Long working hours and sickness absence-a fixed effects design.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Previous research indicates a negative correlation between long working hours and sickness absence, but often relies on between-individual comparisons.
• These between-individual correlations may reflect stable differences between employees rather than a direct effect of working hours on absence.
• The current study addresses this by examining within-individual correlations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the within-individual relationship between long working hours and sickness absence.
• To determine if the negative association between long working hours and sickness absence persists when accounting for individual-specific factors over time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized objective data on working hours and sickness absence from a large Norwegian hospital (2012-2015).
• Conducted a prospective cohort analysis to replicate between-individual findings.
• Employed a fixed-effect model for within-individual correlation analysis.

Main Results:

• Both between-individual and within-individual analyses revealed a significant negative relationship between long working hours (over 48 hours/week) and short-term sickness absence (1-8 days).
• No significant association was found between long working hours and long-term sickness absence (over 8 days).

Conclusions:

• The negative relationship between long working hours and short-term sickness absence is not solely attributable to stable individual differences.
• These findings suggest a direct impact of working longer hours on reduced short-term sickness absence, contrasting with some health indicator research.