Time pressure, working time control and long-term sickness absence.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Workplace Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Perceived time pressure at work has risen across Europe.
• Elevated time pressure poses risks to employee health and well-being.
• Understanding the interplay between time pressure and control is crucial for workplace interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how working time control moderates the relationship between time pressure and long-term sickness absence.
• To investigate the combined effects of high time pressure and low working time control on employee absenteeism.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Finnish Quality of Work Life Survey 2003 data (n=3400) linked with Statistics Finland sickness absence registers (2002-2006).
• Assessed perceived time pressure and working time control via survey questions.
• Analyzed long-term sickness absence (≥10 days) using a negative binomial model, controlling for covariates and baseline absenteeism.

Main Results:

• High working time control was associated with decreased long-term sickness absence.
• High time pressure was linked to increased long-term sickness absence.
• The highest sickness absence rates occurred under conditions of high time pressure and low working time control (strain situations).

Conclusions:

• Implementing working time control can be a beneficial human resource strategy to reduce employee absenteeism.
• Solely focusing on working time control is insufficient; high time pressure significantly impacts employee health and absence regardless of control levels.
• The 'strain' hypothesis highlights the persistent detrimental effects of high time pressure on health outcomes.