Ergonomic support and workstation satisfaction among teleworkers in small and medium enterprises

Background: Ergonomics can be adapted to the work-from-home context, e.g., training on adjustment, adjusted furniture provision, and professional evaluation of the ergonomic adjustment of one's workspace. However, very little research has examined the extent to which such supports have been offered to the diverse small and medium enterprise (SME) teleworkers population post-pandemic. Objectives: 1) Examine if, and how, i) ergonomics support provided to SME teleworkers, and ii) their satisfaction with the ergonomic adjustment of their workstation vary according to individual and organizational characteristics; 2) investigate the associations between provided ergonomics support and workstation satisfaction. Methods: 1162 teleworkers (616 supervisors) employed by SMEs in Canada completed an online questionnaire that included items regarding three ergonomic supports (i.e., training, equipment, evaluation) and workstation satisfaction. Results: Logistic and linear regression analyses indicated that several individual and organizational characteristics significantly (ps ≤ .05) predicted whether teleworkers received each form of ergonomic support (training: gender, enterprise size, union presence; equipment: supervisory role; evaluation: daily time at the computer, supervisory role) or their level of satisfaction with their workstation (union presence). Hours per week employers expected employees to telework and age significantly predicted being provided with ergonomic support (of any form) and workstation satisfaction. Linear regressions indicated that each ergonomic support was significantly related to increased workstation satisfaction. Conclusions: Some groups of teleworkers (e.g., women, younger workers, those in medium-sized enterprises, workers represented by a union) in SMEs seem more likely to receive ergonomic support than others. Receiving more ergonomic support cascades to more satisfaction with one's workstation.