Purpose – Modern working life is characterized by increased expectations for employees to be available to deal with work issues outside regular work hours and by using new communication technology. This implies more individual freedom in organizing work in time and space, but also places increased demands on employees to manage the boundaries between work and personal life. This, in turn, can be expected to be crucial to their ability to mentally detach from work during free time. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether individual perceptions of boundary control moderate the impact of after-hours availability expectations and work-related smartphone use during off-work hours on psychological detachment. Design/methodology/approach – The study population comprised 2,876 gainfully employed professionals from four large organizations in both the public and private sector, representing various businesses and occupations. Univariate correlations and multiple, linear hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. Findings – High after-hours availability expectations, high frequency of work-related smartphone use, and low boundary control were associated with poor psychological detachment. Furthermore, boundary control moderated the relationships between both after-hours availability expectations and work-related smartphone use, respectively, and psychological detachment. As such, boundary control mitigated the negative effects of both after-hours availability expectations and work-related smartphone use during leisure on psychological detachment. Practical implications – Modern work organizations would benefit from introducing availability policies and helping employees reduce their work-related smartphone use outside regular work hours, thus helping them achieve successful boundary control and subsequent psychological detachment. Originality/value – In a working life characterized by blurred boundaries, employees’ ability to achieve boundary control can be regarded as crucial.

KEY WORDSBoundaryless work / family type / gender / integration / nonwork / segmentation / self-regulation

The purpose of this study is to determine the actual occurrences of flexible working conditions and to demonstrate an instrument for their assessment. Flexibility is discussed as a concept and defined in terms of deregulation of work, and a corresponding increase in self-

ObjectivesAnalyse mortality differences between self-employed and paid employees with a focus on industrial sector, educational level and gender using Swedish register data.MethodsA cohort of the total working population (4 776 135 individuals; 7.2% self-employed; 18–100 years of age at baseline 2003) in Sweden with a 5-year follow-up (2004–2008) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality (57 743 deaths). Self-employed individuals were categorised as sole proprietors or limited liability company (LLC) owners according to their enterprise's legal form. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to compare mortality rates between sole proprietors, LLC owners and paid employees, adjusted for sociodemographic confounders.ResultsMortality from cardiovascular diseases was 16% lower and from suicide 26% lower among LLC owners than among paid employees, adjusted for confounders. Within the industrial category, all-cause mortality was 13–15% lower among sole proprietors and LLC owners compared with employees in manufacturing and mining (MM) as well as personal and cultural services (PCS), and 11–20% higher in sole proprietors in trade, transport and communication and the welfare industry (W). A significant three-way interaction indicated 17–23% lower all-cause mortality among male LLC owners in MM and female sole proprietors in PCS, and 50% higher mortality in female sole proprietors in W than in employees in the same industries.ConclusionsMortality differences between self-employed individuals and paid employees vary by the legal form of self-employment, across industries, and by gender. Differences in work environment exposures and working conditions, varying market competition across industries and gender segregation in the labour market are potential mechanisms underlying these findings.

This study investigated how socioeconomic factors and psychosocial conditions are related to self-reported health among 43-year-old women representing the general Swedish population (N = 569). Odds ratios and multiple logistic regression analyses were used for associations and effect modification, adjusted for symptom reporting in adolescence. Poor self-reported health was predicted by low income, financial worries, and job strain, as well as combined exposure to a high level of unpaid household work and job strain (double burden). In conclusion, poor psychosocial conditions related to working life, as well as to the combined impact of paid and unpaid work were revealed to be risk factors for poor self-reported health among middle-aged women. These results highlight the need for improving women's work conditions, as well as designing family policies that promote a better sharing of unpaid household tasks and responsibilities between spouses.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to compare sickness presence (SP) and sickness absence (SA) regarding the strength of their relationship to health/ill-health. In a previous Canadian study a stronger association between SP and health/ill-health than between SA and health/ill-health was shown. Design/methodology/approach -Five Swedish data sets from the years 1992 to 2005 provided the study populations, including both representative samples and specific occupational groups (n ¼ 425-3,622). Univariate correlations and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. The data sets contained questions on SP and SA as well as on various health complaints and, in some cases, self-rated health (SRH). Findings -The general trend was that correlations and odds ratios increased regularly for both SP and SA, with SP showing the highest values. In one data set, SRH was predicted by a combination of the two measures, with an explained variance of 25 percent. Stratified analyses showed that the more irreplaceable an individual is at work, the larger is the difference in correlation size between SP and SA with regard to SRH. SP also showed an accentuated and stronger association with SRH than SA among individuals reporting poor economic circumstances. Practical implications -The results support the notion that SA is an insufficient, and even misleading, measure of health status for certain groups in the labor market, which seem to have poorer health than the measure of SA would indicate. Orginality/value -A combined measure of sickness presence and absence may be worth considering as an indicator of both individual and organizational health status.

Further research of working conditions is warranted, considering industry and enterprise legal form.

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