Reducing own investments
- You’re not working
- You put less effort in your job
25
Stress theories
Employees call in sick because they experience health problems such as burnout complaints as a result of their job.
26
What work psychological models can be considered stress theories?
DCS model
- Focuses on strain as a result of high job demands, low job control and low support
JD-R model
- Burnout results from high job demands and low job resources, the health-impairment process. This can lead to sickness absence and other negative work outcomes
DISC model
- Same as the JD-R model
Effort-recovery model
- Same as the JD-R model
27
Social influence on sickness absence
Calling in sick is dependent on the actions and opinions of others.
The following can socially influence sickness absence:
- Absence culture
- Social norms
- Social comparison
- Attribution
- Supervisors attitude and behaviour
28
Absence culture on sickness absence
- Do colleagues and supervisors find sickness absence acceptable?
- Do they stimulate taking a long time to recover?
29
Social norms on sickness absence
- Descriptive social norms: what do colleagues do?
- Prescriptive social norms: what do colleagues think you should do?
30
Social comparison on sickness absence
- This influences the perceived social norm and attribution.
31
Attribution on sickness absence
- When you’re uncertain about vague health complaints, you may attribute these symptoms to the work situations if others complain about similar symptoms.
32
Supervisors attitudes and behaviour on sickness absence
- Are their clear rules about absence and when it’s acceptable to call in sick?
- This has a strong influence on sickness absence and the absence culture.
33
Allegro & Veerman Model (1998)
This model and similar ones are highly influential.
This model states that sickness absence is the result of a mismatch between the work load and the load capability of a person.
If the work load/job demands exceed what a person can handle, this results in health complaints (somatic and/or mental).
Whether these health complaints lead to sickness absence depends on the absence threshold.
34
What determines the height of the absence threshold of the Allegro & Veerman Model?
The need for absence
- Can you continue to work or is this impossible?
- The motivation to attend, which depends on the work satisfaction
Opportunity of absence
- E.g., if the work load is very high, you cannot afford to be absent, leading to a higher threshold.
- E.g., a permissive absence culture, where everyone is absent from time to time, the absence threshold will be lower.
35
When do you return to work according to the Allegro & Veerman Model?
Once you are absent, you have a spell of absence, you have to cross the work resumption threshold before you return to work.
36
What determines the height of the work resumption threshold in the Allegro & Veerman Model?
The need for absence
- Have you recovered sufficiently?
- Will you be able to handle the work?
- The motivation to attend: do you actually want to resume your work?
Opportunity of absence
- Can you stay home or do you have to work?
- E.g., are your coworkers encouraging/pressing you to start working again?
- E.g., are your coworkers encouraging/pressing you to take your time to recover?
37
SMASH
Study on Musculoskeletal disorders, Absenteeism, Stress and Health
38
Details on the SMASH
- 4 year longitudinal study
- 844 employees in 34 companies
- Observations of working postures
- Medical examinations
- Annual questionnaire: burnout and job satisfaction
- Company records of episodes of absence
o Absence frequency
o Total days of absence
39
What is the theory behind the SMASH?
Several meta-analyses showed that there is negative relationship between job satisfaction and sickness absence
- But it is unclear whether a low job satisfaction leads to a higher sickness absence or if sickness absence lowers job satisfaction.
There could be third variable like stress or burnout that explains the relationship between job satisfaction and sickness absence.
Burnout complaints could reduce job satisfaction and at the same time increase sickness absence.
40
What is the research question of the SMASH?
How are burnout and job satisfaction, longitudinally related to sickness absence.
41
How was the research question of the SMASH examined?
In a complete panel design
42
Complete panel design of the SMASH
The longitudinal relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables are examined.
Independent variables
- Burnout
- Job satisfaction
Dependent variables
- Sickness absence
43
What do you examine in a complete panel design?
In a complete panel design you examine normal causation.
- For example: does burnout contribute to higher sickness absence one year later, controlled for sickness absence the previous year.
o And the reverse: does sickness absence contribute to higher burnout complaints one year later, controlled for burnout complaints in the previous year.
44
What are the longitudinal relationships/results of the SMASH?
Burnout increased the total time lost
- This is the chance of long term sickness absence
- A year later controlled for earlier time lost
High job satisfaction reduced the absence frequency
Frequent absence reduced job satisfaction
There is a negative spiral of dissatisfaction and absence frequency
Burnout reduced job satisfaction
Frequent absence predicted long term absence (time lost) in the future
Long term absence (time lost) increased job satisfaction a year later
- Individuals who remained in the study who have been absent for a long time, survived their long term absence and generally returned to work after a year.
- Otherwise, they may have lost their job or be disabled for work, which will lead them to drop out of the study.
- Corrected for the relatively low satisfaction at the time of long term sickness absence, their satisfaction was likely to be higher after successfully returning to work.
45
What are the results of the SMASH in line with?
Stress models
- Long term absence seems to be the result of stress and mental health complaints
- Burnout increase time lost
Withdrawal
- Short term absence is the result of dissatisfaction and withdrawal
- Job satisfaction leads to higher absence frequency
- Higher absence frequency leads to lower job satisfaction
46
What is the practical relevance of the SMASH?
Distinguish frequent and long term absence.
Use theory to lower sickness absence
- E.g., JD-R model
o Reduce frequent absence/withdrawal by increasing resources (motivation)
o Reduce long term absence/stress by reducing demands and increasing resources (health impairment)
Frequent absence can lead to a higher chance of long term absence in the future.
- You can use frequent absence as a marker for more serious problems in the future.
47
What is central in the conceptual model of sustainable careers?
The person-career fit.
- This is important for the well-being, health and performance of the person
- It examines work from a temporal perspective
48
What is the definition of a career?
“the sequence of work experiences that evolves over the individual’s life course” (Arthur et al., 1989)
49
Traditional careers
In traditional careers, the sequences are relatively predictable
- A lifelong employment
- A single or limited number of employers
- Gradually moving up the hierarchy as they grow older and more experienced
- More or less linear
50
Contemporary careers
In contemporary careers, nowadays, the sequences are less predictable
- Workers change jobs more often
- Many couples are dual earners
o They need to juggle work and family demands
- Workers retire at an older age due to the increased life expectancy
- These changes lead to higher job insecurity
- This leads to more opportunities to shape your own career
51
Sustainability definition
“Able to last or continue for a long time, and able to be used without being depleted or destroyed”
52
Sustainability
One way to examine careers
53
What is a sustainable career?
A sustainable career is a career that fits the person and that enables this person to work in a happy, healthy and productive way. Now and in the future.
- A job may be sustainable in the short run but not in the long run
54
Being a constructive worker may be a sustainable job in your twenties and thirties, but no longer in your forties and fifties.
How can you make this job sustainable?
You can make this career sustainable by changing to training young construction workers using your own practical knowledge and experience.
55
How can a career remain sustainable?
By developing plans to change such a job an learn a new trait.
56
What are the three indicators of a sustainable career according to the process model of sustainable careers?
1. Happiness
- E.g., satisfaction, career success
2. Healthy
- E.g., mental health, physical health, stress, well-being
3. Productivity
- E.g., job performance, employability
57
What can you tell on the basis of the indicators of the process model of sustainable careers?
They give an impression of how sustainable the careers is in one moment in time.
58
How can you examine if seomone has a really sustainable career?
By examining the indicators over the persons life course, including episodes of not working.
59
What are the three dimensions that are distinguished in the process model of sustainable careers?
1. Person
2. Context
3. Time
60
The person dimension of the process model of sustainable careers
- The individual who’s career is examined
- Their values, personal resources, skills, knowledge and health condition
- Agency
- Meaning
61
The context dimension of the process model of sustainable careers
- The person works in a context
- An organisation, coworkers, supervisor, an organisational culture, larger society of a country/region
A persons private life is an important part of the context in which they work
62
The time dimension of the process model of sustainable careers
- Over time things happen in a person’s career; changes, events.
- When you find a new job it takes time to learn the trade and over time you may become an expert. You are happy, healthy and productive in this job. You may get bored as the years go by and you might no longer be happy and productive. This means that it’s time to move on. Either to a new job or a new position in the organisation. If you succeed, the cycle repeats.
- Time may lead to changes in the organisation
o E.g., restructuring in which you have to do different task that my or may not suit you
o E.g., you might lose your job entirely
- You may become ill leading to long term sickness absence
o E.g., accident, burnout
Time makes the approach dynamic
63
What is the interplay between a person and the context called?
The systemic approach in sustainable careers
64
Agency in the person dimension
- This is a concept from other career theories.
- The experience of personal control
- The traditional career theory considers the organisation in the lead for shaping a career
- Modern career theories assume that individuals shape their own careers, the person is in the lead
o The theories focuses on pro activity
o Nowadays, successful productivity and adaptation are expected of everyone in the labour market
* These expectations might be a little bit unrealistic for people in more vulnerable conditions
65
Meaning in the person dimension
- This is a concept from other career theories
- The specific outcomes that a person values in their career
o Some people see their work as a means to earn a living and to be financially dependent
o Some people focus on building a career, getting ahead, gaining a high status in society, getting a managerial position, getting rich
o Some people see work as a calling, they work because they want to contribute to a better world
66
Career anchors - Edgar Schein (1996)
The meaning of work is related to the eight career anchors that Edgar Schein distinguished.
These anchors are aspects of the work that you value the most.
Most people identify primarily with one or two of these anchors.
67
What are the eight career anchors according to Edgar Schein?
- Technical/functional
- General managerial
- Autonomy/Independence
- Security/Stability
- Entrepreneurial creativity
- Service/Dedication to a cause
- Pure challenge
- Lifestyle
68
Technical/functional anchor
- You want to develop and use your skills
- You want to be an expert/specialist
69
General managerial anchor
- You strive for a management position in which you coordinate the work of others
- You’re a generalist
70
Autonomy/Independence anchor
- You value your autonomy
- You find it hard to comply to rules that are set by others
71
Security/Stability anchor
- You value job and financial security the most
72
Entrepreneurial creativity anchor
- You want to be your own boss and build your own enterprise
73
Service/Dedication to a cause anchor
- You want to achieve something of value
- You want to make the world a better place
- Similar to your work being your calling
74
Pure challenge anchor
- You want to overcome difficult obstacles
75
Lifestyle anchor
- Work is only one of the important life domains
- Work must be balance with the private life and challenges outside the work place
76
A work handicap
A long term serious illness which interferes with work
77
The proportion of employees with a work handicap increases with age
- 10-15% of the employees in their twenties report a work handicap
- This gradually increases to 28% until employees aged 57
- There is a strong decline in the proportion of work handicaps as employees get older than 57
- Employees aged 64 are as healthy as employees aged 40
- The same pattern is found for other health related valuables (e.g., burnout, exhaustion)
- This is an example of the healthy worker effect
78
Healthy worker effect
- Individuals that work are more healthy than those who do not work due to selection
- This is true for all ages, but especially so for those aged 58+
- So, employees leave the work force selectively
79
When do most employees with a work handicap stop working?
As soon as this is financially possible
80
What is the problem with the data on employees with a work handicap?
- This is old data
- Nowadays early retirement around the age of 60 is no longer possible
- The challenge: how can employees aged 57 with a work handicap extend their working life for another 10 years while remaining product and without compromising their health?
81
Sheltered employment
Until 2015, individuals with a serious work handicap could work in sheltered workshops (sociale werkplaats)
82
The law on sheltered employment
Since 2015 the participation law is in effect, which means that no new individuals enter sheltered employment. They should now get a subsidized job for a regular employer.
- This is called integrated employment
83
How effective is the participation law?
Thus far, the law is not very successful, as shown by an intermediate report in a long term evaluation on the effectiveness of the participation law.
84
What are the three broad categories that a work handicap can be classified as?
1. Physical handicaps
2. Cognitive impairment
3. Psychiatric illness
85
What kind of tasks do people in sheltered employment do?
- They generally do unskilled tasks
- E.g., packaging, wood craft, assembly work, park keeping
- Usually they only have one task
- They do not rotate jobs
- The amount of work strongly varies
o It depends on other organisations that are outsourced
o Sometimes there is no work at all and sometimes they’re quite busy
86
Weekly diary study
- 81 individuals working in sheltered employment
- 2 organisations
- 4 or 5 weekly online questionnaires
- 309 observations from the individuals
- Data collection by a master student
Each Tuesday the participant went to a computer room in groups of 15-20 persons where they individually filled out a questionnaire.
87
What was measured in the weekly questionnaire of the weekly diary study?
- Work load
- Autonomy
- Social support
- Work engagement
- Exhaustion
- Productivity
Answer scales: 1 = never; 5 = always
88
What was added to the first and last weekly questionnaire of the weekly diary study?
- Person-Job fit
- Mental demands
- Physical demands
Answer scales: 1 = never; 5 = always
89
Why were some questions only added to the first and last questionnaire?
These were not measured weekly because
- It was reasoned that this would be more stable over time
- To limit the length of the weekly questionnaire
90
Psychological model used in the weekly diary study
The main model that was used was the JD-R model where job demands and job resources influence performance through exhaustion (health impairment process) and engagement (motivational process).
91
ICC in the weekly diary study
ICC = proportion variance between persons
The extent to which systematic variation was between persons or within persons by looking at the intra class correlation (ICC).
Most systematic variation was between persons rather than between weeks within persons.
Nevertheless, there is meaningful weekly variation for work load and productivity (< 0.6).
92
What did they correct for in the multilevel regression in the weekly diary study?
Corrected for age, gender, education, organisation, kind of handicap and the week of measurement.
93
What did they look at in the multilevel regression of the weekly diary study?
They looked at the persons average level of job demands and resources but also the weekly variation of these variables.
94
Multilevel regression results for work engagement in the weekly diary study
The person-job fit was related to higher weekly work engagement.
Both job resources, autonomy and social support contribute to higher work engagement.
Weekly variations in work load contribute to higher engagement.
- The workers felt more engagement in weeks with high rather than low work load.
- This indicates that work load acts as a challenge demand
95
Multilevel regression results for exhaustion in the weekly diary study
Person-job fit was related to lower exhaustion
Job demands, physical demands and work load are related to higher exhaustion
- For work load this was true for both the person level and the week level
o So, individuals were more exhausted when they experienced a high work load on average, but especially so in weeks with a relatively high work load.
Interaction between work load and autonomy on the person level
- The relationship between exhaustion and person level work load was buffered by high autonomy
- Ony for individuals who experienced little autonomy, a high work load is related to higher exhaustion.
96
Multilevel regression results for productivity in the weekly diary study
They rate their own productivity as higher as they report less mental demands and higher autonomy.
Both high average work load and weekly variations in work load strongly contribute to higher productivity.
When they added engagement and exhaustion to the regression of productivity, they found that
- Engagement was related to higher productivity and work engagement
- Exhaustion did not mediate the effects of job demands or job resources on productivity
97
Conclusion of the diary study
For workers in sheltered employment
- Work load is a challenge demand
- Good Person-Job fit contributes to a higher well-being
- Intra-person differences between weeks are small
o Such a diary study is not the best way to examine this population
98
How is knowing about work handicaps relevant for practice?
This vulnerable group of workers are often the first to lose their job in times of recession. It is therefore important to look at how we can improve the job security and the working conditions of workers with a handicap.
99
How can we improve the working conditions of employees at sheltered employment?
- Improve person-job fit
- Increase work load to an acceptable level
- Increase autonomy
100
Follow-up studies on the weekly diary study
Working with a handicap in integrated employment (regular company)
- Interview study (already done by students)
o People with a handicap and colleagues with similar jobs on job experience of these workers
o Supervisors on job performance of workers
- Diary study
