Purpose: The global economy is changing the labour market and social protection systems in Europe. The effect of both changes on health needs to be monitored in view of an ageing population and the resulting increase in prevalence of chronic health conditions. The Spanish WORKing life Social Security (WORKss) cohort study provides unique longitudinal data to study the impact of labour trajectories and employment conditions on health, in terms of sickness absence, permanent disability and death.

Women make up a growing proportion of the workforce and therefore many women experience menopause while in paid employment. We explored the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, the relationship between symptoms and coping with work and the risk factors associated with struggling at work during the menopause. The Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) community-based cohort of people aged 50–64 years was incepted 2013–2014 to study health and work. In 2019, female participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their menopausal symptoms, and effect of those symptoms on their ability to cope at work. 409 women were eligible for inclusion. The commonest symptoms were vasomotor (91.7%); trouble sleeping (68.2%); psychological (63.6%) and urinary (49.1%). The prevalence of reporting symptoms was similar no matter which type of occupation women were performing at the time. Around one-third of women reported moderate/severe difficulties coping at work because of menopausal symptoms. Risk factors for difficulties coping at work included: financial deprivation, poorer self-rated health, depression, and adverse psychosocial occupational factors but not physical demands. More awareness is needed amongst employers in all sectors but women with financial difficulties and those with jobs in which they feel insecure, unappreciated, or dissatisfied are at greatest risk.

BackgroundTo examine the differences in the incidence of registered sickness absence by type of employment contract in a large representative sample of salaried workers in Spain in 2009.MethodA study of 653,264 salaried workers covered by the Social Security system who had 133,724 sickness absence episodes in 2009. Crude and adjusted rate ratios and their corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with Poisson regression models.ResultsThe incidence rate per 100 workers-year of sickness absence for temporary workers (IR = 32.2) was slightly higher than that of permanent workers (IR = 28.9). This pattern was observed in both men (RR = 1.12; 95 % CI 1.10–1.14) and women (RR 1.11; 95 % CI 1.09–1.12). However, after adjusting for age, company size, and occupational category, the differences disappeared in men (aRR = 1.01; 95 % CI 0.99–1.02) and decreased in women (aRR = 1.06; 95 % CI 1.04–1.07).ConclusionOur findings provide evidence on the independence of sickness absence benefits from the type of employment contract as well as on the nonexistence of incentives for taking sickness absence in workers with a permanent employment contract. In the context of increasing market flexibility, these results show a positive functioning of the Social Security system.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13690-016-0152-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.