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Long working hours are inversely related to sick leave in the following 3 months: a 4-year registry study

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of long working hours (≥ 12 h shifts) on sick leave using objective records of shift work exposure and of sick leave.

Methods

A total of 1538 nurses (mean age 42.5, SD 12.0; response rate 42%) participated. Payroll and archival sick leave data over a 4-year period were retrieved from employers’ records and aggregated over every third calendar month. A multilevel negative binomial model was used to investigate the effects of exposure to long working hours, on subsequent sick leave rates the following 3 months. Covariates included prior sick leave, number of shifts worked, night and evening shifts, personality, and demographic characteristics.

Results

Exposure to long working hours was associated with fewer sick leave days in the subsequent 3 months [adjusted model, incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.946, 95% CI 0.919–0.973, p < 0.001]. The interaction long working hours by a number of work days showed that sick leave days the subsequent 3 months was higher by long shifts when number of shifts was high compared to when number of shifts was low [adjusted model, IRR 1.002, 95% CI 1.000–1.004, p < 0.05].

Discussion

Long working hours was associated with fewer sick leave days. The restorative effects of extra days off with long working hours are discussed as possible explanations to this relationship.

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Acknowledgements

We thank employees at the personnel department at Haukeland University Hospital for their assistance with retrieving the payroll and sick leave data.

Funding

The study was partly funded from Nordforsk, Nordic Program on Health and Welfare (74809).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, PO Box 8905, MTFS, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Øystein Vedaa & Børge Sivertsen

  2. Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Zander Kaaes Gate 7, 5018, Bergen, Norway

    Øystein Vedaa & Børge Sivertsen

  3. Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Christiesgt 12, 5015, Bergen, Norway

    Ståle Pallesen, Eilin K. Erevik & Anette Harris

  4. Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Jonas Lies vei 65, 5021, Bergen, Norway

    Ståle Pallesen, Siri Waage & Bjørn Bjorvatn

  5. Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 65, 5021, Bergen, Norway

    Erling Svensen

  6. Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Post Box 7807, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Siri Waage & Bjørn Bjorvatn

  7. Department of Research and Innovation, Helse Fonna HF, Møllervegen 22, Haugesund, Norway

    Børge Sivertsen

Authors
  1. Øystein Vedaa
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  2. Ståle Pallesen
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  3. Eilin K. Erevik
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  4. Erling Svensen
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  5. Siri Waage
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  6. Bjørn Bjorvatn
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  7. Børge Sivertsen
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  8. Anette Harris
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Contributions

ØV, AH, SP, BB, SW, ES and BS took part in planning the study. ØV, AH, ES and SW took part in gathering the data. ØV, AH, SP, BB, SW, ES, BS and EE took part in writing up the manuscript and reporting the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Øystein Vedaa.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics, Northern Norway (number 2013/526/REK nor) and by the Norwegian Data Inspectorate (13/00569-2/CGN).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Vedaa, Ø., Pallesen, S., Erevik, E.K. et al. Long working hours are inversely related to sick leave in the following 3 months: a 4-year registry study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 92, 457–466 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-018-1372-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-018-1372-x

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