Bridging the Gap details the role, lessons, and effectiveness of community health workers (CHWs) in bringing health care to underserved immigrant communities. Combining education, advocacy, and local ...cultural acumen, CHWs have proven successful in New York City and abroad, improving community health and establishing an evidence base for how CHW programs can work for immigrants.
Workplace experiences that threaten the affective well-being of child welfare workers pose a hazard to child protection organizations as a whole. This study tests a series of proposed ...interrelationships of workplace demands and resources as predictors of burnout development and the subsequent impact of burnout on affective worker well-being (e.g. job satisfaction) using longitudinal data collected from a sample of public child welfare workers. This study uses multi-group path models to test hypotheses about the temporal order of the relationships between work demands and resources, burnout, and job satisfaction. The hypothesized models were tested individually by social support in the workplace and specialized child welfare training. The overall theory-driven conceptual model tested performed as was hypothesized with some noteworthy exceptions. Findings from the multi-group path models suggest that the type and level of job resource moderate the relationship between job demands, burnout and job satisfaction. Job demands had diverging effects on several relationships in the model with the exception of two relationships. The relationships between emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction were consistent across all groups and models. This finding suggests that regardless of social support and specialized training, emotional exhaustion is positively related to depersonalization and negatively related to job satisfaction. All models demonstrated good model fit. This article describes the implications of study findings on future research and workforce management practices in child welfare organizations.
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•We model the interrelationships between job demands, burnout, and job satisfaction using a series of multi-group path models.•We test the moderating effect of supervisory support and specialized child welfare training on burnout and job satisfaction.•Emotional exhaustion decreased job satisfaction.•Social support and specialized child welfare training moderated the relationship between job burnout and job satisfaction.
•Foreign-born workers were less likely to make a repeat claim than native workers.•Foreign-born workers were generally less likely to have time off work.•The time interval of repeat claims was ...shorter in foreign-born workers.•Repeat claims indicates room for improvement to reduce work-related injuries.
Several studies have explored the factors associated with repeat workers’ compensation claims, however, none investigated the impact of migration status on repeat claims among injured workers. Using South Australian workers’ compensation claims data from 2000 to 2014, generalized estimating equation models were used to compare the differences in repeat claims between foreign-born workers (FBW) and Australian-born workers. Time intervals between repeat claims, compensation costs, and working days lost by region of birth, as well as the change of severity between repeat claims were examined. Amongst 464,596 accepted compensation claims, repeat claims for FBW (50.5%) was lower than that of Australian-born workers (57.4%, incidence-rate ratio, IRR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.82–0.84). However, region-specific analysis showed that European-born migrant workers were 19% more likely to make repeat claims than Australian-born workers (IRR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.17–1.22), including burns, digestive diseases, fractures, infectious diseases, mental disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, and skin injuries. The time interval between repeat claims was shorter for FBW compared to Australian-born workers and compensation payments of repeat claims were higher. Regardless of birth region, time intervals between repeat claims showed a decreasing temporal trend, while it was the opposite in terms of injury severity. Foreign-born workers were generally less likely to make a repeat claim than Australian-born workers, but with birth region differences. This may be attributable to underreporting from some workers. Foreign-born workers were generally less likely to have time off work but the overall costs were higher. These differences should be considered in future injury prevention strategies.
This paper investigates the impact of a corporate wellness program on worker productivity using a panel of objective health and productivity data from 111 workers in five laundry plants. Although ...almost 90% of companies use wellness programs, existing research has focused on cost savings from insurance and absenteeism. We find productivity improvements based both on program participation and postprogram health changes. Sick and healthy individuals who improved their health increased productivity by about 10%, with surveys indicating sources in improved diet and exercise. Although the small worker sample limits both estimate precision and our ability to isolate mechanisms behind this increase, we argue that our results are consistent with improved worker motivation and capability. The study suggests that firms can increase operational productivity through socially responsible health policies that improve both workers’ wellness and economic value, and provides a template for future large-scale studies of health and productivity.
The online appendix is available at
https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2883
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This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management.
•Employers and unions report different views on OSH related to undeclared work.•Widespread precarity and OSH challenges in construction, transport, and cleaning.•Power resources influence unions' ...activism on OSH in undeclared work.•Unions face cultural and institutional barriers addressing OSH in undeclared work.•Unions advocate for enhanced cooperation and language barrier breakdown.
Little is known about the experiences of the social partners in helping undeclared workers resist Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) issues. This study draws upon Walter Korpi’s ‘power resource theory’ to gain a deeper understanding of how power resources within the construction, transport, and cleaning sectors influence the ability of social partners to respond to OSH issues related to undeclared work.
This mixed-method study uses survey data from employer representatives in the construction (n = 686) and transport (n = 650) sectors in Sweden in 2019 to estimate the nature and magnitude of undeclared work-related problems. To also study the view of union representatives, a duplicate survey was sent to union representatives in the transport, construction, and cleaning sectors (n = 57) in 2020, followed by 13 semi-structured interviews with Regional Safety Representatives (RSRs) in 2021–2023. Our findings show that employer representatives in construction and transport reported that the violation of OSH regulations was uncommon and remained unchanged, most union representatives said the opposite. We found a gradient of activism among the unions towards OSH issues related to undeclared work dependent on their power resources. Furthermore, structural and organizational factors limited the RSRs’ ability to address undeclared work. The RSRs identified strategies to tackle OSH issues related to undeclared work in their sectors, these included but were not limited to, dismantling the language barrier between unions and undeclared foreign-born workers, for OSH coordinators and main contractors to be held responsible for OSH violations and greater cooperation between the relevant authorities dealing with undeclared work.
Hotel housekeepers are exposed to stressors at work and outside of work. A minimal amount is known about these workers' pathophysiological responses to those stressors. Allostatic load is a concept ...increasingly used to understand pathophysiologic manifestations of individuals' bodily response to stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between work and nonwork stressors, allostatic load, and health outcomes among hotel housekeepers. Work and nonwork stressors (e.g., the number of traumatic events, everyday discrimination, and job strain) and health outcomes (e.g., general health status, physical and mental health, and chronic diseases) were measured. Biometric and anthropometric measures and fasting blood specimens were collected. Blood biomarkers included CRP, HbA1c, HDL, and cortisol. Descriptive analyses, correlations, regressions, and t-tests were conducted. Forty-nine women hotel housekeepers participated, with a mean age of 40 years. One-fifth reported high job strain and more than 40% had at least one traumatic event. Chronic conditions were commonly reported, with about 78%, 55%, and 35% reporting one, two, and three chronic conditions, respectively. Correlation analyses showed that reports of high job strain and everyday discrimination were significantly associated with high ALI quartile score (r = 0.39, p = 0.011; r = 0.41, p = 0.004). Job strain and everyday discrimination had medium to large effect sizes on ALI quartile scores. High ALI quartile score was significantly associated with having at least one chronic disease (r = 0.40, p = 0.005), and it had a large effect size on chronic diseases. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore allostatic load among hotel housekeepers. Hotel housekeepers have high exposure to stressors within and outside of their work and experience poor chronic conditions. Allostatic load had strong associations with both stressors and health outcomes. Despite this worker group being a hard-to-reach worker group to participate in research studies, this study demonstrates the feasibility of accessing, recruiting and collecting survey data and blood samples among them to determine health risks and guide future targeted interventions.
PurposeThe productivity of knowledge workers is crucial not only for organizational innovation and competitiveness but also for sustainable development. In the context of knowledge-intensive firms, ...implementation of knowledge management is likely to increase knowledge worker productivity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of knowledge management on knowledge worker productivity.Design/methodology/approachA research framework on the effects of knowledge management processes on knowledge worker productivity is established and empirically tested with data from 336 knowledge workers at five mobile network operator companies in Pakistan.FindingsThe results indicate that knowledge creation and knowledge utilization impact knowledge worker productivity positively and statistically significantly. However, knowledge sharing does not have statistically significant impact on knowledge worker productivity. Demographic factors (gender, managerial position and formal education level) do not moderate the relationship between knowledge management and knowledge worker productivity statistically significantly.Research limitations/implicationsThe key limitations are the cross-sectional nature of the data and the geographic limitation to telecom companies in Pakistan.Practical implicationsIrrespective of gender, education and managerial position, implementation of knowledge management can increase knowledge worker productivity. Therefore, knowledge management practices should be implemented to enhance the knowledge worker productivity via fostering the knowledge worker’s engagement in and propensity to knowledge management processes.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to examine the likely influence of knowledge management on the productivity of knowledge workers conclusively while controlling for three individual demographic factors. This study also addresses the effectiveness of knowledge management in the little-explored cultural context of Pakistan.
Aims and objectives
To identify common catalysts of worker‐to‐worker violence and incivility in hospital settings.
Background
Worker‐to‐worker violence and incivility are prevalent forms of ...mistreatment in healthcare workplaces. These are forms of counterproductive work behaviour that can lead to negative outcomes for employees, patients and the organisation overall. Identifying the factors that lead to co‐worker mistreatment is a critical first step in the development of interventions targeting these behaviours.
Design
Retrospective descriptive study.
Methods
Qualitative content analysis was conducted on the total sample (n = 141) of employee incident reports of worker‐to‐worker violence and incivility that were documented in 2011 at a large American hospital system.
Results
More than 50% of the incidents involved nurses, and the majority of incidents did not involve physical violence. Two primary themes emerged from the analysis: Work Behaviour and Work Organisation. Incidents in the Work Behaviour category were often sparked by unprofessional behaviour, disagreement over responsibilities for work tasks or methods of patient care, and dissatisfaction with a co‐worker's performance. Incidents in the Work Organisation category involved conflicts or aggression arising from failure to following protocol, patient assignments, limited resources and high workload.
Conclusion
Incidents of worker‐to‐worker violence and incivility stemmed from dissatisfaction with employee behaviour or from organisational practices or work constraints. These incident descriptions reflect worker dissatisfaction and frustration, resulting from poor communication and collaboration between employees, all of which threaten work productivity.
Relevance to clinical practice
Violence and incivility between hospital employees can contribute to turnover of top performers, hinder effective teamwork and jeopardise the quality of patient care. Identification of common catalysts for worker‐to‐worker violence and incivility informs the development of mistreatment prevention programmes that can be used to educate hospital staff.
This study examines worker displacement from the job task framework in which tasks performed by workers interact with information technology in different ways and therefore can potentially lead to ...worker displacement. It also investigates what kinds of skills are more helpful for reemployment in today's increasingly computerized workplaces. It utilizes seven US displaced worker supplement surveys from 1998 to 2010 to investigate these issues at individual worker level. The results show that employees performing routine tasks at workplaces are more likely to be displaced, while those performing abstract and service tasks are less likely to be displaced. It also finds that information technology can be both upskilling and deskilling, depending on the kinds of jobs performed by workers.
Following years of declining labour activism, militant forms of worker mobilization have recently emerged in the Italian platform economy and logistics sector, exhibiting novel forms of organization ...and action repertoires. This article investigates two cases which have been ongoing since 2011, namely mobilizations by logistics porters and food delivery couriers. Both cases seem puzzling since workers have mobilized under circumstances normally associated with non-mobilization, meaning workplaces characterized by technological innovation and absent or ineffective trade unions. How have these mobilizations occurred? We argue that these workers successfully overcame such circumstances by relying on resources and opportunities related to their workplace and external to it, which they have been able to create and develop over several years. We gathered data from semi-structured interviews with workers, union representatives and lawyers, and participated at political meetings, strikes and protest events in four Italian cities between 2018 and 2019.
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