Economic Stress at Work: Its Impact over Absenteeism and Innovation.

Economic stress has been recognized as a major threat to the well-being and performance of workers, especially during times of global economic crisis. An interesting and relatively unexplored research topic concerns the associations between economic stress and employee job outcomes such as innovative behaviors, indispensable for business survival. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between economic stress, absenteeism and innovation. We considered both a direct and a mediation hypothesis and hypothesized that economic stress can have a negative influence on innovation directly and indirectly through increased absenteeism. A cross-sectional study was performed during 2018 and 2019 in an Italian food factory. A sample of 578 employees completed the Stress Questionnaire, the Janssen's nine-item scale and a single-item regarding absenteeism. All relationships are supported by empirical data. As expected, the results indicated that economic stress is negatively related to innovation and positively related to absenteeism, which, in turn, plays a mediating role in the relationship between economic stress and innovative behavior. Herewith, those employees with higher levels of economic stress show higher levels of absenteeism contributing at the same time to a decrease in innovative behaviors. These findings show the importance of economic stress in understanding individual work outcomes and highlight the need to promote adequate intervention programs.

Could Emotional Intelligence Ability Predict Salary? A Cross-Sectional Study in a Multioccupational Sample.

The study of emotional intelligence (EI) in work environments is a trending topic. However, few studies have examined the relationship between EI and salary. Therefore, the presented research aims to analyze the influence of EI on salary using a multioccupational sample. The participants were 785 subjects aged between 18 and 58 years (M = 39.41; SD = 10.95). EI ability was measured using the Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test (MEIT), while the salary was collected together with other sociodemographic variables in a questionnaire created ad hoc. After controlling for the age, gender, social class, educational level, and work experience variables, the results of correlation and regression analysis showed that participants with higher EI and emotional-repair capacity generally have higher salary. These findings provide preliminary evidence that EI is a relevant variable in achieving career success. The ability to channel and manage emotions could help employees develop stronger interpersonal relationships, leading to higher positions and greater financial compensation.

The moderating effect of exposure to robbery on the relationship between post-traumatic stress and job satisfaction.

Research has disregarded the boundary conditions of the effects of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) at work. Addressing this issue, the present study examines the moderating impact of the (shared vs. isolated) exposure to robbery on the relationship between PTSS and employee job satisfaction. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we argue that PTSS would positively affect employee job satisfaction when the robbery is experienced collectively. To test our predictions, we conducted a two-wave study-with a lag of two months between measurements-on 140 employees from a national bank in Italy. Results from hierarchical regression analyses supported our prediction: the exposure to robbery moderated the relationship between PTSS and job satisfaction. While within the "isolated exposure" group the job satisfaction score was higher among less symptomatic victims, within the "shared exposure" group those with high PTSS reported higher job satisfaction levels than those with low PTSS. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

How Does Positive Work-Related Stress Affect the Degree of Innovation Development?

Many studies sustain that work-related stress exerts pervasive consequences on the employees' levels of performance, productivity, and wellbeing. However, it remains unclear whether certain levels of stress might lead to positive outcomes regarding employees' innovativeness. Hence, this paper examines how the five dimensions of work-related stress impact on the employees' levels of innovation performance. To this aim, this study focused on a sample of 1487 employees from six Italian companies. To test the research hypotheses under assessment, we relied on the use of the partial least squares (PLS) technique. Our results reveal that, in summary, the stressors job autonomy, job demands, and role ambiguity exert a positive and significant impact on the employees' levels of innovativeness. However, this study failed to find evidence that the supervisors' support-innovation and colleagues' support-innovation links are not statistically significant.

[The operational role of the occupational health physician in the assessment and management of health risks related to night risks]. / Il ruolo del medico del lavoro nella valutazione e nella gestione dei rischi correlati al lavoro notturno alla luce della disciplina nazionale e comunitaria.

The operational role of the occupational health physician in the assessment and management of health risks related to night work. Night work, in the last 30-40 years, has been extended to almost all areas of employment. The potential effects on workers' health--related to the disruption of circadian rhythms--are now well defined and studied in the Literature. All issues about the protection of safety and health for night workers are governed by the Italian Legislative Decree no. 66/2003 and subsequent amendments. The management of night work hasn't been included into the main Law on Occupational Safety and Health (Italian Legislative Decree no. 81/2008 and subsequent amendments) and a coordination between the two disciplines is desirable. The occupational health physician, as a global consultant for the protection of all health issues into a company, has to evaluate the potential effects of night work on health, both individually and as a group of workers. In this way, the physician may use either traditional tools (history, physical examination, blood tests) or innovative tools (questionnaires, health promotion programs, interventions on shift schedules). In the management of night work is useful to employ schedules that respect both psychophysical integrity and social welfare of workers and the needs of the production. The occupational health physician plays a significant role in information and training of workers, both individually and as a group of workers, and in the organization of health promotion programs (whit a voluntary participation by the workers).

The correlation between stress and economic crisis: a systematic review.

In 2008 a deep economic crisis started in the US and rapidly spread around the world. The crisis severely affected the labor market and employees' well-being. Hence, the aim of this work is to implement a systematic review of the principal studies that analyze the impact of the economic crisis on the health of workers. We conducted our search on the PubMed database, and a total of 19 articles were selected for review. All studies showed that the economic crisis was an important stressor that had a negative impact on workers' mental health. Most of the studies documented that a rise in unemployment, increased workload, staff reduction, and wages reduction were linked to an increased rate of mood disorders, anxiety, depression, dysthymia, and suicide. Some studies showed that problems related to the crisis may have also affected the general health of workers by increasing the risk of such health problems as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Finally, some studies looked at the impact of the crisis on health care services. These studies demonstrated that the reduction in public expenditure on health care services, and the reduction of public hospital budgets due to the recession, led to organizational problems (eg, medical supply shortages).

Work-related stress assessment in a population of Italian workers. The Stress Questionnaire.

The present study shows detailed information about the reliability and validity of the psychosocial risk scale included in the Stress Questionnaire (SQ) developed by our research group. The primary purpose of this work is to test the factor structure of the psychosocial risk scale through a first-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a large pooled dataset obtained from a population of 2026 employees of 15 Italian medium-large companies. Data were collected by a team of researchers who examined demographic variables, work-related stress, workplace bullying, mental health and other constructs. In addition to these substantive issues, the survey was designed to better understand response bias. After the evaluation of the results we conclude that the psychosocial risk scale reported a satisfactory reliability and validity. In addition, it allowed a careful measurement of work related stress, considering both leader's and follower's perspectives.

Economic stress in the workplace: The impact of fear of the crisis on mental health.

BACKGROUND: Since 2008, a deep financial crisis, which started in the United States, has widely spread around the world. Scientists expressed their worry about this crisis by pointing out that potential negative health effects can be created by collective fear and panic. OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this cross-sectional study on the fear of the crisis has been to examine its impact on mental health through the use of structural equation modeling. In the trial a new model of economic stress we were also interested in identifying if fear of the crisis has an indirect relationship with employees' health (e.g. related to a poor social support or to work-related stress). Furthermore, this study aimed to examine whether a full or a partial mediation model best fits the data. METHODS: Data collection took place between 2010 and 2011. During this period several private organizations that comprised of 1236 employees participated in the study. RESULTS: It was found that social support and job stress fully mediated the relationship between fear of the crisis and health, with all fit indices meeting their respective criteria, and with all path coefficients being significant. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for discussion of the crisis among employees were presented. In conclusion, fear of the crisis appeared to be an important innovative construct for organizational wellbeing.