Work Environment — Nordic Labour Journal

Many Danish municipalities seek help to improve psychological working environments

(May 20, 2016) A newly formed group of consultants will be helping municipalities improve employees’ psychological working environments. There is great interest in getting support.

Working women’s psychological ill health made worse by uneven structures

(May 20, 2016) There has been a strong increase in work-related psychological ill health in Sweden in recent years. People working in the health, education and care sector are particularly exposed. But this is not only a Swedish phenomenon. The same development can be found in all developed economies, and hardest hit are women and youths.

Job boredom – a taboo subject

(May 20, 2016) There is a lot of talk about burnout in the workplace. But there is not much serious debate about being bored at work. Yet these repetitive, grey days can dramatically influence work capacity and efficiency.

Sick leave down by 40 percent after focus on attendance

(May 20, 2016) The Norwegian municipality of Songdalen went against the grain in order to cut the level of sick leave. They concentrated on attendance instead of absence, and used the staff’s own knowledge about their working environment with great success.

Is precarious work becoming the new norm?

(May 20, 2016) Precarious work is spreading fast. One fifth of the UK workforce is already employed in the sharing economy, made famous by companies like Uber and Airbnb.

New Swedish work environment strategy: No more fatal work accidents

(Mar 02, 2016) The Swedish government wants a vision zero for fatal work accidents, a sustainable labour market and measures to improve the psychosocial work environment. The government recently presented its work environment strategy for 2016 to 2020.

New regulations improve Swedish workers’ protection against bullying

(Nov 24, 2015) Swedish employers are to become better at preventing people going off sick because of unhealthy workloads or bullying at work. That is what new regulations from the Swedish Work Environment Authority aim to achieve. They contain clearer rules for how employers should work with organisational and social work environment issues.

Why are working life researchers so reluctant to talk about the future?

(Oct 23, 2015) This summer Ann Bergman really managed to ignite the debate on working life research. In an article in the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies she asked why working life researchers are so uninterested in the future.

Do we have a true image of the new working life?

(Oct 23, 2015) For many years there has been talk about the new working life, where work is more about doing something meaningful than about making money. But are we really seeing the emergence of a new type of independent worker who feels collective agreements and permanent contracts are nothing but obstacles?

Stress and time pressure a challenge to Nordic work environments

(Oct 23, 2015) Time pressure is a considerably higher psychosocial risk factor in Nordic businesses compared to the rest of Europe. Nordic businesses also highlight a lack of time as the main obstacle to a good work environment.