Extended working hours and health.

Statistical analyses of the relation between the amount of working hours and impairments to health, based on data from a European survey on working conditions in 2000, clearly reveal that there is a substantial correlation between the number of working hours per week and the frequencies of health complaints. This applies to both musculo-skeletal disorders as well as to psycho-vegetative complaints. The relationship of the duration of the exposure to working conditions to health impairments is moderated by a great number of individual (e.

A new approach for evaluating flexible working hours.

Recent studies on flexible working hours show at least some of these working time arrangements seem to be associated with impairing effects of health and well-being. According to available evidence, variability of working hours seems to play an important role. The question, however, is how this variability can be assessed and used to explain or predict impairments.

Health and psychosocial effects of flexible working hours.

Objective: To examine whether any impairments in health and social lives can be found under different kinds of flexible working hours, and whether such effects are related to specific characteristics of these working hours.

Methods: Two studies -- a company based survey (N=660) and an internet survey (N=528) -- have been conducted. The first one was a questionnaire study (paper and pencil) on employees working under some 'typical' kinds of different flexible working time arrangements in different companies and different occupational fields (health care, manufacturing, retail, administration, call centres).