Leading for change: line managers’ influence on the outcomes of an occupational health intervention

Line managers may play a central role in the success of occupational health interventions. However, few studies have focussed on the relationship between line managers’ behaviours and the outcomes of occupational health interventions. We examined the influence of both line managers’ attitudes and actions towards an intervention as well as their transformational leadership on the expected outcomes of the intervention (i.e. employee self-rated health and work ability). The intervention consisted of the implementation and use of a web-based system for occupational health management. A sample of 180 employees provided data for the analysis. Self-rated health and work ability were measured at the baseline (Time 1) and follow-up (Time 3), while employee ratings of line managers’ attitudes and actions, and transformational leadership were measured during the intervention process (Time 2). The results revealed that line managers’ attitudes and actions positively predicted changes in both self-rated health and work ability. The influence of transformational leadership was indirect and mediated through line managers’ attitudes and actions towards the intervention. Based on the results, we suggest using process measures that include aspects of both line managers’ attitudes and actions as well as their transformational leadership in future process evaluation.     

When is a bed not a bed? Exploring the interplay of the material and virtual in negotiating home-work boundaries

Working from home is often associated with possibilities of anytime-anyplace working and with a fusion of work and home. In this empirical paper, we explore how the sociomaterial contexts of home-working define and tether what is possible for home-workers in their negotiations with others. Drawing on qualitative data sets, Wengerian concepts are used by exploring the role of boundary objects and brokering in negotiating temporal and spatial boundaries around and across work and home. The home-workers’ bodies are shown to be the key boundary objects, through which technology objects and furniture objects are sometimes fused. Yet, such fusion is shown to be only temporary, always precariously situated and also mediated by identity-regulating norms and values of home-workers. The contribution of the paper is to highlight the limits of what is technologically possible by emphasising the role of the body and material objects in the home-working context.     

The Implementation of European Community Equality Legislation on Social Security: International Experiences*

Abstract. The article evaluates the EC Equality Directives in matters of social security adopted by the Council in 1978 and 1986. We ask whether these EC Directives are appropriate instruments to reduce manifest disadvantages women face in the national social security systems. In the first part, some features are singled out in the European pension systems which are particularly disadvantageous to women. In the second, the EC Directives are analysed with respect to their material scope and the underlying normative concepts. Thirdly, some problems with respect to the legislative implementation of the Social Security Directives in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany are discussed. It is argued that the Directives, in prescribing equal treatment, do not lead to substantial improvement for women.     

Adolescents Exiting Homelessness Over Two Years: The Risk Amplification and Abatement Model

The Risk Amplification and Abatement Model (RAAM) demonstrates that negative contact with socializing agents amplify risk, while positive contact abates risk for homeless adolescents. To test this model, the likelihood of exiting homelessness and returning to familial housing at 2 years and stably exiting over time are examined with longitudinal data collected from 183 newly homeless adolescents followed over 2 years in Los Angeles, CA. In support of RAAM, unadjusted odds of exiting at 2 years and stably exiting over 2 years revealed that engagement with prosocial peers, maternal social support, and continued school attendance all promoted exiting behaviors. Simultaneously, exposure to family violence and reliance on shelter services discouraged stably exiting behaviors. Implications for family‐based interventions are proposed.     

Where Activity Without Pay Pays Off: International Evidence on Participating in Voluntary Associations and Wages

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Empirical evidence from single-country studies on the relation between volunteering and wages is mixed. This paper uses an...