Sickness benefit cuts mainly affect blue-collar workers

Aaviksoo, Evelyn; Ra, Kiivet

doi:10.1177/1403494814538559

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…As shown in Online Appendix Table , most studies evaluated the immediate impact of sick leave and medical leave policies on policy uptake and personal absences from work. This research generally showed that personal sick leave was responsive to changes in policy, with laws that restricted eligibility or benefits typically associated with reductions in mostly short‐term leave‐taking behavior, and vice versa …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The simplest strategy for addressing unmeasured differences between countries that might affect whether or not a country adopts a particular policy, as well as the outcome of interest, is to compare outcomes before and after the implementation of a policy within a treated country. This before‐and‐after or pre‐post design was commonly used to evaluate leave policies . The validity of the pre‐post comparison depends on the assumption that pre‐reform outcome trends are a valid substitute for trends in the post‐policy period had the policy not been implemented.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the extent that other factors may have changed coincidentally with the policy itself, this strategy might not yield rigorous evidence of a policy effect. For example, the 2009 Estonian reform to sickness benefits was implemented in response to a recession, which may have had an independent effect on the primary outcome, sickness absence, potentially confounding effects estimates . When longer time series were available, studies sometimes incorporated more sophisticated interrupted time series methods to model the counterfactual trend for what would have happened after the implementation of a policy had it not been implemented.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

et al. 2018

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Historically, reforms that have increased the duration of job‐protected paid parental leave have improved women's economic outcomes. By targeting the period around childbirth, access to paid parental leave also appears to reduce rates of infant mortality, with breastfeeding representing one potential mechanism. The provision of more generous paid leave entitlements in countries that offer unpaid or short durations of paid leave could help families strike a balance between the competing demands of earning income and attending to personal and family well‐being. Context Policies legislating paid leave from work for new parents, and to attend to individual and family illness, are common across Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries. However, there exists no comprehensive review of their potential impacts on economic, social, and health outcomes. Methods We conducted a systematic review of the peer‐reviewed literature on paid leave and socioeconomic and health outcomes. We reviewed 5,538 abstracts and selected 85 published papers on the impact of parental leave policies, 22 papers on the impact of medical leave policies, and 2 papers that evaluated both types of policies. We synthesized the main findings through a narrative description; a meta‐analysis was precluded by heterogeneity in policy attributes, policy changes, outcomes, and study designs. Findings We were able to draw several conclusions about the impact of parental leave policies. First, extensions in the duration of paid parental leave to between 6 and 12 months were accompanied by attendant increases in leave‐taking and longer durations of leave. Second, there was little evidence that extending the duration of paid leave had negative employment or economic consequences. Third, unpaid leave does not appear to confer the same benefits as paid leave. Fourth, from a population health perspective, increases in paid parental leave were consistently associated with better infant and child health, particularly in terms of lower mortality rates. Fifth, paid paternal leave policies of adequate length and generosity have induced fathers to take additional time off from work following the birth of a child. How medical leave policies for personal or family illness influence health has not been widely studied. Conclusions There is substantial quasi‐experimental evidence to support expansions in the duration of job‐protected paid parental leave as an instrument for supporting women's labor force participation, safeguarding women's incomes and earnings, and improving child survival. This has implications, in particular, for countries that offer shorter durations of job‐protected paid leave or lack a national paid leave entitlement altogether.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

et al. 2018

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“…The motivation to return to work and at the same time the effects of cardiac rehabilitation may be different according to the type of work. Some authors proved that lower income may hinder the use of sick leave by blue-collar employees as these employees are most vulnerable to the loss of income [11]. This factor, but also social and sickness benefits from the illness, can bias the effects of HCR.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of professional status on the effects of and adherence to the outpatient followed by home-based telemonitored cardiac rehabilitation in patients referred by a social insurance institution

Szalewska¹,

Niedoszytko²,

Gierat-Haponiuk³

2015

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: Legislators and policymakers have expressed strong interest in intervention programs to reduce dependence on social disability benefits. Hybrid: ambulatory followed by home-based cardiac telerehabilitation -hybrid cardiac rehabilitation (HCR) seems to be a novel alternative for standard cardiac rehabilitation for patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as a form of pension prevention paid by the Social Insurance Institution (SII). The kind of professional status may bias the motivation to return to work after HCR. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether the professional status can affect the effects of HCR. Material and Methods: One hundred fifty-two patients with CVD referred by the SII for a 5-week HCR were qualified for the study. Patients (87.7% males), aged 57.31±5.61 years, were divided into 2 subgroups: W) white-collar employees (N = 22) and B) blue-collar employees (N = 130). To evaluate functional capacity, an exercise test on a treadmill was used. Results: The number of days of absence in the cardiac rehabilitation program did not differ between the groups (mean ± standard deviation -B: 1.09±3.10 days, W: 1.95±3.64 days). There were significant improvements (p < 0.05) in measured variables after HCR in both (W and B) groups (max workload: 8.21±2.88 METs (measured in metabolic equivalents) vs. 9.6±2.49 METs, 7.76±2.51 METs vs. 8.73±2.7 METs, resting heart rate (RHR): 77±16.22 bpm vs. 69.94±12.93 bpm, 79.59±14 bpm vs. 75.24±11.87 bpm; double product, i.e., product of heart rate and systolic BP (DP rest) 10 815.22±2968.24 vs. 9242.94±1923.08, 10 927.62±2508.47 vs. 9929.7±2304.94). In group B, a decrease in systolic blood pressure (BP syst. -137.03±17.14 mm Hg vs. 131.82±21.13 mm Hg), heart rate recovery in the 1st minute after the end of peak exercise (HRR 1 ) (99.38±19.25 vs. 93.9±19.48) and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class (1.22±0.53 vs. 1.11±0.36) was observed. In group W, a decrease in diastolic blood pressure (BP diast.) at rest was observed (88.28±9.79 mm Hg vs. 83.39±8.95 mm Hg). The decrease in resting HR was significantly greater in group W (69.94±12.93 vs. 75.24±11.87, p = 0.034). Conclusions: Hybrid cardiac rehabilitation is feasible and safe with high adherence to the program regardless of the patient's professional status. Professional status did not influence the beneficial effect of HCR on exercise tolerance.

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“…tasks, equipment/tools, and organization), organization safety culture and social context (i.e. labour market, social security systems, national health systems) [5,8,10,[12][13][14]. Several workplace interventions have been implemented in different working populations, including nursing staff, to prevent and reduce MSP and to promote an early return to work after sickness absence, and multifaceted interventions have shown to be more effective than those based on a single component [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process Evaluation of a Complex Workplace Intervention to Prevent Musculoskeletal Pain in Nursing Staff: Results From INTEVAL_Spain.

Soler-Font

Ramada

Merelles

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The nursing staff is an occupational group at high risk of musculoskeletal pain. Scientific evidence has shown that multifaceted interventions are more effective than those based on a single component to prevent musculoskeletal pain. INTEVAL_Spain was a complex workplace intervention to prevent and manage musculoskeletal pain among nursing staff. Objectives: This study performed a process evaluation of INTEVAL_Spain and aimed to examine whether the intervention was conducted according to the protocol, to investigate the fulfilment of expectations and the satisfaction of workers.Methods: The intervention was a two-armed cluster randomized controlled trial and lasted one year. The process evaluation included quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative methods were used to address the indicators of Steckler and Linnan’s framework. Data on recruitment was collected through a baseline questionnaire for the intervention and the control group. Reach and dose received were collected through participation sheets, dose delivered and fidelity through internal registries, and fulfilment of expectations and satisfaction were collected with two questions at 12-months follow-up. Qualitative methods were used for a content analysis of discussion groups at the end of the intervention led by an external moderator to explore satisfaction and recommendations. The general communication and activities were discussed, and final recommendations were agreed on. Data were synthesized and results were reported thematically.Results: The study was performed in two Spanish hospitals during 2016-2017 and 257 workers participated. Recruitment was 62% and 51% for the intervention and the control group, respectively. The reach of the activities ranged from 96% for participatory ergonomics to 5% for healthy diet. The number of sessions offered ranged from 60 sessions for Nordic walking to one session for healthy diet. Fidelity of workers ranged from 100% for healthy diet and 79% for participatory ergonomics, to 42% and 39% for Nordic walking and case management, respectively. Lowest fidelity of providers was 75% for case management and 82% for Nordic walking. Fulfilment of expectations and satisfaction ranged from 6.6/10 and 7.6/10, respectively, for case management to 10/10 together for the healthy diet session. Discussion groups revealed several limitations for most of the activities, mainly focused on a lack of communication between the Champion (coordinator) and the workers. Conclusions: This process evaluation showed that the implementation of INTEVAL_Spain was predominantly carried out as intended. Process indicators differed depending on the activity. Several recommendations to improve the intervention implementation process are proposed.Study registration: ISRCTN15780649

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Sickness benefit cuts mainly affect blue-collar workers

Abstract: The cuts in sickness benefits had a major impact on the use of sickness absence by blue-collar employees with low salaries. This indicates that lower income was a major factor hindering the use of sick leave as these employees are most vulnerable to the loss of income.

Cited by 8 publications

References 22 publications

The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

The impact of professional status on the effects of and adherence to the outpatient followed by home-based telemonitored cardiac rehabilitation in patients referred by a social insurance institution

Process Evaluation of a Complex Workplace Intervention to Prevent Musculoskeletal Pain in Nursing Staff: Results From INTEVAL_Spain.

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