Antti Saloniemi

The Work Environment in Fixed-Term Jobs: Are Poor Psychosocial Conditions Inevitable?

Following the transformation of the working environment, researchers attempting to conceptualize the world of work have been forced to adopt new approaches. At least in industrialized Western societies, the crisis of massproduction, the call for flexibility, the de-skilling of labour, the new contradictions of the labour process, and even discussions about the approaching end of wage labour, are concepts that have preoccupied work sociologists since the 1970s. Temporary employment, however, tends to have fallen outside the focus of these discussions. As Campbell and Burgess (2001: 172) point out, in the recent past there was a time in which most forms of temporary employment were dismissed ‘as historical relics’ on the path to a modern and rationalized system of working life. The path has, however, led in just the opposite direction: the clear increase in temporary employment has raised its status on the research agenda. Currently, temporary employment is a concept which embraces many of the core contents of the ‘modern classic’ themes concerning the sociology of work. The concept is a combination of old and new; it is new if we look at the titles and keywords of recent publications, old if we direct attention to the subject matter, or, as summarized by Kalleberg et al. (2000: 256) in their recent analysis of atypical forms of work, ‘[a] recurring theme in the sociology and

Accidents and fatal accidents--some paradoxes

This study discusses the relationship between fatal accidents in the workplace and certain macro-structural features of production life in Finland during the period from 1977 to 1991. The fatality rate was studied in relation to variables describing economic activity and the frequency of non-fatal accidents. Construction and manufacturing were studied separately. According to the results the relationship between fatal and non-fatal accidents was reverse, in the case of construction, in a statistically significant way. In the construction industry the fatality rate increased with declining number of cubic metres under construction. The results did not lend support to pro-cyclic approximations of the relation between business cycles and fatal accidents, but supported the hypothesis of the different causation of different accident types. On the other hand, in the case of non-fatal accidents, the social construction of accident statistics must also be taken into account.

Achieving Flexibility through Insecurity: A Comparison of Work Environments in Fixed-term and Permanent Jobs in Finland and Canada

In this comparative study of Finland and Canada, we use representative data to examine work environments in fixed-term and permanent jobs. Results are similar for all workers regardless of whether they are employed on fixed-term or permanent contracts. All workers feel their working hours are inflexible, but feel they have control over the tasks they perform and they have low risk of accident. The only difference is in the feelings of job insecurity: fixed-term workers, in both Finland and Canada, feel more insecure than those in permanent jobs. Our findings indicate that the global trends in flexibility and insecurity permeate all workers.

The Working Conditions and Health of Non-Permanent Employees: Are There Differences between Private and Public Labour Markets?

Increasing levels of non-permanent employment have raised concern about quality of working life in the public sector. This Finnish study examines whether the public sector can be characterized as a ‘model employer’ with regard to the working conditions and well-being of fixed-term employees. Compared to the private sector, the difference in the physical load between non-permanent and permanent employees is significantly smaller in the public sector. Comparison of psychosocial strain shows a difference in favour of non-permanent employees, particularly among women working in the public sector. The association between type of employment contract and health is similar in both sectors. The equality between permanent and nonpermanent employees gives reason to benchmark the public sector as a model, even if the present findings may be due partly to sectorspecific occupational structures.

Is Fixed-Term Employment a New Risk for Adverse Physical Working Conditions?

Relationships between employment type and the physical work environment were studied among blue-collar workers (n = 1,127). Based on survey data, we set out to compare the evaluations of environmental load and physical strain at work given by fixed-term (17% of all) and permanent workers. The type of employment was not related to environmental load. However, working on a fixed-term basis increased the risk of physical strain at work. Analyses revealed that this connection was evident only among fixed-term construction workers. The results did not support the much-cited view that the disintegration ofstandard employment has given rise to a new series of work environment problems. Such problems are concentrated in an area with a long tradition of work environment problems, that is, in the construction industry.

Physical Activity Intervention among Unemployed Male Construction Workers

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of supervised physical activity intervention on the health and functional capacity of unemployed men. The subjects were 76 unemployed construction workers between the ages of 22 and 54 years. They were randomized into two groups, a physical activity group ( n =40) and a control group ( n =36). Due to dropouts, there were 26 subjects in the physical activity group and 19 in the control group by the end of the trial. In the beginning of the study the men were given a medical examination and asked about musculoskeletal symptoms and leisure-time physical activity. Their aerobic and musculoskeletal capacity was assessed by different tests. The physical activity program twice a week during 14 weeks included dynamic training, instruction and guidance on musculoskeletal function and leisure-time physical activity. The control group met twice and they received no physical activity guidance. The physical activity group improved statistically significant the amount of leisure-time physical activity, muscular fitness of back, upper extremities and balance compared with the control group. The men considered the program to be a good group activity for periods of unemployment. The results indicate that regular supervised training and an increase in physical activity can affect functional capacity and health.

Does provision of targeted health care for the unemployed enhance re-employment?

BackgroundThere is increasing pressure to develop services to enhance the health of the workforce on the periphery of the labour market. Health promotion among unemployed people may improve their health but also to increase their employability. We tested whether re-employment can be enhanced with a health care intervention targeted at the unemployed.MethodsA 3-year follow-up, controlled design was used. The data were collected among unemployed people (n = 539) participating in active labour market policy measures. The baseline survey included established habitually used health questionnaires. The intervention consisted of three health check-ups and on-demand health services. Logistic regression analyses were used to obtain the odds ratios of the intervention group versus control group for being re-employed at follow-up. Health-related differences in the re-employment effects of the intervention were assessed through the significance of the interaction in the regression analyses.ResultsThe intervention did not serve to improve re-employment: at follow-up 50% of both the intervention group and the control group were at work. In further analyses, the odds ratios showed that the intervention tended to improve re-employment among participants in good health, whereas an opposite tendency was seen among those with poor health. The differences, however, were statistically non-significant.ConclusionThe experimental health service did not show any beneficial effects on re-employment. Nevertheless, rather than considering any particular health care as unnecessary and ineffective, we would like to stress the complexity of providing health services to match the diversity of the unemployed.

Attitudes towards job protection legislation: Comparing insiders and outsiders in Finland, Norway and Sweden

This article investigates employees’ attitudes towards job protection legislation and attitudinal differences between employees with different levels of job security. National surveys from three Nordic countries, using different measures of insider–outsider positions in the labour market, do not support the assumption that outsiders (those with insecure jobs) prefer laxer job protection legislation. On the contrary, workers in secure jobs seem more likely to prefer laxer regulation.

Training for the unemployed: differential effects in white- and blue-collar workers with respect to mental well-being

In this study we investigate the effects of active labour market policy measures on health and well-being and how these effects are connected with socioeconomic status. The data were collected among the participants (n = 212) in 24 conventional vocational training courses in Finland. According to the results, training was accompanied by improvements in health and well-being among participants with a higher socioeconomic status, whereas for blue-collar workers the changes were neutral or even detrimental. The results raise questions about the role of active labour market policy measures as a public service. There seems to be a risk that these types of measures maintain or even produce health differences between socioeconomic groups.

Fixed-Term Work and Violence at Work

Objectives. This study investigated the effect of a fixed-term job contract on encounters of violence at work. We assumed that fixed-term employees encountered more violence or threats of violence at their work than permanent employees. Methods. This study is based on 3 large statistical data sets: (a) the Work and Health surveys carried out by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in 1997–2006 (n = 7 519); (b) the so-called Victim study carried out by Statistics Finland in 2006, where 4 088 working people were interviewed about victimization resulting in injuries and violence; and (c) another study from Statistics Finland, which interviewed 4 392 wage-earners about their working conditions in 2008. Results. One of the 3 data sets showed that fixed-term employees encountered more violence at work than permanent employees, whereas the other 2 did not show any difference between different contract groups. Conclusions. Our hypothesis concerning greater violence encounters among fixed-term employees was not confirmed.