Poor appraisals of managers and their leadership styles were associated with high levels of musculoskeletal pain among both female and male subordinates in different public service sectors. There is therefore a great need of further studies of the mechanisms behind the relationships between the leadership styles and their impact on health among the genders.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between number of working hours, the level of perceived physical strain, work-home interface and musculoskeletal pain and fatigue among women and men employed in the public sector. Cross-sectional data from 1,180 employees (86% women) in 49 public workplaces in 2002-2003 were analyzed. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as measures of the associations. The analyses showed differences as well as similarities between women and men. Overall the women reported higher levels of perceived physical strain relative to total workload. A high level of physical strain was strongly associated with musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. Nevertheless, no detrimental effects were observed on health of high total working hours which indicates that a large number of total working hours might be balanced by accompanying multiple roles or many responsibilities and therefore not be generally regarded as risk factors for ill health.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to explore potential health-promoting work factors and theirspecific associations with self-rated general and mental health, life satisfaction, and low levels ofmusculoskeletal pain among women and men employed in the public sector.Methods: A questionnaire based survey was conducted among 2523 public employees (87% women) in 124work places. The workplaces were distributed between five occupational sectors: the provincial hospital,schools, home care services, domestic/catering, and administrative services. The response rate was 92%.Analyses of variance were used to compare the mean scores of the groups. Spearman’s rank correlation testwas used to assess the associations between the work factors and the health measures.Results: Many of the potential health promoting work factors were associated with the measures of self-ratedhealth. However the correlations differed according to both gender and occupational sector. The maindifferences between the sectors were the characteristics of decision latitude-influence and learning-development with the best conditions in the administrative services and schools, and the worst in home careservices. Men rated higher in decision latitude-influence than women and had significantly better“opportunities to learn new and to develop in the profession”. Having enough time to complete the worktasks had the highest overall correlation with good health. In addition good relations with and support ofsupervisors were crucial for well-being among the employees.Conclusions: The results highlight the importance of high levels of decision latitude-influence, learning-development, and a fair and impartial attitude among supervisors for the promotion of good health in publicwork places.