Association between working hours, work engagement, and work productivity in employees: A cross-sectional study of the Japanese Study of Health, Occupation, and Psychosocial Factors Relates Equity

Abstract

Objectives The aims of the study were to investigate the association between working hours, work engagement, and work productivity, and to examine if work engagement moderates the influence of working hours on work productivity. Methods We used cross‐sectional data from the Japanese occupational cohort survey, which involved 2093 employees in a manufacturing industry. Working hours were self‐reported by the study participants. Work productivity was assessed with absolute presenteeism based on the scale of the validated Japanese version of World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (WHO‐HPQ). Work engagement was assessed with the Nine‐item Utrecht work Engagement Scale (UWES‐9). Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of working hours and work engagement with work productivity. We also carried out stratified multivariable regression analysis separately for those with high‐work engagement and those with low‐work engagement. Results Working >40 to 50 hours per week and >50 hours per week were significantly positively associated with work productivity in univariate analysis. However, the significant association no longer held after adjusting for work engagement. Work engagement was positively associated with work productivity even after controlling for potential confounders. Working hours were not significantly associated with work productivity among those with high‐work engagement or among those with low‐work engagement. Conclusions Working hours did not have any significant associations with work productivity when taking work engagement into account. Work engagement did not moderate the influence of working hours on work productivity, though it attenuated the relationship between working hours and work productivity.

Technology as a coping tool during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic: Implications and recommendations

“…There may also be implications for physical and mental health with respect to work–life balance during the COVID‐19 outbreak, as time during stay‐at‐home orders may lack a clear transition between work/school and leisure. Prior review has suggested long working hours may be associated with increased anxiety, depression and cardiovascular disease, although meta‐analytic findings suggest small to negligible effect sizes (Ganster, Rosen, & Fisher, 2018), which are moderated by feelings of work engagement (Okazaki et al, 2019). Importantly, addiction to organizational technologies may have unintended consequences for personal and family life: a study of 241 organizational mobile email users found addiction to mobile email was associated with perceived work overload and technology–family conflict (Turel, Serenko, & Bontis, 2011).…”

Work-Related Factors Affecting the Occurrence of Presenteeism － Recent Research Trends and Future Directions

“…Work engagement was one of the work-environmental factors examined in association with presenteeism by McGregor et al (2018) [14], who found that work engagement had a strong impact on health conditions but was not significantly associated with presenteeism, after all work environmental factors and health conditions were included in one model. In the aforementioned study by Okazaki et al (2019), work engagement was observed to be positively associated with presenteeism, even when controlling for potential confounders and considering working hours [18]. Eguchi et al (2020) studied the associations between work engagement and presenteeism in a prospective cohort study and reported that work engagement at baseline was significantly associated with absolute presenteeism at follow-up, and this association remained significant after additionally adjusting for work performance at baseline [33].…”

“…One study examined the effect of working hours on presenteeism. Okazaki [18]. Nylén et al (2019) studied the association of presenteeism with personal resources-signaling and limitsetting strategies, as well as the demand-control-support (DCS) model.…”

“…Okazaki E et al [18] See the section on "Studies on the associations of various stress models and factors with presenteeism"…”

Study for the Design of a Protocol to Assess the Impact of Stress in the Quality of Life of Workers

“…Work and working conditions have a significant impact on health [ 3 ]. Stressful situations occur in the worker when these conditions are altered by different factors (work overload, lack of support, work schedules, or lack of family reconciliation) [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], giving rise to a specific type of stress called work stress [ 7 , 8 ]. Work stress is defined as “the reaction that the individual may have to work demands and pressures that do not match his knowledge and skills, and that test his ability to cope with the situation” [ 9 ].…”