141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

287219
Revised model of the benefits and time flexible work policies for 2002 and 2008 national survey of the changing workforce


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Jodi Jacobson, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Philip Osteen, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Jungyai Ko, MSSA, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Haksoon Ahn, PhD, Ruth H. Young Center for Families and Children, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Background and Objectives Continued pressure to balance work and life leads to stress that impacts workplace productivity and safety. Employers attempt to address this by supporting workers through policies and programs that support work-life balance, while also positively affecting employers' bottom lines. This study assesses an updated version of Halpern's (1997) benefits of time-flexible work policies model by testing relationships between flexible work policies, employees' stress, levels of commitment to their employer and costs to the origination

Methods Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the fit and performance of the revised model using a nationally representative sample from the 2002 (N=2810) and 2008 (N=2769) National Survey of the Changing Workforce

Results For the 2002 data, SEM results suggest that as the need for workplace policies increased, so did the number of policies offered by the workplace; as the number of policies offered increased, so did employee commitment; as the number of policies increased, stress decreased; as commitment increased, stress decreased; and as stress decreased, costs to the workplace also decreased. For the 2008 data, results differed slightly. Specifically, the number of policies offered was not related to employee commitment. When the two models were compared, fit statistics suggest that the same models applies to both 2002 and 2008 samples.

Conclusion The modified model was a good fit for the data. Differences in magnitude for some of the variables may be explained by different economic conditions across the time points. Recommendations for occupational health professionals will be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Occupational health and safety
Other professions or practice related to public health
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Assess the applicability of a revised Model of the Benefits and Time Flexible Work Policies for recent data collected by the National Survey of the Changing Workforce. Describe new workplace policies and programs that support quality of work-life for employees and productivity goals of employers. Formulate ideas for new policies and programs that support workers and employers in today’s ever-changing work landscape.

Keyword(s): Workplace Stressors, Occupational Health Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been principal or co-principal investigator on several externally funded grants focusing on occupational health and wellbeing, work/life programs and employee assistance programs (EAPs). Among my scientific interests has been the identification of workplace policies and programs that support employees quality of work-life as well as employers' productivity and safety goals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2071.0: Poster Session: Occupational Disease and Injury Epidemiology