<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Objectives. Alongside individual indicators of job performance, even workers’ health status could be a criterion for selection. The mechanisms for health selection are a reduction of productivity in relation to illness or certain health behaviour. The aim of the study was to establish how indicators of workers’ health status, which are accessible to the employer, influence the employer’s decision-making on which workers to retain and which to dismiss during personnel restructuring in the enterprise. Methods. Due to a planned closure of a plant, the observed company began personnel restructuring which included a strategic decrease in the number of employees and the relocation of workers within the company. Two nested case control studies were conducted. The cases were divided into two groups and defined as follows: employees who were relocated and employees whose employment contract was terminated. Results. The results show that the disability category and long-time sick leave exert the greatest influence on the employer’s decision on the selection of workers. Workers with work-related disability have lower odds to be relocated to a new workplace (OR=0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 1.1) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=6.51; 95% CI 3.33 to 12.72). The workers with a history of a long-time sick leave also have lower odds to be relocated (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.88) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=4.32; 95% CI 2.08 to 8.96). Conclusions. Indicators of health which were accessible to the employer actually exerted influence on the employer’s decision-making, which could show a direct form of health selection.</abstract>

Objectives. Alongside individual indicators of job performance, even workers’ health status could be a criterion for selection. The mechanisms for health selection are a reduction of productivity in relation to illness or certain health behaviour. The aim of the study was to establish how indicators of workers’ health status, which are accessible to the employer, influence the employer’s decision-making on which workers to retain and which to dismiss during personnel restructuring in the enterprise. Methods. Due to a planned closure of a plant, the observed company began personnel restructuring which included a strategic decrease in the number of employees and the relocation of workers within the company. Two nested case control studies were conducted. The cases were divided into two groups and defined as follows: employees who were relocated and employees whose employment contract was terminated. Results. The results show that the disability category and long-time sick leave exert the greatest influence on the employer’s decision on the selection of workers. Workers with work-related disability have lower odds to be relocated to a new workplace (OR=0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 1.1) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=6.51; 95% CI 3.33 to 12.72). The workers with a history of a long-time sick leave also have lower odds to be relocated (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.88) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=4.32; 95% CI 2.08 to 8.96). Conclusions. Indicators of health which were accessible to the employer actually exerted influence on the employer’s decision-making, which could show a direct form of health selection.

The Influence of Workers’ Health Status on Employers’ Decision-Making During Personnel Restructuring in a Typical Public Limited Enterprise in Slovenia / Vpliv Zdravstvenega Stanja Delavcev Na Odločanje Delodajalca Med Procesom Kadrovskega Prestrukturiranja Značilne Delniške Družbe V Sloveniji

Department of Occupational, Traffic and Sports Medicine, Medical Center Ptuj, Potrceva 19a, Ptuj, Slovenia

Institute of Occupational, Traffic and Sports Medicine, University Medical Center, Poljanski nasip 58, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Objectives. Alongside individual indicators of job performance, even workers’ health status could be a criterion for selection. The mechanisms for health...

Published Online: Jun 09, 2015

Page range: 175 - 183

Received: Aug 24, 2014

Accepted: Feb 17, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2015-0025

Keywords
sick leave, disability category, medical certificates, health selection, personnel restructuring

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Published Online: Jun 09, 2015

Page range: 175 - 183

Received: Aug 24, 2014

Accepted: Feb 17, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2015-0025

Keywordssick leave, disability category, medical certificates, health selection, personnel restructuring

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
sick leave, disability category, medical certificates, health selection, personnel restructuring