Disclosing the 'Big C': what does cancer survivorship signal to employers?

To study hiring discrimination against cancer survivors, we conduct a vignette experiment in which American and British professionals recruited via Prolific evaluate fictitious job candidates. Candidates differed by periods of non-employment in their career, including non-employment due to suffering from cancer. We study the effect of cancer experiences on professionals' hirability ratings, as well as its effect on underlying candidate perceptions, related to various potential forms of stigma identified in the literature. We find that employment opportunities are lower for candidates with a history of cancer, compared to candidates without such a gap. This penalty is particularly explained by perceptions that these candidates will have higher sick leave probabilities and create additional costs. However, relative to candidates with a comparable gap due to depression or personal reasons, former cancer patients are less stigmatised, with relatively favourable assessments of their emotional abilities, social abilities, motivation and positive impact on workplace culture.

Costly mistakes: Why and when spelling errors in resumes jeopardise interview chances.

The analysis of hiring penalties due to spelling errors has been restricted to white-collar occupations and error-laden resumes. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying these penalties remained unclear. To fill these gaps, we conducted a scenario experiment with 445 recruiters. Compared to error-free resumes, hiring penalties are inflicted for error-laden resumes (18.5 percent points lower interview probability) and resumes with fewer errors (7.3 percent points lower interview probability). Furthermore, we find heterogeneity in penalties inflicted. Half of the penalty can be explained by the perceptions that applicants making spelling errors have lower interpersonal skills (9.0%), conscientiousness (12.1%) and mental abilities (32.2%).

Beyond the Hype: (How) Are Work Regimes Associated with Job Burnout?

Job burnout affects countless workers and constitutes a major issue in working life. Prevention strategies such as offering part-time options and shorter working weeks have been widely advocated to address this issue. However, the relationship between shorter work regimes and burnout risk has not yet been investigated across diverse working populations applying validated measures and frameworks for job burnout. Building on the most recent operationalisation of job burnout and the seminal job demands-resources theory, the purpose of the current study is to investigate whether shorter work regimes are associated with lower burnout risk and whether the job demands-resources explain this association. To this end, a heterogenous sample of 1006 employees representative for age and gender completed the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) and Workplace Stressors Assessment Questionnaire (WSAQ). Our mediation analyses yield a very small but significant indirect association between work regimes and burnout risk through job demands, but no significant total or direct association between work regimes and burnout risk. Our result suggests that employees in shorter work regimes experience slightly fewer job demands, but are equally prone to developing burnout as their full-time counterparts. The latter finding raises concerns about the sustainability of burnout prevention that focuses on mere work regimes instead of the root causes of burnout.

Introducing a vignette experiment to study mechanisms of ethnic discrimination on the housing market.

Ethnic discrimination on the housing market has been subject of research for years. While a field experimental approach is widespread, alternative attempts to objectively measure mechanisms of discrimination on the housing market are scarce. In line with labor market research, we stress that to reduce rental discrimination against ethnic minorities, we need understanding its underlying mechanisms. This is the first paper that introduces a vignette experiment to do so. We distinguish between four mechanisms put forward in the literature but hardly ever empirically tested: agent taste-based discrimination, owner taste-based discrimination, neighborhood taste-based discrimination and statistical discrimination, in a multifactorial vignette experiment among 576 pre graduate real estate student. In addition, our experimental design allows us to examine whether unequal treatment is heterogeneous by property owner and neighborhood characteristics.

The COVID-19 crisis and telework: a research survey on experiences, expectations and hopes.

While a considerable number of employees across the globe are being forced to work from home due to the COVID-19 crisis, it is a guessing game as to how they are experiencing this current surge in telework. Therefore, we examined employee perceptions of telework on various life and career aspects, distinguishing between typical and extended telework during the COVID-19 crisis. To this end, we conducted a state-of-the-art web survey among Flemish employees. Notwithstanding this exceptional time of sudden, obligatory and high-intensity telework, our respondents mainly attribute positive characteristics to telework, such as increased efficiency and a lower risk of burnout. The results also suggest that the overwhelming majority of the surveyed employees believe that telework (85%) and digital conferencing (81%) are here to stay. In contrast, some fear that telework diminishes their promotion opportunities and weakens ties with their colleagues and employer.

Successful return to work after burnout: an evaluation of job, person- and private-related burnout determinants as determinants of return-to-work quality after sick leave for burnout.

PURPOSE: Burnout literature has primarily studied determinants and rehabilitation. Remarkably, ways to enable qualitative return to work after burnout are considered considerably less and were studied here. Specifically, building on the Job Demands-Resources model and Effort-Recovery model, this study investigated determinants of the quality of return to work. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the quality of reintegration among 786 workers who were surveyed about their return to work after a burnout episode. RESULTS: Restarting work at a new employer and especially getting supervisor support appeared beneficial, whereas remaining burnout symptoms, stressors in one's private environment and - mostly - neuroticism hampered the quality of return to work. CONCLUSION: Given the high prevalence and important costs burnout entails, primary prevention alone proves insufficient. Current study findings inform on how to optimize the quality of reintegration in the workplace after a burnout episode, demonstrating that supportive managers and inclusive workplaces (i.e., open to hire applicants with a burnout history) are important levers for qualitative return to work, next to ensuring workers are not (so much) impaired by their burnout rest symptoms.Implications for RehabilitationReintegration trajectories after burnout should not only be evaluated by sick leave duration but also by the clients' subjective experience of quality of return to work.Rehabilitation professionals should ensure clients prepare return to work early so they return timely and are not (so much) impaired by their burnout rest symptoms.Rehabilitation professionals should propose reorientation towards a new employer in case of irreversible work ability problems at the current workplace.The clients' current work situation should allow for sufficient supervisor social support.Also stressors in private life (like divorce) and personality characteristics (like neuroticism) should be considered as they may hamper quality of return to work.

As if it weren't hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout.

Hiring discrimination towards (former) burnout patients has been extensively documented in the literature. To tackle this problem, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms of such unequal hiring opportunities. Therefore, we conducted a vignette experiment with 425 genuine recruiters and jointly tested the potential stigma against job candidates with a history of burnout that were mentioned earlier in the literature. We found candidates revealing a history of burnout elicit perceptions of requiring work adaptations, likely having more unpleasant collaborations with others as well as diminished health, autonomy, ability to work under pressure, leadership capacity, manageability, and learning ability, when compared to candidates with a comparable gap in working history due to physical injury. Led by perceptions of a reduced ability to work under pressure, the tested perceptions jointly explained over 90 % of the effect of revealing burnout on the probability of being invited to a job interview. In addition, the negative effect on interview probability of revealing burnout was stronger when the job vacancy required higher stress tolerance. In contrast, the negative impact of revealing burnout on interview probability appeared weaker when recruiters were women and when recruiters had previously had personal encounters with burnout.

How do employees think the COVID-19 crisis will affect their careers?

This study is the first in the world to investigate the expected impact of the COVID-19 crisis on career outcomes and career aspirations. To this end, high-quality survey research with a relevant sample of Flemish (Belgian) employees was conducted. About 21% of them fear losing their jobs due to the crisis-14% are concerned that they will even lose their jobs in the near future. In addition, 26% expect to miss out on promotions that they would have received had the COVID-19 crisis not occurred. This fear of a negative impact is higher in vulnerable groups, such migrants. In addition, we observe that many respondents believe they will look at the labour market differently and will have different work-related priorities in the future. In this respect, more than half of the respondents indicate that they have attached more importance to working conditions and work-life balance since the COVID-19 crisis.

Does loneliness lurk in temp work? Exploring the associations between temporary employment, loneliness at work and job satisfaction.

This research contributes to the limited literature concerning the determinants of loneliness at work, as well as to the literature on psychological outcomes associated with temporary work. More specifically, we are adding to the literature by exploring whether there is an association between working temporarily and loneliness at work and whether loneliness at work partly explains the association between working temporarily and job satisfaction. To this end, we analyse-by means of a mediation model-a unique sample of Flemish employees in the private sector. We find that employees with a temporary contract experience more loneliness at work as opposed to employees with a permanent contract. In addition, we discover that loneliness at work mediates the association between working temporarily and job satisfaction.

Too sick or not too sick? The importance of stress and satisfaction with supervisor support on the prevalence of sickness presenteeism.

In a sample of 3274 full-time Belgian workers, this article found that 62% of workers went to work while being sick (sickness presenteeism) at least once over the past 12 months. Of all workers who did not show sickness presenteeism themselves, another 6 out of 10 saw or heard about sickness presenteeism in their own organization. Women were more likely to report sickness presenteeism than men and junior workers were more prone to sickness presenteeism than senior workers. Education did not explain the choice for sickness presenteeism. Satisfaction with the supervisor had a direct negative effect on sickness presenteeism. Finally, indirect effects were found between satisfaction with the supervisor and sickness presenteeism via the prevalence of stress. While previous studies showed that good supervisor support can make sick workers more productive when they show up at work, this study shows that good supervisor support makes sick workers stay at home.

Twelve eyes see more than eight. Referee bias and the introduction of additional assistant referees in soccer.

This study is the first to investigate whether the introduction of additional assistant referees in the UEFA Europa League (2009-2010 season) and the UEFA Champions League (2010-2011 season) was associated with lower referee bias in terms of home and "big" team favouritism. To this end, we analyse a unique database with pre- and within-game characteristics of all games in seven recent seasons in these leagues by means of bivariate probit regression models. We find evidence for substantial referee bias before the introduction of additional referees, while no such evidence is found after the introduction. Furthermore, additional assistants go hand in hand with more yellow cards for both home and away teams. We show that these findings are robust to multiple operationalisations of referee bias and that they are not just picking up a general time evolution towards less referee bias or the effect of parallel reforms.

Yawning while scrolling? Examining gender differences in the association between smartphone use and sleep quality.

The negative consequences of deteriorated sleep have been widely acknowledged. Therefore, research on the determinants of poor sleep is crucial. A factor potentially contributing to poor sleep is the use of a smartphone. This study aims to measure the association between overall daily smartphone use and both sleep quality and sleep duration. To this end, we exploit data on 1,889 first-year university students. Compared with previous research we control for a large set of observed confounding factors. Higher overall smartphone use is associated with lower odds of experiencing a good sleep. In addition, we explore heterogeneous differences by socioeconomic factors not yet investigated. We find that the negative association between smartphone use and sleep quality is mainly driven by female participants.

Voting with your wallet? Municipal budget policy and election results.

In this research letter, we examine the impact of municipal budget policy on the percentage of votes for the incumbent majority parties in subsequent elections. We contribute to the academic literature by examining the combined influence of taxes, expenditures and debt. Based on data for Flanders (Belgium) between 1994 and 2012, we find no significant association between these budget variables and the actual election results.

And at the end, the Germans always win, don't they? An evaluation of country-specific scoring behaviour in the dying seconds of international club soccer games.

This article contributes to the literature on performance determinants in soccer by investigating country differences in goal scoring in the dying seconds of international soccer games (i.e. in the 90th minute or later). We analyse this goal-scoring behaviour in 1,008 recent soccer games played in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League and Europa League. In contrast to Gary Lineker's well-known quote that "at the end, the Germans always win", no significant evidence is found for German teams scoring a goal in the dying seconds more often than other teams. Our results indicate, however, that European clubs do have an interest in learning from the end-of-game tactics used by French and Spanish clubs in recent international games as these teams were less likely to concede a goal during the dying seconds. English teams were also in this situation but only if they had an English coach.

No better moment to score a goal than just before half time? A soccer myth statistically tested.

We test the soccer myth suggesting that a particularly good moment to score a goal is just before half time. To this end, rich data on 1,179 games played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League are analysed. In contrast to the myth, we find that, conditional on the goal difference and other game characteristics at half time, the final goal difference at the advantage of the home team is 0.520 goals lower in case of a goal just before half time by this team. We show that this finding relates to this team's lower probability of scoring a goal during the second half.

Association between cultural distance and migrant self-rated health.

We study whether migrant health in Europe is associated with the cultural distance between their host country and country of origin. To this end, we run multilevel regression models on data merging self-rated health and social background of ≥3800 migrants from the European Social Survey with an index of cultural distance based on country differences in values, norms and attitudes measured in the World Values Survey. We find that higher levels of cultural distance are associated with worse migrant health. This association is comparable in size with the negative association between health and female (compared with male) gender but less important than the association between health and education level. In addition, this association is less significant among second-generation than first-generation migrants.

The effectiveness of medical and vocational interventions for reducing sick leave of self-employed workers.

We investigate whether interventions by (a) medical doctors and (b) occupational specialists are effective in reducing sick leave durations among self-employed workers. Therefore, we exploit unique administrative data comprising all sick leave claims by self-employed workers insured with a major Dutch private insurer between January 2009 and March 2014. We estimate a multivariate duration model dealing with nonrandom selection into the two intervention types by controlling for observable and unobservable claimant characteristics. We find adverse treatment effects for both interventions, irrespective of whether they are started early or (middle) late in the sickness spell.

Hiring a Gay Man, Taking a Risk?: A Lab Experiment on Employment Discrimination and Risk Aversion.

We investigate risk aversion as a driver of labor market discrimination against homosexual men. We show that more hiring discrimination by more risk-averse employers is consistent with taste-based and statistical discrimination. To test this hypothesis we conduct a scenario experiment in which experimental employers take a fictitious hiring decision concerning a heterosexual or homosexual male job candidate. In addition, participants are surveyed on their risk aversion and other characteristics that might correlate with this risk aversion. Analysis of the (post-)experimental data confirms our hypothesis. The likelihood of a beneficial hiring decision for homosexual male candidates decreases by 31.7% when employers are a standard deviation more risk-averse.

Volunteering, income and health.

Separate literatures have related volunteering to health gains and income gains. We study the association between volunteering, income and health within one statistical framework. A state-of-the-art mediation analysis is conducted on data concerning the health, volunteering and sociodemographic characteristics of 42926 individuals within 29 European countries. We find that volunteering is positively associated to self-rated health. This association is partially mediated by household income.

Perceived discrimination In Primary Healthcare in Europe: evidence from the cross-sectional QUALICOPC study.

Recent figures show that discrimination in healthcare is still persistent in the European Union. Research has confirmed these results but focused mainly on the outcomes of perceived discrimination. Studies that take into account socioeconomic determinants of discrimination limit themselves to either ethnicity, income or education. This article explores the influence of several socioeconomic indicators (e.g. gender, age, income, education and ethnicity) on perceived discrimination in 30 European countries. Data from the QUALICOPC study were used. These data were collected between October 2011 and December 2013 in the participating countries. In total, 7183 GPs (general practitioners) and 61932 patients participated in the study, which had an average response rate of 74.1%. Data collection was co-ordinated by NIVEL (Dutch Institute for Research of Health Care). Bivariate binomial logistic regressions were used to estimate the impact of each socioeconomic indicator on perceived discrimination. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate the unique effect of each indicator. Results indicate that in Europe, overall 7% of the respondents felt discriminated, ranging between 1.4% and 12.8% at the country level. With regard to socioeconomic determinants in perceived discrimination, income and age are both important indicators, with lower income groups and younger people having a higher chance to feel discriminated. In addition, we find significant influences of education, gender, age and ethnicity in several countries. In most countries, higher educated people, older people, women and the indigenous population appeared to feel less discriminated. In conclusion, perceived discrimination in healthcare is reported in almost all European countries, but there is large variation between European countries. A high prevalence of perceived discrimination within a country also does not imply a correlation between socioeconomic indicators and perceived discrimination.