What is genuine sickness? The relation between work‐discipline and the sick role in a pottery factory

Bellaby, Paul

doi:10.1111/1467-9566.ep10844878

Cited by 35 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A final, and perhaps the most critical, limitation of conventional measures of the job performance of older workers concerns the extent to which it emphasizes functional capacity (82, 1 14)6 of the individual worker and ignores specific characteristics of the work itself -work content, work environment, and work organization (99,115). Rix (3) claims that "what appears to be an age-related performance decline may actually be the result of a mismatch between the job and the worker, which suggests that better matching of workers and jobs could result in a more productive work force" [p 681.…”

Section: Job Performance and The Older Workermentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and productivity of older workers

Robertson

Cs²

1998

Scand J Work Environ Health

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Robertson A, Tracy CS. Health and productivity of older workers. Scand J Work Environ Health 1998;24(2):5-97.The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of a critical review of the literature on age, health, and work. The health of older workers is a concern to the extent that the productivity of older workers is considered to be a function of age-related health, the general conclusion being that age-related declines in health inevitably lead to decreased productivity. This paper investigates the implications of age-related physiological and psychological changes on the productivity of older workers, by focusing on a critical examination of the ways in which productivity has been conceptualized and operationalized. This paper concludes that the emerging concept of "work capacity" has the greatest potential for addressing the productivity issues of workforce aging. Implications for public and corporate policy and for further research are also examined.

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Section: Job Performance and The Older Workermentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and productivity of older workers

Robertson

Cs²

1998

Scand J Work Environ Health

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“…'normal people are in wage employment' (Aho 1988: 30). The process of becoming and being ill at work has been studied in various frames: as moral evaluations (Dodier 1985), as discourses and techniques of power associated with work-discipline (Bellaby 1990), and as semiotic meanings of symptoms among female workers (Honkasalo 1988). However, this image has now been obscured by the growth of chronic mass unemployment in virtually all capitalist market economies since the beginning of the 1980s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘An epidemic of good health’ at the workplace

Virtanen

1994

Sociology Health & Illness

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Towards the end of 1986 a total of 32 workers who were frequently absent from work due to illness were made redundant at an engineering works. In 1987 sickness absences in the remaining work force were reduced by one third in comparison with the figures for the previous three years. In 1988 sickness absence figures started to climb again. The events are described from the point of view of the local health centre physician. The clinical and epidemiological features of the 'health epidemic' are demonstrated. Two comments are presented. The first concems the unspecificity of sickness absenteeism as a measure of illness. The second concems the concept of 'illness behaviour' which should not be taken as a phenomenon determined by a set of causes, but as a human activity construed in interaction between the individual and significant others.

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“…In essence, participants expressed what are normative role expectations of their managerial position in that they are required to act 'as agents of the employer who are accountable for the performance of the workers they manage' (Bellaby, 1990;p58) and retain authoritative control over employees in order to achieve organisational goals and objectives -whether commercially or bureaucratically driven. Structural antagonisms were therefore evident between the functions of the management role in being managers of both people and productivity (Martins, 2009), which participants perceived as often incompatible in the case of LTCs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A case of tightrope walking

Bramwell

Sanders

Rogers

2016

International Journal of Workplace Health Management

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Purpose – Given that current policy in the UK is focused on encouraging individuals with long-term health conditions (LTCs) to work wherever possible, the purpose of this paper is to explore employer’s and manager’s perspectives of supporting those with LTCs as any successful workplace engagement will largely be influenced by their readiness to be supportive. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with employers’ and managers’ from a range of organisations in the north-west of England during the period March 2011 to January 2012. Comparative analysis of the data was guided and informed by grounded theory principles. Findings – All bar one participant typified their role as one of a difficult “balancing” act of additional and often incompatible demands, pressures and feelings. It was evident that coping with this ambivalent situation incurred an emotional consequence for participants. Practical implications – Employers’ and managers’ response to ambivalent feelings may serve to undermine their capacity to translate supportive intentions into tangible action and are thus reflected in employee’s perceptions of unsupportive relations. Developing an intervention to raise awareness of the potential for this situation and subsequent impact on the return to work process would be beneficial for all stakeholders – the government, employees and employers alike. Originality/value – This in-depth study gives voice to employers and managers whose experiences and perceptions of supporting people with LTCs is largely unknown and empirically under-researched. Findings add to the wealth of research from the employee perspective to provide a more nuanced picture of the workplace for those working with and/or supporting those with LTCs.

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What is genuine sickness? The relation between work‐discipline and the sick role in a pottery factory

Cited by 35 publications

References 14 publications

Health and productivity of older workers

Health and productivity of older workers

‘An epidemic of good health’ at the workplace

A case of tightrope walking

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