Research

2004 -2015: Care4health/Fit4theJob

Between 2004 and 2015 we launched of a study on the effects of illness on the well-being of employees. This survey was repeated in 2010, 2005 and 2007. A new wave of data collection took place in 2014/2015. Besides the initial focus on absenteeism (2005), attention shifted to well-being of employees (around burnout, flow, job satisfaction, job (in) security, communication, work-life culture and work-life balance (WLB) in 2007 and 2010. The research is longitudinal. The dataset consists of absenteeism data and personnel data, both from the organization (FINCOM). Next to our own questionnaire, we used external health check data related to well-being.

Researchers:

2001-2010: Changes in Work and Life (CWL)

The purpose of this project is to examine what happens after an organisation has decided to adopt work/life policies or to translate public provisions into practices; i.e. to investigate the implementation of work/life policies. Two perspectives are central: the perspective of the individual employee and the managerial perspective. By investigating the decision making of managers in different organisations in various countries, as well as the experiences of employees new insights can be gained under which circumstances work/life policies are success full for both the organisation and the work/life balance of employees. In total data will be collected in 7 organisations across 3 different countries; i.e. the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The national context in which organisations operate differs between countries. Countries differ in the degree public policies intervene in the work/life balance. Sweden is known for its wide range of public policies regarding leave arrangements and public childcare. The UK and the Netherlands have less legislation. In the research project government policy is related to experiences with work/life policies within firms and organisations. Organisations are selected from the financial sector (one or two private companies, one public). In each organisation managers are interviewed and asked to participate in a vignette study on managerial decision-making regarding the use of work life policies. A survey among a representative sample of employees will be conducted in each organisation to determine the utilisation of policies and the factors that may affect take up.

Researchers:

  • Laura den Dulk (University of Utrecht  / Erasmus University Rotterdam)
  • Bram Peper (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
  • dr. Anneke van Doorne-Huiskes (University of Utrecht, supervision)

2003 – 2006: TRANSITIONS

TRANSTIONS is a qualitative cross-national research project which aims to examine how young European adults negotiate motherhood and fatherhood and work-family boundaries in the context of labour market and workplace change, different national welfare state regimes and family and employer supports. The project is examining individual and household strategies and their consequences for well being at the individual, family and organisational levels. This is studied in the context of parallel organisational contexts and macro levels of public support in the 8 participating countries: France, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, Bulgaria and Slovenia.