Pere Jódar

Psychosocial risk exposures and labour management practices. An exploratory approach

Aim: The purpose was to explore the relationship between psychosocial risk exposures and labour management practices (LMP), as indicators of work organization and pertinent features for primary preventive intervention. Methods: Cross-sectional study of a representative sample of salaried working population in Spain (n = 7,612). Information was obtained in 2004-2005 using a standardized questionnaire administered through personal interviews at the household. Questions on working conditions were used to establish LMP indicators and the psychosocial exposures data were obtained on the basis of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) I (ISTAS21). A multivariate description was performed through multiple correspondence analysis, and associations between LMPs and psychosocial exposures were assessed by ordinal logistic analysis adjusting for age and sex. Results: Correspondence analysis showed a good-bad coherent pattern regarding both psychosocial dimension and LMPs, though several LMPs categories were placed in the centre. Among the 14 possible associations of each psychosocial scale with LMP variables, several scales showed significant associations with more than eight LMP variables. Most relevant results referred to the LMP variable ‘‘Consultative and delegative participation in methods’’. Conclusions: In line with previous research, psychosocial exposures were associated with LMP. LMP may constitute a step on a pathway from work organization to health. Our exploratory work suggested that good psychosocial exposures were related to participatory working methods, being hired with a permanent labour contract, not being made to feel easily replaceable, having superiors with non-authoritarian and non-aggressive manners, not being threatened with dismissal, upward functional mobility, being paid according to the number of working hours and occupation, working between 31 and 40 hours per week and in regular morning shifts. Hence, the more these features became part of LMP in the workplace, the better the psychosocial work environment would be.

Effects of prison work programmes on the employability of ex-prisoners

This paper presents the results of a study that links information from the prison system with information from the Spanish Social Security System in order to study the employability of former inmates of prisons in Catalonia, Spain. Few studies of this type have been carried out in the world and this is the first in Spain. The results show that 43.6 percent of ex-prisoners find a job after serving their sentence, but their integration in the labour market tends to be fragile, confirming that it is a very vulnerable group. It was also found that prison work has a favourable effect on employability and that vocational training has a lesser or no effect.

Diversity in Trade Union Membership: A Typology Based on the Study of a Spanish Trade Union

While existing literature on the changing nature of trade union membership concentrates on unidimensional differences between members, this article proposes a multidimensional typology, which considers demographic characteristics as well as labour market position and length of union membership. Our results allow the identification of different member profiles; these are significantly associated to differences in employment conditions, work participation, job satisfaction and union activism. In the last section of the article, we discuss the practical implications that these different member profiles may have for union policy and organisation.

Incidencia de incapacidad permanente en una cohorte de trabajadores afiliados a la Seguridad Social, 2004-2007

OBJECTIVE To describe the incidence of permanent disability, both work-related and non-work-related, by several socioeconomic and geographical variables. METHODS We performed a retrospective study of a cohort of 768,454 workers covered by the General Social Security Regimen, followed-up from 2004 to 2007. This study was based on the Continuous Working Life Survey. In the 4 years of follow-up, 7,749 cases in 1,937,921 workers-years were identified. Incidence rates and crude and adjusted rate ratios were estimated by Poisson regression models. RESULTS The incidence of non-work-related permanent disability was 10 times greater than that of work-related disability (36.3 versus 3.7 per 10,000 workers-years). The incidences for both non-work-related and work-related disability were higher in men and increased with age and lower education level. For non-work-related permanent disability, the region with the highest incidence was Asturias and that with the lowest was Madrid (56.7 vs. 23.3). For work-related permanent disability, the highest incidence was found in Asturias and the lowest in Navarre (7.8 vs. 1.4). This differential was maintained for work-related and non-work-related permanent disability for Asturias, after adjustment was made by sex, age, educational level, company size and economic activity. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we observed substantial differences in the incidences of permanent disability by demographic, social and geographical characteristics, which should be analyzed in greater depth, especially the differences observed by regions.

Responsabilidad Social Corporativa en Salud y Seguridad en el Trabajo: dimensiones, realidad y perspectivas

The Corporative Social Responsibility (CSR) is a voluntary company strategy that could help to improve the occupational safety and health (OSH). Nevertheless, the relationship between CSR and OSH has been poorly studied. The objectives of the study are to describe and assess this relationship in several companies. Qualitative methodology by means of individual semi-structured interviews was used and analysis of the content. Initially 5 experts were interviewed, and later 43 informants from 14 companies located in Barcelona, using a questionnaire designed in the initial phase. For every company, the perception and development of the CSR, the fulfillment of the norms and the management of the OSH, the commitment of workers and managers for the OSH and the presence of voluntary activities related to OSH were assessed. The companies with greater development of the CSR showed better fulfillment and management of OSH rules. The development of voluntary activities related to OSH was observed only in two companies. The presence of the OSH in the field of the CSR was weak. This can be explained because there is a high demand of the legal frame of OSH, which is still being established in the companies. This leaves little space for voluntary CSR activities.

Los perfiles de la afiliación sindical. Una propuesta metodológica a partir de un estudio de CCOO en Cataluña

?Se han adecuado los sindicatos a los cambios producidos en el campo economico y laboral? ?Hay un deficit de representacion entre los nuevos colectivos laborales? Para abordar la respuesta, el articulo expone el resultado de un analisis multivariado, del que se deduce la existencia de cuatro tipos de afiliacion dentro de una organizacion sindical espanola. El articulo explora la calidad de vida en el trabajo y la satisfaccion laboral de cada uno de estos tipos de afiliados. El trabajo parte de la idea de que la composicion de los sindicatos no es homogenea y tampoco lo son sus condiciones de trabajo y ocupacion, por un lado, o su propension al activismo sindical y la participacion en la representacion de los trabajadores, por otro.

Informal employment in high-income countries for a health inequalities research: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND Informal employment (IE) is one of the least studied employment conditions in public health research, mainly due to the difficulty of its conceptualization and its measurement, producing a lack of a unique concept and a common method of measurement. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review is to identify literature on IE in order to improve its definition and methods of measurement, with special attention given to high-income countries, to be able to study the possible impact on health inequalities within and between countries. METHODS A scoping review of definitions and methods of measurement of IE was conducted reviewing relevant databases and grey literature and analyzing selected articles. RESULTS We found a wide spectrum of terms for describing IE as well as definitions and methods of measurement. We provide a definition of IE to be used in health inequalities research in high-income countries. Direct methods such as surveys can capture more information about workers and firms in order to estimate IE. CONCLUSIONS These results can be used in further investigations about the impacts of this IE on health inequalities. Public health research must improve monitoring and analysis of IE in order to know the impacts of this employment condition on health inequalities.

Membership duration in a Spanish union: A survival analysis

This article presents an analysis of the characteristics that are associated with union membership duration using data from the membership registers of the largest Spanish trade union: Comisiones Obreras (CCOO, Workers’ Commissions). Making use of survival analysis techniques, the results indicate that the shortest membership durations and the highest risks of leaving are associated with workers with poor employment conditions, mainly youth and foreigners, as well as those in firms, economic sectors, and territories where the union has a rather weak presence. As workers in these situations represent the majority of both current joining and leaving rates, the article concludes that retention policies should focus on the early stages of union membership.

La representación sindical en España: cobertura y límites

The objective of this article is to make an approach to the unitary representation system in the company in Spain, from a statistical exploitation of union elections data. The analysis aims to discover aspects such as the scope of the unitary representation, participation of employees and unions electoral audience, in order to define their representativeness and legitimacy. Our work focuses on the analysis of the last three election periods (2003-2007, 2007-2012 and 2012-2015), in order to assess the impact of the economic cycle on the representation of workers.