Presented in "How does policy get under the skin", Barcelona, 2 of july 2015.

1. Barcelona, July 1-3 2015
Precarious employment, employment quality
and workers’ health and well-being
Christophe Vanroelen
cvroelen@vub.ac.be
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015 1

2. Conceptual framework
Background
determinants
INDIVIDUAL
CHARACTERISTICS
a.o. age, sex, personality
factors, health status, ...
ORGANISATIONAL
CHARACTERISTICS
a.o. rationalisations,
management styles,
worker participation, ...
FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS
e.g. composition, division
of work, resources, ...
MACRO CHARACTERISTICS
e.g. economic crisis, labour
market regulation, welfare
state provisions
2
Health, Motivation,
Career progression,
Work-Family Conflict, ...
Quality of Work
Physical demands
(heavy work, static load, repetitive
movements, …)
Psychological demands
(pace, quantity of work, disruptions,
emotional demands, ...)
Employment relations
(Co-worker/sup. support, unwanted
social relations, participation, ...)
Job content
(Completeness; Variability; Autonomy;
organisation of tasks, ...)
Employment conditions
(Rewards, opportunities, working
hours, benefits and protection)
Work sustainability
Leaving employment
Health damage
...
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

3. EQUALSOC 2012
3
Employment quality/ precarious work as a
multidimensional concept (not a dichotomy):
– Employment (in)stability
– (Low) material rewards
– Workers’ rights and benefits
– Collective disorganisation
– (Imbalanced) interpersonal power relations
– (De)standardisation of working times
– (Limited) employability opportunities
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

4. Employment quality in the EWCS
• EWCS_2010:
– http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/european-working-conditions-
surveys-ewcs
– Employees; all ages; men & women; all countries (N = 34,865);
– 13 indicators of employment quality;
• Typological approach towards employment quality:
– Latent Class Cluster Analysis
– Reorganization of all respondents in empirical ideal types of
employment
• Outcome Indicators of health and workers’ well-being:
– Health: health at risk; self-perceived general health;
– Well-being: work-private balance, able to remain in employment;
– Motivation: job satisfaction; learning opportunities;
– Self-perceived job insecurity;
44How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

5. Employment (in)stability
(Low) material rewards
(Erosion) of workers’ rights and social
protection
(De-)standardisation of working times
(Limited) employability opportunities
Collective (dis)organisation
(Imbalanced) interpersonal power
relations
No permanent contract
Low-waged jobs (1qtl); No benefits
Uncompensated non-standard working times;
No OHS information
Long working times (+48h); Irregular schedule;
Unpredictable schedule; Involuntary Part-time
No training offered
No employee representative
Self-determination over schedules;
Communication and participation with
superiors
5
Employment quality in the EWCS (2010)
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

6. Employment Quality: Summed Scale
EQUALSOC 2012
6
Figure 5.3. Mean prevalence of low overall employment quality according to the EWCS
countries.
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

7. Employment Quality: 5 dimensions
EQUALSOC 2012
7How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

8. Standard employment-like jobs (34.8%)
• Similar to the ideal typical standard employment
relation.
• (+) High probability of a stable job, receiving
benefits in nature, having self-determination of
work schedules, dispose of an employee
representative, and get training opportunities.
• Who? More common among men, high
educational level employees, skilled technicians
and professionals, managers, legislators, public
sector employees and big firms.
• Related to other advantageous features such as:
high control and support, low unhealthy and
stressful exposures.
2. European salaried work can be classified in a five-categories
typology of workers:
1. Standard employment-like
jobs
2. Instrumental jobs
3. Portfolio jobs
4. Precarious unsustainable
jobs
5. Precarious intensive jobs
8
Cluster profile
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

9. Instrumental jobs
(29.5%)
• (+) Relatively stable jobs and sustainable
income.
• (-) Few benefits, opportunities for training and
participation and involvement.
• Who? More common among women, clerks,
service workers and industrial sector (among
others).
• They are in more adverse situation with regard
to the most other indicators of quality of work.
1. Standard employment-like
jobs
2. Instrumental jobs
3. Portfolio jobs
4. Precarious unsustainable jobs
5. Precarious intensive jobs
2. European salaried work can be classified in a five-categories
typology of workers:
9
Cluster profile
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

10. Portfolio jobs
(9%)
Highly skilled and flexible upper level of the
labour market
• (+) Overall beneficial employment conditions
and relations.
• (-) Two main exceptions: high levels of work
intensity and uncompensated flexible working
times.
•Who? Men, middle-aged workers, highly
educated workers, legislators, managers and
professionals, employees working in very large
companies and in the industrial or services
sector.
•Beneficial scores on other quality of work
indicators except for unwanted social contacts,
emotional demands and work speed.
1. Standard employment-like
jobs
2. Instrumental jobs
3. Portfolio jobs
4. Precarious unsustainable jobs
5. Precarious intensive jobs
2. European salaried work can be classified in a five-categories
typology of workers:
10
Cluster profile
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

11. Precarious Unsustainable jobs
(10.4 %)
•(-) Overall adverse employment conditions and
relations. High probability of part-time & low
income.
•Who? More common among women, younger
workers, employees with a low educational level,
service workers, elementary occupations and
employees in the service and public
administration sectors, and employees working
alone.
1. Standard employment-like
jobs
2. Instrumental jobs
3. Portfolio jobs
4. Precarious unsustainable
jobs
5. Precarious intensive jobs
2. European salaried work can be classified in a five-categories
typology of workers:
11
Cluster profile
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

12. Precarious Intensive jobs
(16,2 %)
• (-) Full-time employment with the most
adverse scores on the other indicators, specially
work intensity and high flexibility.
•Who? male, younger age, blue collar employed
in the agricultural and industrial sector, service
workers and those working in (very) small
companies.
•Also adverse working conditions and poorer job
contents are characterizing these jobs.
1. Standard employment-like
jobs
2. Instrumental jobs
3. Portfolio jobs
4. Precarious unsustainable
jobs
5. Precarious intensive
jobs
2. European salaried jobs can be classified in a five-categories typology
of workers:
12
Cluster profile
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

13. 0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
CzechRepublic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
FYROM
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UnitedKingdom
Total
Precarious
unsustainable
Portfolio
Precarious
intensive
Instrumental
SER-like
Figure 8. Distribution of prevalence of types of jobs by country in 2010.
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
CzechRepublic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
FYROM
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UnitedKingdom
Total
Precarious
unsustainable
Portfolio
Precarious
intensive
Instrumental
SER-like
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
13
Country distribution
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

14. Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
14
Occupational distribution
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

15. Age-Gender distribution
EQUALSOC 2012
15
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

16. EQUALSOC 2012
16
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
Age-Gender distribution
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

17. 17
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
Perceived job insecurity
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

18. 18
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
Advantageous work-family relation
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

19. 19
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
Self-rated general health
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

20. 20
Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.
Sick leave
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

21. EQUALSOC 2012
21
Prospects for career advancement
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

22. EQUALSOC 2012
22
Stay in same job until retirement age
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

23. EQUALSOC 2012
23
Self-rated general health
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

24. Conclusions
EQUALSOC 2012
24
• Of all work-related health indicators employment
conditions and relations are the least investigated;
• Employment quality is broader than “contract
types”;
• Multidimensional indicators show relationships
with:
– Socio-economic and demographic profiles;
– Other work-related risk factors (e.g. working conditions);
– Motivational, well-being and health outcomes;
– Clear age patterning;
• SER-employment seems to be a “sustainable
standard”
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

25. Challenges
EQUALSOC 2012
25
• Need for broader approach to employment
quality;
• Further refine analyses and indicators;
– More controls;
– Attention in surveys;
• Cross-sectional  mere snap-shots;
– Need to evolve towards longitudinal designs;
– Relative weight of causation and selection;
– Need for intervention studies and natural experiments;
• Meanwhile: be cautious for the consequences of
labour market flexibilisation!
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015

26. Publications
EQUALSOC 2012
26
• Benach, J., Vives, A., Amable, M., Vanroelen, C., Tarafa, G., & Muntaner, C. (2014).
Precarious employment: understanding an emerging social determinant of health.
Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 229–53. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-
032013-182500
• Benach, J., Vanroelen, C., Vives, A., De Witte, H., Puig-Barrachina, V., Belvis-Costes, F.,
… Van Aerden, K. (2013). Quality of employment conditions and employment
relations in Europe. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions . Retrieved from
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef1367.htm
• Van Aerden, K., Moors, G., Levecque, K., & Vanroelen, C. (2013). Measuring
Employment Arrangements in the European Labour Force: A Typological Approach.
Social Indicators Research, 1–21. doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0312-0
• Van Aerden, K., Moors, G., Levecque, K., & Vanroelen, C. (2015). The relationship
between employment quality and work-related well-being in the European Labor
Force. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86, 66–76. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2014.11.001
• Van Aerden, K., Puig-Barrachina, V., Bosmans, K. & Vanroelen, C. (2015). How does
employment quality relate to health and job satisfaction in Europe? A typological
approach." (Submitted for publication)
How does policy get under the skin? – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona – July 1-3 2015