Systematic review on the association between employee worktime control and work–non-work balance, health and well-being, and job-related outcomes

Nijp, Hylco H.; Beckers, Debby G. J.; Geurts, Sabine A. E.; Tucker, Philip; Kompier, Michiel A. J.

doi:10.5271/sjweh.3307

Cited by 219 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 83 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

173

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For other outcomes or within other studies, no significant changes were reported after implementation of self-scheduling [eg, no significant changes in diastolic blood pressure and sleepiness (25), mental health (26), somatic symptoms (27), stress, work-family conflicts, and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (28), or sleep (29)]. Based on these findings, the authors of both reviews cautiously conclude that the introduction of self-scheduling can have favorable effects, but more intervention research is urgently needed to understand fully the effects of different types of selfscheduling on distinct outcome categories (12,15). The current thematic issue contains two studies on self-scheduling (30, 31) that present valuable new insights into the process factors behind self-scheduling and changes in work and well-being characteristics following the introduction of self-scheduling.…”

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contemporary knowledge on the effects of self-scheduling was discussed in a recent Cochrane review on flexible working conditions (12) and within the review by Nijp and colleagues (15). The scarce empirical research in this field provides mixed findings.…”

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the first contribution of this thematic issue, Nijp and colleagues (15) build upon this meta-analysis. They systematically review the scientific literature -published between 1995 and 2011 -on the association between the broad concept of WTC on the one hand (general as well as several specific aspects of WTC, eg, flextime and leave control) and employee-and organizational outcomes on the other.…”

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the current thematic issue, we aspire to make a valuable contribution to the contemporary knowledge and literature. As such, this issue starts with a systematic review study on the association between WTC and employee as well as organizational outcomes (15), followed by two studies on the practice of self-scheduling (30,31).…”

Section: Thematic Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Worktime control: theoretical conceptualization, current empirical knowledge, and research agenda

Beckers¹,

Kompier²,

Kecklund³

et al. 2012

Scand J Work Environ Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Working hours play a crucial role in the life, health, and well-being of workers. Concerning irregular working hours, the recent Fifth European Working Conditions Survey (1) shows that night work is carried out by 19% and shift work by 17% of all workers in Europe. More than half of the total workforce works at least one day during the weekend and 21% works "on call". The health effects of night and shift work have been a popular and important area of research within Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (eg,[2][3][4], including new and interesting data and a consensus statement on shift work and breast cancer (5) published in this issue (5-8). As working times are becoming increasingly irregular and flexible, their associations with work-life balance, work satisfaction, mental health, and productivity are of growing interest.Regarding worktime flexibility, the literature distinguishes between company-based and employeeoriented flexibility (9-13). The former refers to "the need of employers to extend, modify, or reduce work hours according to client or production needs" (10, p503). Shift work and mandatory overtime are well-known examples. Employee-oriented worktime flexibility refers to autonomy regarding working times with the aim of meeting employee needs (14). A similar construct is worktime control (WTC): "an employee's perception of his/her possibilities to control the duration, position, and distribution of his/her working times" (10, p503). WTC refers to self-determination of worktime aspects such as starting and ending times of the work day, breaks, days off, vacations (9), and control over whether, when and how much to work overtime (15). The distinction between company-based and employee-oriented worktime flexibility is helpful but one must bear in mind that a clear distinction is not always possible: although scholars tend to present WTC as a form of employee-oriented flexibility, it may also be implemented to advance organizational needs, such as higher work motivation and productivity and lower absenteeism and turnover of valued employees (16).Applications of worktime flexibility are by no means new phenomena. Company-based shift work has been a health issue in Europe since the end of the 19 th century (17). WTC was pioneered at a German company in 1967, in the form of "gliding time" (cf. flextime). This early experiment resulted in favorable organizational outcomes and, from 1970 onwards, flextime spread in West-European countries (18). Yet, until the late 20 th century, patterns of work schedules remained quite uniform, and work hours were still mainly determined by the employer with limited freedom on the part of employees (11,18). During the 1990s, major trends towards enhanced employee-oriented WTC emerged. This was a reaction to the louder call for "healthy work" and the rising labor participation of women and associated challenges regarding successfully combining work and family (11).In the 21 st century, the trend towards more flexible worktime practices continues. Many organi...

show abstract

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Findings On The Effects Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thematic Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Worktime control: theoretical conceptualization, current empirical knowledge, and research agenda

Beckers¹,

Kompier²,

Kecklund³

et al. 2012

Scand J Work Environ Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Gajendran & Harrison, 2007;Mann & Holdsworth, 2003), worktime control (e.g. Nijp et al, 2012), or flexible office designs (e.g. De Croon et al, 2005;Danielsson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of new ways of working on work hours and work location, health and job-related outcomes

Nijp

Beckers

Voorde

et al. 2016

Chronobiology International

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

New ways of working (NWW) is a type of work organization that is characterized by temporal and spatial flexibility, often combined with extensive use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and performance-based management. In a three-wave intervention study, we examined the effects of NWW on both the organization of work (changes in control over time and place of work; working hours and work location; and other key job characteristics), and on employees' outcomes (work-nonwork balance; health and well-being; and job-related outcomes). We applied a quasiexperimental design within a large Dutch financial company (N = 2,912). We studied an intervention group (n = 2,391) and made comparisons with a reference group (n = 521). There were three study waves: (i) one/two months before, and (ii) 4 months and (iii) 10 months after implementation of NWW. Repeated measures analyses of covariance (involving 361 participants from the intervention group and 80 participants from the reference group) showed a large and significant shift from hours worked at the office to hours worked at home after implementation of NWW. Accordingly, commuting time was reduced. Employees remained working on week days and during day time. Psychosocial work-characteristics, work-nonwork balance, stress, fatigue, and job-related outcomes remained favourable and largely unaffected, but the health score in the intervention group decreased (medium effect). These findings suggest that the implementation of NWW does not necessarily lead to changes in psychosocial work characteristics, well-being or job-related outcomes.

show abstract

Association of work-time control with sickness absence due to musculoskeletal and mental disorders: An occupational cohort study

Albrecht

Leineweber

Ojajärvi

et al. 2020

Journal of Occupational Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives Work‐time control is associated with lower sickness absence rates, but it remains unclear whether this association differs by type of diagnosis and sub‐dimension of work‐time control (control over daily hours and control over time off) and whether certain vulnerable groups benefit more from higher levels of work‐time control. Methods Survey data from the Finnish 10‐town study in 2004 were used to examine if baseline levels of work‐time control were associated with register data on diagnose‐specific sickness absence for 7 consecutive years (n = 22 599). Cox proportional hazard models were conducted, adjusted for age, sex, education, occupational status, shift work including nights, and physical/mental workload. Results During follow‐up, 2,818 individuals were on sick leave (≥10 days) due to musculoskeletal disorders and 1724 due to mental disorders. Employees with high (HR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.74‐0.87; HR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.70‐0.82, respectively) and moderate (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.77‐0.90; HR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.79‐0.91, respectively) levels of control over daily hours/control over time off had a decreased risk of sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders. Sub‐group analyses revealed that especially workers who were older benefitted the most from higher levels of work‐time control. Neither sub‐dimension of work‐time control was related to sickness absence due to mental disorders. Conclusions Over a 7‐year period of follow‐up, high and moderate levels of work‐time control were related to lower rates of sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders, but not due to mental disorders.

show abstract

Systematic review on the association between employee worktime control and work–non-work balance, health and well-being, and job-related outcomes

Cited by 219 publications

References 83 publications

Worktime control: theoretical conceptualization, current empirical knowledge, and research agenda

Worktime control: theoretical conceptualization, current empirical knowledge, and research agenda

Effects of new ways of working on work hours and work location, health and job-related outcomes

Association of work-time control with sickness absence due to musculoskeletal and mental disorders: An occupational cohort study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About