Shift Work & Sickness Absence | Planning Tips
- Better shift work planning, including increased employee involvement, can lead to a significant reduction in employee sickness absences, according to a new study.
- Turunen's research suggests that giving shift workers more control over their schedules, while also considering the potential health effects of different working hour arrangements, can be an effective...
- Shift work is unavoidable in many critical sectors, including health care.
Reduce employee sickness absences through strategic shift work planning. This study reveals that giving shift workers more control over their schedules, considering the health effects of various arrangements, is key. This research, supported by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, also pinpoints how legislative changes, like mandatory rest periods, cut absences. Discover participatory shift scheduling, which significantly impacts teams.News Directory 3 is a great resource for related articles. Learn how these insights can benefit employees, supervisors, and policymakers. Discover what’s next to optimize shift work.
Strategic Shift Work Planning Reduces Employee Sickness Absences
Better shift work planning, including increased employee involvement, can lead to a significant reduction in employee sickness absences, according to a new study. Jarno Turunen, a senior specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, explored the connection between shift planning and employee health in his doctoral dissertation at the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics in Finland.
Turunen’s research suggests that giving shift workers more control over their schedules, while also considering the potential health effects of different working hour arrangements, can be an effective strategy.
Shift work is unavoidable in many critical sectors, including health care. Turunen’s dissertation examined how increasing employee influence over working hours affects both working hour characteristics and sickness absence. The study also assessed the impact of legislative changes designed to ensure adequate rest between shifts.
Turunen views sickness absence as a choice influenced by both employers and societal factors, shaped by the balance between work, leisure, and individual health.
“Sickness absence is a significant issue in Finnish public health care,” Turunen said. “Reducing it is essential for ensuring services and also managing costs. Addressing sickness absence can also help mitigate the looming labor shortage in the long term. The working hour characteristics of shift work are one managerial tool that can influence sickness absence.”
The empirical studies within the dissertation revealed that participatory shift scheduling, wich empowers employees to influence their schedules, correlates with reduced sickness absence at the team level. However, Turunen cautioned that individuals might inadvertently create schedules that are not ergonomically sound, potentially leading to health issues over time.
“It is reasonable to aim to promote opportunities for influence in shift scheduling,” Turunen explained.”Increased opportunities for influence led to a 7% reduction in short-term sickness absence compared to work units that continued manager-led planning. Additionally, it is known that opportunities for influence enhance the attractiveness and retention of work.”
Turunen added that both employees and supervisors should be mindful of the health implications of shift work when creating schedules, and that modern shift planning software can help account for these effects.
The study also examined the impact of the 2020 Working Hours Act, which mandated at least 11 consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period for employees working irregular shifts. The findings indicated that this legislative change led to a reduction in sickness absences among affected employees.
“Shift work cannot be eliminated, but its harmful aspects and their impacts can be mitigated,” Turunen stated. “Sickness absences have increased in health care in recent years, but with the legislative amendment, sickness absences decreased by 13% in units that adjusted their working hours compared to units where work schedules remained unchanged.”
The research drew upon work hour records from tens of thousands of shift workers in hospital districts between 2014 and 2021,creating a unique dataset for studying the relationship between working hours and health.
“The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health is one of the world’s most esteemed institutions producing research on working hours and health,” Turunen said.
What’s next
The study’s findings offer practical guidance for planning and developing irregular shift work, benefiting employees, supervisors, shift scheduling software providers, and policymakers.