TY - JOUR

T1 - Work availability types and well-being in Germany–a latent class analysis among a nationally representative sample

AU - Brauner, Corinna

AU - Wöhrmann, Anne M.

AU - Michel, Alexandra

PY - 2022/7/3

Y1 - 2022/7/3

N2 - Employees who remain available for work outside regular work hours often experience strain and work–home conflicts. This study clusters employees in distinct availability types based on different aspects of unregulated extended work ability, which are contacting frequency, availability expectations and perceived legitimacy of availability. Moreover, we examined covariates of class membership and relationships with employees’ well-being. We used data from 17,410 employees who took part in a representative survey of the German working population. Latent class analysis with double cross-validation revealed three availability types. Satisfaction with work–life balance was higher and internal work–home interference was lower in the “rarely available”-class than in the “legitimate available”-class and the “illegitimate available”-class. Members of the “illegitimate available”-class reported worse subjective health, more psychovegetative health complaints, and higher levels of exhaustion than members of the “legitimate available”-class and the “rarely available”-class. Several socio-demographic variables, job characteristics, and factors associated with boundary management predicted class membership. Overall, the study highlights the risks for employees’ well-being associated with unregulated extended work availability – particularly when it is perceived as illegitimate – and points towards implications on the individual, organisational, and political level that may help reduce and better manage extended work ability.

AB - Employees who remain available for work outside regular work hours often experience strain and work–home conflicts. This study clusters employees in distinct availability types based on different aspects of unregulated extended work ability, which are contacting frequency, availability expectations and perceived legitimacy of availability. Moreover, we examined covariates of class membership and relationships with employees’ well-being. We used data from 17,410 employees who took part in a representative survey of the German working population. Latent class analysis with double cross-validation revealed three availability types. Satisfaction with work–life balance was higher and internal work–home interference was lower in the “rarely available”-class than in the “legitimate available”-class and the “illegitimate available”-class. Members of the “illegitimate available”-class reported worse subjective health, more psychovegetative health complaints, and higher levels of exhaustion than members of the “legitimate available”-class and the “rarely available”-class. Several socio-demographic variables, job characteristics, and factors associated with boundary management predicted class membership. Overall, the study highlights the risks for employees’ well-being associated with unregulated extended work availability – particularly when it is perceived as illegitimate – and points towards implications on the individual, organisational, and political level that may help reduce and better manage extended work ability.

KW - burnout

KW - ICT

KW - illegitimate tasks

KW - on-call work

KW - work-family conflict

KW - work–home interface

KW - Health sciences

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113598487&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/b638a246-94c3-3cb7-bf5b-62b789bda2c2/

U2 - 10.1080/02678373.2021.1969475

DO - 10.1080/02678373.2021.1969475

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85113598487

VL - 36

SP - 251

EP - 273

JO - Work and Stress

JF - Work and Stress

SN - 0267-8373

IS - 3

ER -