ABSTRACT
Paid sick leave (PSL) is associated with health care access and health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of PSL as a public health strategy, yet PSL is not guaranteed in the United States. Rural workers may have more limited PSL, but research on rural PSL has been limited. We estimated unadjusted and adjusted PSL prevalence among rural versus urban workers and identified characteristics of rural workers with lower PSL access using the 2014–2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We found rural workers had lower access to PSL than urban workers, even after adjusting for worker and employment characteristics. Paid sick leave access was lowest among rural workers who were Hispanic, lacked employer-sponsored insurance, and reported poorer health status. Lower rural access to PSL poses a threat to the health and health care access of rural workers and has implications for the COVID-19 public health emergency and beyond.
ABSTRACT
In 2020, The COVID-19 crisis has put great pressure on the economy worldwide. Only time can tell whether the COVID-19 crisis will have permanent effects on corporate and household behaviour and how it will affect society at large. This article examines historical experiences of how households managed the financial consequences of rising mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic. We find that the previous pandemic led to an immediate and major increase in primarily small-sum industrial life insurance policies designed for blue-collar workers. The increase in new policies did not, however, have a lasting effect. By the time the pandemic had faded, the number of policies had dropped to below pre-pandemic conditions. This historical experience underlines the fact that there are limits to the extent to which even a major shock, such as a pandemic, can lead to behavioural change among households as currently being predicted in relation to COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Labor shortages in blue-collar occupations have become a significant challenge for firms throughout the United States. Naturally, as employers seek to address those shortages, one of the solutions has been the recruitment of immigrant workers. Multiple languages, mores and cultures within the diverse workforces present unique challenges within workplace cultures. Research suggests that intergroup contact between distinct groups, such as racial or ethnic groups, when certain conditions are in place, can have a positive impact on relationships between members of those groups. Additionally, diverse workplace management studies identify management practices that may enhance diverse workforce outcomes. This qualitative grounded theory study explores the question: How do blue-collar workers, both immigrant and U.S.-born working alongside one another, experience their workplace culture? It consists of responses from 15 participants to semi-structured interviews conducted via electronic communications technology (due to COVID-19 restrictions limiting direct researcher/participant contact). The study took place between the months of June and October of 2022. A new theory, the inverse contact outcome theory, was generated. The theory states that, contrary to what might be expected in diverse blue-collar workplaces, a) positive contact outcomes such as reduction of prejudice and conflict may result among same status blue-collar workers from diverse backgrounds despite the lack of institutionally supportive conditions whereas b) negative contact outcomes of prejudice and conflict may not be mitigated among same status blue-collar workers from diverse backgrounds despite the presence of institutionally supportive conditions. The study also revealed that diverse workforce management approaches that include customized socialization, enhanced communication, and status-based hierarchy mitigation, are essential to positive diverse workforce management practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many workplace health promotion programs (WHPPs) do not reach blue-collar workers. To enhance the fit and reach, a Citizen Science (CS) approach was applied to co-create and implement WHPPs. This study aims to evaluate i) the process of this CS approach and ii) the resulting WHPPs. METHODS: The study was performed in two companies: a construction company and a container terminal company. Data were collected by questionnaires, interviews and logbooks. Using the framework of Nielsen and Randall, process measures were categorized in the intervention, context and mental models. Interviews were transcribed and thematically coded using MaxQDA software. RESULTS: The involvement in the CS approach and co-creating the WHPPs was positively experienced. Information provision, sustained engagement over time and alignment with the workplace's culture resulted in barriers in the CS process. As to the resulting WHPPs, involvement and interaction during the intervention sessions were particularly experienced in small groups. The reach was affected by the unfavorable planning off the WHPPs and external events of re-originations and the covid-19 pandemic. DISCUSSION: Continuous information provision and engagement over time, better alignment with the workplace's culture and favorable planning are considered to be important factors for facilitating involvement, reach and satisfaction of the workers in a Citizen science approach to design and implement a WHPP. Further studies continuously monitoring the process of WHPPs using the CS approach could be helpful to anticipate on external factors and increase the adaptability. CONCLUSIONS: Workers were satisfied with the involvement in WHPPs. Organizational and social cultural factors were barriers for the CS approach and its reach. Involvement and interaction in WHPPs were particularly experienced in small grouped sessions. Consequently, contextual and personal factors need be considered in the design and implementation of WHPPs with CS approach among blue-collar workers.