Workplace Bullying and Medically Certified Sickness Absence: Direction of Associations and the Moderating Role of Leader Behavior.

The aim of this study was to determine (1) associations between workplace bullying and subsequent risk and duration of medically certified sickness absence, (2) whether employees' perceptions of supportive, fair, and empowering leader behavior moderate the association between bullying and absence, and (3) whether prior sickness absence increases the risk of being a new victim of bullying. Altogether, 10,691 employees were recruited from 96 Norwegian organizations in the period 2004-2014. The study design was prospective with workplace bullying and leader behavior measured at baseline and then linked to official registry data on medically certified sickness absence for the year following the survey assessment.

Does dispositional optimism moderate the relationship between role conflict and risk of disability retirement?

This study determines whether dispositional optimism moderates the relationship between role conflict and the risk of disability retirement. The study was based on a combination of self-report survey questionnaire data on role conflict and dispositional optimism with official register data on disability benefits from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. The sample comprised 14,501 Norwegian employees from various occupations and industries.

Attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism in health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark: a qualitative study.

Background: In the health and care sector, sickness absence and sickness presenteeism are frequent phenomena and constitute a field in need of exploration. Attitudes towards sickness absence involve also attitudes towards sickness presenteeism, i.e.

Sickness absence patterns and trends in the health care sector: 5-year monitoring of female municipal employees in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark.

Background: Sickness absence is a growing public health problem in Norway and Denmark, with the highest absence rates being registered in Norway. We compared time trends in sickness absence patterns of municipal employees in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark.

Methods: Data from 2004 to 2008 were extracted from the personnel registers of the municipalities of Kristiansand, Norway, and Aarhus, Denmark, for 3,181 and 8,545 female employees, respectively.

Sick leave patterns as predictors of disability pension or long-term sick leave: a 6.75-year follow-up study in municipal eldercare workers.

Objectives: The aim was to study whether a workplace-registered frequent short-term sick leave spell pattern was an early indicator of future disability pension or future long-term sick leave among municipal eldercare workers.

Setting: The municipal healthcare sector in the city of Aarhus, which is the second largest city in Denmark.

Participants: All elder care employees who worked the entire year of 2004 in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark (N=2774).

Are environmental characteristics in the municipal eldercare, more closely associated with frequent short sick leave spells among employees than with total sick leave: a cross-sectional study.

Background: It has been suggested that frequent-, short-term sick leave is associated with work environment factors, whereas long-term sick leave is associated mainly with health factors. However, studies of the hypothesis of an association between a poor working environment and frequent short spells of sick leave are few and results are inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to explore associations between self-reported psychosocial work factors and workplace-registered frequency and length of sick leave in the eldercare sector.

Comparison of sick leave patterns between Norway and Denmark in the health and care sector: a register study.

Aims: Sickness absence is of considerable concern in both Norway and Denmark. Labour Force Surveys indicate that absence in Norway is about twice that in Denmark and twice that of the mean reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This study compares absence patterns according to age, percentage of employment, and occupation between municipal employees in the health and care sectors in two municipalities in Norway and Denmark.