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Chapter 3: The future of work in Europe: job quality and work organisation for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
Chart 10: Participation in LLL by educational attainment, 3.3.1. Reducing health
aged 25–64, 2013 — relative difference and safety risks may increase
overall productivity
14
Health and safety at work can have
12 High to medium High to low a direct impact on employers’ costs and
10 employees’ productivity, absenteeism
and job satisfaction. While the incidence
8
% of work accidents has declined in recent
6 years, significant differences across dif-
ferent groups of workers can be observed.
4 Chart 11 shows the relative accident rate
2 of those with medium (alternatively high)
education to those with low education. It
0
DK SE NL FI LU UK IE FR BE DE EU-28 LV ES EE PT HU AT RO SI MT CZ IT CY PL EL BG* HR* LT* SK* can be seen that the lower the education
level, the higher the accident rate. More
Source: Eurostat LFS, table [trng_lfs_10]. generally, those with lower levels of edu -
Notes: Lifelong learning (LLL) measures participation rate in education and training (last 4 weeks). cation are more often in jobs that present
The Chart shows the relative difference in the life-long learning participation rates between those greater risks in terms of health and safety
with high education and those with medium, respectively low, education. It reflects the situation of the 32
population (aged 25–64) engaged in formal or non-formal education and training. ‘Low’ stands for pre- conditions at work ( ).
primary, primary and lower secondary education corresponding to levels 0–2 (ISCED 1997); ‘medium’
stands for upper secondary non-tertiary education corresponding to levels 3–4; and ‘high’ corresponds Note that important structural changes
to levels 5–6. * No data for ‘low’ education for 2013.
will likely bring along new products and
production processes with potentially
their investment (e.g. Dieckhoff, 2013; 2010; Gill et al., 2013; Charness et al., unknown health and safety risks which
30
Felstead et al., 2011; Majumdar, 2007). 2013)( ). may need to be borne in mind, as dis-
cussed in section 4.
The low-skilled, who are already dis- The EMCO framework distinguishes four
advantaged in terms of obtaining a sub-dimensions of working conditions 3.3.2. Combining work
job, also receive less life-long learning, and organisation: health and safety at autonomy with work intensity
see Chart 10. The difference in partici- work; work intensity; work autonomy; and can increase productivity
31
pation rates between highly and lowly collective interest representation( ).
33
educated people is the highest in Poland, ( ) Work-related psychological disorders Work intensity( ) and work autonomy
30
the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus and and mental health problems were behind are two important characteristics of work
Italy. It is the lowest in Denmark, Sweden, 42 % of all early retirements of white- organisation that can affect workers’
collar workers in Austria in 2009 and the
Finland and the Netherlands. main reason for long-term sick leaves in performance through their impact on the
the Netherlands (55 days on average) in level of motivation, stress and physical
3.3. Good working 2010 (European Commission 2014 — Social and mental health. They can also impact
Agenda 02/2014, p. 9). High psychological
conditions can attract job demands, long working hours and poor the labour market participation decisions
and develop human capital physical environment are detrimental to of particular groups such as older workers,
the mental and physical health of workers
and improve performance (e.g. increasing obesity) and can influence second earners with children and/or peo-
and output the health status of the worker’s family ple with disabilities. By reinforcing posi-
(Morrissey et al., 2011; Cottini and Lucifora,
2011). Lewis and Malecha (2011) find that tive interactions between work intensity
Good working conditions create the envi - negative social relations in the workplace and work autonomy, an organisation can
have detrimental effects on the productivity
ronment to attract and develop human of nurses. Mather and Lighthall (2012), achieve greater effort from its employees,
reviewing the literature on mental stress
capital and improve the performance of and reward processing, find that overly thus increasing productivity and output.
workers. A physically safe and healthy stressed employees are more likely to be
distracted and may neglect to adjust their
working environment leads to fewer working habits after negative feedback from ( ) The Chart refers only to accidents rate, while in
32
accidents and absences from work and, their hierarchy. Halko et al. (2014), Shleifer many jobs work-related health and safety risks
(2004), Schwieren and Weichselbaumer
are much broader, including respiratory diseases,
hence, to lower costs (European Com- (2010), and Gill et al. (2013) suggest that skin conditions, musculoskeletal disorders, etc.
mission, 2014; OECD, 2014; Cottini and competitive pressures at the workplace, ( ) Note that in this subsection ‘work intensity’
33
notably compensation-related, can lead
Lucifora, 2011; Lewis and Malecha, to greater risk-taking by men and lower is used in line with the sociological literature
in the sense of a characteristic of work
2011). Furthermore, work-related stress risk-taking by women (shyness to compete organisation, rather than in the most narrow
for promotion and under-representation
or negative social relations in the work- in leading positions), and can increase sense used by Eurostat (the indicator
persons living in households with low
place may lead to employees working cheating, sabotage, corruption, excessive work intensity is defined as the number of
executive pay and corporate earnings
below their full potential, higher distrac- manipulations with no or a negative effect persons living in a household having a work
intensity below a threshold set at 0.20). The
tion levels or neglect of responsibilities, on productivity. work intensity of a household is the ratio of
31
and may affect career-related decisions ( ) For the ‘working conditions’ dimension the the total number of months that all working-
age household members have worked during
EMCO set of indicators relies mostly on
(Lewis and Malecha, 2011; Mather and the EWCS questions. One should note that the income reference year and the total
Lighthall, 2012). A working environment while they relate to objective outcomes, number of months the same household
the indicators reflect people’s feelings
members theoretically could have worked in
too focussed on competition may also and perceptions about their working the same period. More details at http://epp.
generate unethical behaviour (Shleifer, environment. However, this adds valuable eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/
index.php/Glossary:Persons_living_in_
information to the comprehensive picture
2004; Schwieren and Weichselbaumer, about the general labour market conditions. households_with_low_work_intensity.
143
Chart 10: Participation in LLL by educational attainment, 3.3.1. Reducing health
aged 25–64, 2013 — relative difference and safety risks may increase
overall productivity
14
Health and safety at work can have
12 High to medium High to low a direct impact on employers’ costs and
10 employees’ productivity, absenteeism
and job satisfaction. While the incidence
8
% of work accidents has declined in recent
6 years, significant differences across dif-
ferent groups of workers can be observed.
4 Chart 11 shows the relative accident rate
2 of those with medium (alternatively high)
education to those with low education. It
0
DK SE NL FI LU UK IE FR BE DE EU-28 LV ES EE PT HU AT RO SI MT CZ IT CY PL EL BG* HR* LT* SK* can be seen that the lower the education
level, the higher the accident rate. More
Source: Eurostat LFS, table [trng_lfs_10]. generally, those with lower levels of edu -
Notes: Lifelong learning (LLL) measures participation rate in education and training (last 4 weeks). cation are more often in jobs that present
The Chart shows the relative difference in the life-long learning participation rates between those greater risks in terms of health and safety
with high education and those with medium, respectively low, education. It reflects the situation of the 32
population (aged 25–64) engaged in formal or non-formal education and training. ‘Low’ stands for pre- conditions at work ( ).
primary, primary and lower secondary education corresponding to levels 0–2 (ISCED 1997); ‘medium’
stands for upper secondary non-tertiary education corresponding to levels 3–4; and ‘high’ corresponds Note that important structural changes
to levels 5–6. * No data for ‘low’ education for 2013.
will likely bring along new products and
production processes with potentially
their investment (e.g. Dieckhoff, 2013; 2010; Gill et al., 2013; Charness et al., unknown health and safety risks which
30
Felstead et al., 2011; Majumdar, 2007). 2013)( ). may need to be borne in mind, as dis-
cussed in section 4.
The low-skilled, who are already dis- The EMCO framework distinguishes four
advantaged in terms of obtaining a sub-dimensions of working conditions 3.3.2. Combining work
job, also receive less life-long learning, and organisation: health and safety at autonomy with work intensity
see Chart 10. The difference in partici- work; work intensity; work autonomy; and can increase productivity
31
pation rates between highly and lowly collective interest representation( ).
33
educated people is the highest in Poland, ( ) Work-related psychological disorders Work intensity( ) and work autonomy
30
the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus and and mental health problems were behind are two important characteristics of work
Italy. It is the lowest in Denmark, Sweden, 42 % of all early retirements of white- organisation that can affect workers’
collar workers in Austria in 2009 and the
Finland and the Netherlands. main reason for long-term sick leaves in performance through their impact on the
the Netherlands (55 days on average) in level of motivation, stress and physical
3.3. Good working 2010 (European Commission 2014 — Social and mental health. They can also impact
Agenda 02/2014, p. 9). High psychological
conditions can attract job demands, long working hours and poor the labour market participation decisions
and develop human capital physical environment are detrimental to of particular groups such as older workers,
the mental and physical health of workers
and improve performance (e.g. increasing obesity) and can influence second earners with children and/or peo-
and output the health status of the worker’s family ple with disabilities. By reinforcing posi-
(Morrissey et al., 2011; Cottini and Lucifora,
2011). Lewis and Malecha (2011) find that tive interactions between work intensity
Good working conditions create the envi - negative social relations in the workplace and work autonomy, an organisation can
have detrimental effects on the productivity
ronment to attract and develop human of nurses. Mather and Lighthall (2012), achieve greater effort from its employees,
reviewing the literature on mental stress
capital and improve the performance of and reward processing, find that overly thus increasing productivity and output.
workers. A physically safe and healthy stressed employees are more likely to be
distracted and may neglect to adjust their
working environment leads to fewer working habits after negative feedback from ( ) The Chart refers only to accidents rate, while in
32
accidents and absences from work and, their hierarchy. Halko et al. (2014), Shleifer many jobs work-related health and safety risks
(2004), Schwieren and Weichselbaumer
are much broader, including respiratory diseases,
hence, to lower costs (European Com- (2010), and Gill et al. (2013) suggest that skin conditions, musculoskeletal disorders, etc.
mission, 2014; OECD, 2014; Cottini and competitive pressures at the workplace, ( ) Note that in this subsection ‘work intensity’
33
notably compensation-related, can lead
Lucifora, 2011; Lewis and Malecha, to greater risk-taking by men and lower is used in line with the sociological literature
in the sense of a characteristic of work
2011). Furthermore, work-related stress risk-taking by women (shyness to compete organisation, rather than in the most narrow
for promotion and under-representation
or negative social relations in the work- in leading positions), and can increase sense used by Eurostat (the indicator
persons living in households with low
place may lead to employees working cheating, sabotage, corruption, excessive work intensity is defined as the number of
executive pay and corporate earnings
below their full potential, higher distrac- manipulations with no or a negative effect persons living in a household having a work
intensity below a threshold set at 0.20). The
tion levels or neglect of responsibilities, on productivity. work intensity of a household is the ratio of
31
and may affect career-related decisions ( ) For the ‘working conditions’ dimension the the total number of months that all working-
age household members have worked during
EMCO set of indicators relies mostly on
(Lewis and Malecha, 2011; Mather and the EWCS questions. One should note that the income reference year and the total
Lighthall, 2012). A working environment while they relate to objective outcomes, number of months the same household
the indicators reflect people’s feelings
members theoretically could have worked in
too focussed on competition may also and perceptions about their working the same period. More details at http://epp.
generate unethical behaviour (Shleifer, environment. However, this adds valuable eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/
index.php/Glossary:Persons_living_in_
information to the comprehensive picture
2004; Schwieren and Weichselbaumer, about the general labour market conditions. households_with_low_work_intensity.
143
