Lecture 1: Challenges in work, health and wellbeing
What is work?
Paid and unpaid work/ labour -> course focus on productive paid work within organizations.
- Productive versus reproductive/subsistence labour.
- Whether work is paid or unpaid may differ across time and place (e.g., childcare,
elderly care.)
Jobs
When we talk about people’s ‘work’, we tend to talk about their jobs: situated descriptions
of employment, that take into account where and how work is actually performed (Ahonen et
al. 2018).
Elements of jobs are employment relationship, occupation, working conditions, and job
characteristics. All of these are the realities when we talk about jobs. Work can also help you
know who you are.
Pro- work/ Anti- work-> does work have a value for you? Do you only work for money?
• Commodification of labor (Karl Marx): work was often hard, dirty, and dangerous in
the early days. Factory work with machines. It put you in situation that risked your
health -> standard work back in the days.
• Work- centered societies: today we live in a work- centered societies. We see work
as something good for you. For your growth, something that’s positive and that you
need.
• Anti- work: Born to live, forced to work? There’s currently a growing movement that
sees itself as the anti- work movement.
Health and well- being
Health and well- being are adjacent concepts. They often overlap. Team them together.
Well- being: The combination of feeling good and functioning well; the experience of positive
emotions such as happiness and contentment as well as the development of one’s potential,
having some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose, and experiencing positive
relationships (Huppert, 2009).
Health: Not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being (World Health Organization).
Work affects health and wellbeing in complex, reciprocal, heterogeneous ways (Landsbergis
et al., 2018; Ahonen et al.,2018) -> Work is an important boost for people’s wellbeing and
health (so it’s good for you). BUT work is also a major cause of illness and injury (so it’s also
bad for you). It’s both good and bad for you at the same time -> complex. Reciprocal: they
affect each other. Heterogenous: it’s not the same for everyone.
Job rewards/ resources
Positive impacts of jobs on wellbeing and health: job rewards, job resources
• Wellbeing rewards of employment include income, social status, identity, and social
networks.
,• Health rewards of employment include better self-reported physical and mental health,
psycho-social resources, and health insurances & benefits.
Job demands or risks
Job demands are stressors or risks: negative effects of jobs on health and wellbeing.
Work related health problems are common.
Unequal exposure to wellbeing benefits and risks.
• Labour markets are unequal institutions: effects of health and well- being are
different depending on what kind of job you do
- Social/ occupational class theory.
- labour market segmentation; insider/ outsider theories.
• Paid work or workers is often subdivided into segments
Inequalities in wellbeing & rewards
Labour market inequalities are related to for example: earnings, contract status & job
security, entitlement to paid leave, and autonomy and authority. But also, exposure to
health risks and benefits.
Unequal exposure to physical health risks
Occupational health disparities: Different jobs pose different physical and mental health
demands/risks (e.g., exposure to hazards, repetitive overuse, working conditions, stress)
Some jobs expose workers to more risks than others.
There are common physical health risks at work, such as tiring and painful positions and
handling of heavy loads. There are also mental health risk factors, such as time pressure or
overload of work and job insecurity.
è It matters where you work, what kind of risk factors you’re exposed to and what kind
of benefits you get from the work.
Take away messages
In our current societies ‘paid work’ takes on moral value (and this morality may be
criticized). The relation between work, health and wellbeing is complex, reciprocal and
heterogenous. Different jobs are associated with different exposure to physical and psycho-
social demands and resources.
Lecture 2: Work as a health risk
The shades of bad health are illness (first person perspective, how you feel, personal
experience even without diagnoses), disease, disorder (professional perspective, medical
diagnoses), and sickness (societal perspective, social consequences -> focus of this course).
When more employees get sick there’s more sick leave and absenteeism, lower job
satisfaction & wellbeing, lower productivity, and higher turnover intentions.
Work, health, wellbeing has a reciprocal relation: not all sickness at work is caused by work.
Example: Covid. And not all sickness is caused by disease. Chronic illness can be caused by
, work as well as outside of work, in which case it still needs to be managed at work to avoid
sickness. Managing disease & illness at work is an issue that comes back in this course.
Regulating occupational health risks
• Occupational hazard: “Any potential source that cause injury or damage to the health
of a worker” (c.f. Afolabi et al., 2021).
• Health regulations and occupational health and safety (OSH)- Employers responsible
under Arbowet.
• “OSH generally utilizes a reductionist approach to isolate and address single,
proximate factors that “cause” an injury or illness (Flynn et al 2022).
è Mapping workplace hazards, example NL: aan de slag met de RI&E.
Activities, behavior, and sickness
OSH risks flow from expected activities/ behaviors at work – physical, mental, emotional
(Wharton). It has a relation with health and wellbeing- physical + psycho- social demands &
resources (Ahonen et al.)
Bio- physical labor
Physical/manual work is heavy on the body such as workplace injuries, repetitive overuse.
There’re expected activities and behaviors at work, such as lifting objects/ persons, kneeling
and other uncomfortable positions, working with chemicals, and staring at screens. These
can cause health & wellbeing risks, such as back pain, fall from height (window washers),
chemicals (incl hairdressers). Research on Helsinki City workers showed that workers with
higher exposure to heavy physical activities (lifting) are more likely to be on disability
pensions 10 years later.
Psycho/ mental
Work can expose workers to mental health stressors. Stress can stem from, among other
things (Eurostat, 2020)
• Workload: time pressure, responsibility
• Dealing with clients, pupils, patients (c.f. emotional labor).
• Work organization: job insecurity,
• Organizational culture: feeling underappreciated, discrimination.
- Class, gender & race: In EU27, women report greater exposure than men (except
Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Switzerland).
Social demands and stressors
Social interactions at work: interactions, workplace cultures, discrimination, and group
dynamics. Role or time- based conflicts between work and non- work activities: work- family
and work-life.
Emotional labor
Emotional labor refers to the process by which workers are expected to manage their
feelings in accordance with organizationally defined rules and guidelines (Hochschild, 1983).
Expected behavior at work: regulation of own emotions/ keep check on your emotions. Self-
control. And dealing with emotions of others. Job descriptions/tasks can include things like
‘service with a smile’. Emotional labour is work where part of the employee’s job is to
What is work?
Paid and unpaid work/ labour -> course focus on productive paid work within organizations.
- Productive versus reproductive/subsistence labour.
- Whether work is paid or unpaid may differ across time and place (e.g., childcare,
elderly care.)
Jobs
When we talk about people’s ‘work’, we tend to talk about their jobs: situated descriptions
of employment, that take into account where and how work is actually performed (Ahonen et
al. 2018).
Elements of jobs are employment relationship, occupation, working conditions, and job
characteristics. All of these are the realities when we talk about jobs. Work can also help you
know who you are.
Pro- work/ Anti- work-> does work have a value for you? Do you only work for money?
• Commodification of labor (Karl Marx): work was often hard, dirty, and dangerous in
the early days. Factory work with machines. It put you in situation that risked your
health -> standard work back in the days.
• Work- centered societies: today we live in a work- centered societies. We see work
as something good for you. For your growth, something that’s positive and that you
need.
• Anti- work: Born to live, forced to work? There’s currently a growing movement that
sees itself as the anti- work movement.
Health and well- being
Health and well- being are adjacent concepts. They often overlap. Team them together.
Well- being: The combination of feeling good and functioning well; the experience of positive
emotions such as happiness and contentment as well as the development of one’s potential,
having some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose, and experiencing positive
relationships (Huppert, 2009).
Health: Not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being (World Health Organization).
Work affects health and wellbeing in complex, reciprocal, heterogeneous ways (Landsbergis
et al., 2018; Ahonen et al.,2018) -> Work is an important boost for people’s wellbeing and
health (so it’s good for you). BUT work is also a major cause of illness and injury (so it’s also
bad for you). It’s both good and bad for you at the same time -> complex. Reciprocal: they
affect each other. Heterogenous: it’s not the same for everyone.
Job rewards/ resources
Positive impacts of jobs on wellbeing and health: job rewards, job resources
• Wellbeing rewards of employment include income, social status, identity, and social
networks.
,• Health rewards of employment include better self-reported physical and mental health,
psycho-social resources, and health insurances & benefits.
Job demands or risks
Job demands are stressors or risks: negative effects of jobs on health and wellbeing.
Work related health problems are common.
Unequal exposure to wellbeing benefits and risks.
• Labour markets are unequal institutions: effects of health and well- being are
different depending on what kind of job you do
- Social/ occupational class theory.
- labour market segmentation; insider/ outsider theories.
• Paid work or workers is often subdivided into segments
Inequalities in wellbeing & rewards
Labour market inequalities are related to for example: earnings, contract status & job
security, entitlement to paid leave, and autonomy and authority. But also, exposure to
health risks and benefits.
Unequal exposure to physical health risks
Occupational health disparities: Different jobs pose different physical and mental health
demands/risks (e.g., exposure to hazards, repetitive overuse, working conditions, stress)
Some jobs expose workers to more risks than others.
There are common physical health risks at work, such as tiring and painful positions and
handling of heavy loads. There are also mental health risk factors, such as time pressure or
overload of work and job insecurity.
è It matters where you work, what kind of risk factors you’re exposed to and what kind
of benefits you get from the work.
Take away messages
In our current societies ‘paid work’ takes on moral value (and this morality may be
criticized). The relation between work, health and wellbeing is complex, reciprocal and
heterogenous. Different jobs are associated with different exposure to physical and psycho-
social demands and resources.
Lecture 2: Work as a health risk
The shades of bad health are illness (first person perspective, how you feel, personal
experience even without diagnoses), disease, disorder (professional perspective, medical
diagnoses), and sickness (societal perspective, social consequences -> focus of this course).
When more employees get sick there’s more sick leave and absenteeism, lower job
satisfaction & wellbeing, lower productivity, and higher turnover intentions.
Work, health, wellbeing has a reciprocal relation: not all sickness at work is caused by work.
Example: Covid. And not all sickness is caused by disease. Chronic illness can be caused by
, work as well as outside of work, in which case it still needs to be managed at work to avoid
sickness. Managing disease & illness at work is an issue that comes back in this course.
Regulating occupational health risks
• Occupational hazard: “Any potential source that cause injury or damage to the health
of a worker” (c.f. Afolabi et al., 2021).
• Health regulations and occupational health and safety (OSH)- Employers responsible
under Arbowet.
• “OSH generally utilizes a reductionist approach to isolate and address single,
proximate factors that “cause” an injury or illness (Flynn et al 2022).
è Mapping workplace hazards, example NL: aan de slag met de RI&E.
Activities, behavior, and sickness
OSH risks flow from expected activities/ behaviors at work – physical, mental, emotional
(Wharton). It has a relation with health and wellbeing- physical + psycho- social demands &
resources (Ahonen et al.)
Bio- physical labor
Physical/manual work is heavy on the body such as workplace injuries, repetitive overuse.
There’re expected activities and behaviors at work, such as lifting objects/ persons, kneeling
and other uncomfortable positions, working with chemicals, and staring at screens. These
can cause health & wellbeing risks, such as back pain, fall from height (window washers),
chemicals (incl hairdressers). Research on Helsinki City workers showed that workers with
higher exposure to heavy physical activities (lifting) are more likely to be on disability
pensions 10 years later.
Psycho/ mental
Work can expose workers to mental health stressors. Stress can stem from, among other
things (Eurostat, 2020)
• Workload: time pressure, responsibility
• Dealing with clients, pupils, patients (c.f. emotional labor).
• Work organization: job insecurity,
• Organizational culture: feeling underappreciated, discrimination.
- Class, gender & race: In EU27, women report greater exposure than men (except
Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Switzerland).
Social demands and stressors
Social interactions at work: interactions, workplace cultures, discrimination, and group
dynamics. Role or time- based conflicts between work and non- work activities: work- family
and work-life.
Emotional labor
Emotional labor refers to the process by which workers are expected to manage their
feelings in accordance with organizationally defined rules and guidelines (Hochschild, 1983).
Expected behavior at work: regulation of own emotions/ keep check on your emotions. Self-
control. And dealing with emotions of others. Job descriptions/tasks can include things like
‘service with a smile’. Emotional labour is work where part of the employee’s job is to
