Friends or foes? Understanding the role of firms and workplaces for worker health

The project analyses the importance of firm and workplace dimensions for the level of sickness absences in Norway and Denmark, and for specific worker groups. To achieve this we apply interview, questionnaire and rich register data. Sub-project 1 studies how different ownership and management structures as well as changes in these structures affect sickness absence patterns. Different ownership and management structures express e.g., foreign-owned, family-owned, stock company, size, female-managed, and a re known to affect labour management and pay, and may also be important for absences. Sub-project 2 studies how firm and workplace norms and culture affect worker sickness absences. It is based on qualitative interview data and register data. The latter d ata allow us to study how norms may have changed the last decade, and how our conclusions are sensitive to the length of absence and kind of absence. Sub-project 3 analyses the relationship between work environment, compensation and sickness absences in N orway and Denmark. Are badly-paid workers more likely to experience injuries and illnesses than others, or is it the other way around? We also study the importance of different workplace payment schemes for the sickness absence probability. Sub-project 4 studies competition, tenders and the impact on sickness absence. On register data we study how the level and changes in the level of competition affect sickness absences. To get information on the impact of tenders we conduct questionnaires and qualitativ e interviews with employees and management in the bus transport sector. Sub-project 5 analyses how gender sickness absence differences are affected by the work environment characteristics of sub-projects 1-4. Sub-project 6 analyses how sickness absence pa ttern for ethnic groups are explained by the work environment characteristics of sub-projects 1-4) and the importance of plant closures. This may shed light on issues such as discrimination and segmentation.