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PLATTS, Katharine, BRECKON, Jeff and MARSHALL, Ellen (2022). Enforced home-working under lockdown and its impact on employee wellbeing: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 22 (1).
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12889_2022_Article_12630.pdf - Published Version Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Abstract: Background: The Covid-19 pandemic precipitated a shift in the working practices of millions of people. Nearly half the British workforce (47%) reported to be working at home under lockdown in April 2020. This study investigated the impact of enforced home-working under lockdown on employee wellbeing via markers of stress, burnout, depressive symptoms, and sleep. Moderating effects of factors including age, gender, number of dependants, mental health status and work status were examined alongside work-related factors including work-life conflict and leadership quality. Method: Cross-sectional data were collected over a 12-week period from May to August 2020 using an online survey. Job-related and wellbeing factors were measured using items from the COPSOQIII. Stress, burnout, somatic stress, cognitive stress, and sleep trouble were tested together using MANOVA and MANCOVA to identify mediating effects. T-tests and one-way ANOVA identified differences in overall stress. Regression trees identified groups with highest and lowest levels of stress and depressive symptoms. Results: 81% of respondents were working at home either full or part-time (n = 623, 62% female). Detrimental health impacts of home-working during lockdown were most acutely experienced by those with existing mental health conditions regardless of age, gender, or work status, and were exacerbated by working regular overtime. In those without mental health conditions, predictors of stress and depressive symptoms were being female, under 45 years, home-working part-time and two dependants, though men reported greater levels of work-life conflict. Place and pattern of work had a greater impact on women. Lower leadership quality was a significant predictor of stress and burnout for both men and women, and, for employees aged > 45 years, had significant impact on level of depressive symptoms experienced. Conclusions: Experience of home-working under lockdown varies amongst groups. Knowledge of these differences provide employers with tools to better manage employee wellbeing during periods of crisis. While personal factors are not controllable, the quality of leadership provided to employees, and the ‘place and pattern’ of work, can be actively managed to positive effect. Innovative flexible working practices will help to build greater workforce resilience.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | ** From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 1471-2458 **Article IDs: publisher-id: s12889-022-12630-1; manuscript: 12630 **History: collection 12-2022; online 29-01-2022; published 29-01-2022; registration 25-01-2022; accepted 19-01-2022; submitted 11-08-2021 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Research, Home-working, Mental health, Wellbeing, Stress, Work-life conflict, Leadership |
| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12630-1 |
| SWORD Depositor: | Colin Knott |
| Depositing User: | Colin Knott |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2022 16:56 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2022 17:00 |
| URI: | https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29683 |
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