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Reduced working efficiency due to severe health problems still poses a major employment risk. Employers either show no interest in staff ill-health or do not know how to deal with it. These are the main findings of a study analysing the employment situation of people who have retired on the grounds of occupational disability.
As in many other European countries, pension reforms have resulted in a higher retirement age in Austria. This raises the question of how to maintain employee efficiency until they reach statutory retirement. A study carried out by the Institut für Berufs - und Erwachsenen - bildungs - forschung of Linz University, within the framework of an EQUAL project (European social fund programme), focuses on the employment status and retirement path of people who have retired on the grounds of occupational disability.
The study is based on a combination of methods, including: secondary data analyses; a quantitative telephone survey of 400 retired persons (retired on the grounds of occupational invalidity or disability) and of 400 persons whose application for invalidity/disability pension was rejected (random sampling); as well as qualitative interviews with retired people and experts.
Among the reasons for early retirement on the grounds of occupational disability, musculo-skeletal illnesses rank first (one in three), followed by psychiatric and cardiovascular problems. Since 2001, psychiatric conditions have been the most frequent reason among women (30%).
The study also outlines changes in employment status among those who were interviewed. Whereas three years before they applied for a disability pension, only 9.5% of the interviewees were unemployed, this percentage rises to 24% at the time of submitting the application.
This means that severe health problems entail an enhanced risk of job loss and unemployment, the main reason for which can be found in the negative response of management to employee health problems. Some 17.6% of the employees concerned were dismissed by their employer, while in 10.9% of cases, a consensual termination of the employment work contract was the consequence: in total, 28% of the employees lost their jobs. Only 5.5% of persons affected were offered preventative measures such as changes in working conditions or of workplace.
This high risk of unemployment also has another negative effect on health and safety policies. For fear of losing their jobs, employees tend to hide their health problems from co-workers, middle and higher management for as long as possible. Thus, the opportunity for timely treatment or special therapies is lost, and many health problems go unnoticed until it is too late.
A further finding of the study is that negative management response to reduced work ability, on the grounds of ill health, is often due to a lack of adequate instruments. Company health policies tend to concentrate on employee health awareness and behaviour or on minor changes in the workplace. The study concludes that employers can only rely on a limited number of options concerning how to respond to employee health problems. The authors identify a lack of knowledge in companies regarding the possibilities and instruments needed to deal with severe health problems among their staff.
Source: Dublin Foundation
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