How do I stand compared to agency workers? Justice perceptions and employees' counterproductive work behaviours.

AIMS: To test the influence of comparative procedural justice on the counterproductive behaviours of permanent nurses and care attendants who work with agency workers, and explore whether the perceived climate of competition between permanent and agency workers alters this relationship. BACKGROUND: Despite steady reliance on agency workers in the health care sector, there is a dearth of research on the reactions of permanent employees who may respond negatively to the presence of this external workforce. METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed to employees of three long-term care facilities and their supervisors. Hypotheses were tested using moderated mediation analyses on a sample of 232 employee-supervisor dyads. RESULTS: Comparative procedural justice was indirectly related to counterproductive behaviours via employees' organization-based self-esteem. This relationship was weaker when perceived climate of competition was high. CONCLUSION: Promoting high levels of comparative procedural justice among permanent employees, rather than status differences with agency employees, should avert behaviours that could harm organizational functioning and therefore patient care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: We discuss the leadership challenges to support neutral treatment and avoid the development of a competitive climate between permanent and agency workers (e.g., politics based on respect and collaboration, positive leadership).

The social integration of healthcare agency workers in long-term care facilities: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Patient care quality is a key concern for long-term care facilities and is directly related to effective collaboration between healthcare professionals. The use of agency staff in long-term care facilities creates important challenges in terms of coordination and communication within work units. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to assess the mediating effect of common in-group identity in the relationship between permanent employees' perceptions regarding the use of agency workers -namely distributive justice, perceptions of threat, perceived similarities with agency workers, and leader inclusiveness toward agency staff- and the permanent employees' adoption of collaborative behaviours. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTINGS: Three long-term care facilities. PARTICIPANTS: 290 regular healthcare employees (nurses and care attendants). METHODS: Data were obtained through questionnaires filled out by employees. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation analyses. RESULTS: The results showed the indirect effects of perceived distributive justice, perceived similarity and leader inclusiveness toward agency workers on permanent employees' cooperation behaviours through common group identification. Perceptions of threat were not related to common group identification or collaborative behaviours. The results also showed that common in-group identification is related to cooperation behaviours only for employees without previous experience as agency workers. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that permanent healthcare employees who feel they are fairly compensated relative to agency workers, who consider these workers as similar to them, and who believe their supervisor appreciates agency workers' contributions tend to develop a common in-group identity, which fosters collaborative behaviours. Managers of long-term care facilities who wish to foster collaboration among their blended workforce should thus create an environment conducive of a more inclusive identity, particularly if their employees have no previous experience as agency workers.