Beyond the Hype: (How) Are Work Regimes Associated with Job Burnout?

Abstract

Job burnout affects countless workers and constitutes a major issue in working life. Prevention strategies such as offering part-time options and shorter working weeks have been widely advocated to address this issue. However, the relationship between shorter work regimes and burnout risk has not yet been investigated across diverse working populations applying validated measures and frameworks for job burnout. Building on the most recent operationalisation of job burnout and the seminal job demands–resources theory, the purpose of the current study is to investigate whether shorter work regimes are associated with lower burnout risk and whether the job demands–resources explain this association. To this end, a heterogenous sample of 1006 employees representative for age and gender completed the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) and Workplace Stressors Assessment Questionnaire (WSAQ). Our mediation analyses yield a very small but significant indirect association between work regimes and burnout risk through job demands, but no significant total or direct association between work regimes and burnout risk. Our result suggests that employees in shorter work regimes experience slightly fewer job demands, but are equally prone to developing burnout as their full-time counterparts. The latter finding raises concerns about the sustainability of burnout prevention that focuses on mere work regimes instead of the root causes of burnout.

Working time reduction, mental health, and early retirement among part-time teachers at German upper secondary schools - a cross-sectional study

“…Overall, the lower workload for part-time teachers does not appear to result in a health benefit. This finding is consistent with results from earlier teacher studies by Unterbrink et al ( 70 ) and is currently supported by studies by Bodendieck et al ( 71 ) and Du Bois et al ( 72 ), in which the relation between reduced working hours and the risk of burnout was examined in other occupational groups. From this it can be deduced that the protection of mental health and in particular the prevention of burnout requires more than a reduction in working hours.…”

Determinants That Influence The Performance of Employees in The Labor Sector

“…Low self-control is characterized by individuals who tend to have a "here and now" orientation. One factor that can influence cyberloafing behavior is self-control [30], [50]. H2: Self-control has a negative influence on Cyberloafing Behavior.…”

Burnout through the Lenses of Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Disabled People: A Scoping Review

“…Burnout prevention takes into account the different realities of groups [118]; the need for increased training, mentorship, peer support, supervision, organizational culture, and interdisciplinary licensure efforts [18]; the interaction between personal and situational factors [15]; sex differences in how individuals respond to work-related stress [119]; and the need to increase a sense of belonging [120]. Burnout preventions deal with the root causes of burnout [121]; individual vulnerability and situational stressors [122]; self-initiated efforts focusing on resources and demands in the workplace, home, and personal domain [123]; and improvement of organizational culture [111]. Burnout prevention should start before burnout impacts the person [124].…”

“…Emens wrote about the extra work a disabled person has to do-what Emens calls life admin, discrimination admin, and disability admin [82]-that impacts one's reality at the workplace. Concerning the notion of dealing with the root causes of burnout [121], many studies need to be performed with disabled people to provide evidence as to what the root causes actually are. With existing evidence and a high-level of literacy, one can start to rectify a burnout situation before burnout impacts the person [124].…”