IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i21p7771-d433905.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work

Author

Listed:
  • Georges Steffgen

    (Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Health and Behavior, University of Luxembourg, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)

  • Philipp E. Sischka

    (Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Health and Behavior, University of Luxembourg, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)

  • Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa

    (Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Health and Behavior, University of Luxembourg, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)

Abstract

(1) Background: Job quality is a multidimensional and elusive concept that is back in vogue among social scientists and policymaker. The current study proposes a new job quality approach that is compared with the European Working Conditions Survey framework and structured with the help of the Job Demands-Resources model. Two new measures of job quality, the Quality of Work Index (QoW) and the Quality of Employment Index (QoE) are developed and validated in three different languages (German, French, Luxembourgish). The QoW is composed of 43 items, focusing on four areas of work—work intensity, job design, social conditions, and physical conditions (subdivided in eleven components)—which are particularly important for employees’ well-being. The QoE is composed of 13 items that cover training opportunities, career advancement, job security, employability, work life conflict, and income satisfaction. (2) Methods: Data were collected via computer-assisted telephone interviews in a representative sample of 1522 employees working in Luxembourg (aged 17–67 years; 57.2% male). (3) Results: Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the proposed factors structure and scalar measurement invariance for the three different language versions. Internal consistencies were satisfactory for all subscales (Cronbach’s α between 0.70 and 0.87). Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses with different psychological health measures (i.e., burnout, general well-being, psychosomatic complaints, work satisfaction, vigor) and subjective work performance confirmed the construct validity of the new instruments. (4) Conclusions: The QoW and the QoE are globally and on the level of the sub-categories effective tools to measure job quality, which could be used to compare job quality between organizations and different countries. Furthermore, the current study confirms associations between the different components of the QoW and QoE and employees’ health.

Suggested Citation

  • Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7771-:d:433905
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7771/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7771/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Buuren, Stef & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin, 2011. "mice: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 45(i03).
    2. Van Aerden, Karen & Puig-Barrachina, Vanessa & Bosmans, Kim & Vanroelen, Christophe, 2016. "How does employment quality relate to health and job satisfaction in Europe? A typological approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 132-140.
    3. Francis Green, 2004. "Work Intensification, Discretion, and the Decline in Well-Being at Work," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 615-625, Fall.
    4. Andrew E. Clark, 2005. "Your Money or Your Life: Changing Job Quality in OECD Countries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(3), pages 377-400, September.
    5. Johnson, J.V. & Hall, E.M., 1988. "Job strain, work place social support, and cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional study of random sample of the Swedish Working Population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 78(10), pages 1336-1342.
    6. Lang, Frieder R. & John, Dennis & Lüdtke, Oliver & Schupp, Jürgen & Wagner, Gert G., 2011. "Short Assessment of the Big Five: Robust Across Survey Methods Except Telephone Interviewing," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 548-567.
    7. Arne L. Kalleberg & Stephen Vaisey, 2005. "Pathways to a Good Job: Perceived Work Quality among the Machinists in North America," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(3), pages 431-454, September.
    8. Bart Verkuil & Serpil Atasayi & Marc L Molendijk, 2015. "Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Sandrine Cazes & Alexander Hijzen & Anne Saint-Martin, 2015. "Measuring and Assessing Job Quality: The OECD Job Quality Framework," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 174, OECD Publishing.
    10. Brendan Burchell & Kirsten Sehnbruch & Agnieszka Piasna & Nurjk Agloni, 2014. "The quality of employment and decent work: definitions, methodologies, and ongoing debates," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(2), pages 459-477.
    11. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    12. Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Ficapal-Cusí, Pilar & Torrent Sellens, Joan, 2014. "Workplace or working environment? Job quality and economic crisis in Spain," EconStor Preprints 162057, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Janine Leschke & Andrew Watt, 2014. "Challenges in Constructing a Multi-dimensional European Job Quality Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 1-31, August.
    14. Georges Steffgen & Diane Kohl & Gerhard Reese & Christian Happ & Philipp Sischka, 2015. "Quality of Work: Validation of a New Instrument in Three Languages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Davide Arcidiacono & Giorgio Piccitto, 2023. "Assessing Inclusivity Through Job Quality in Digital Plat‐Firms," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(4), pages 239-250.
    2. Michał T. Tomczak & Joanna Maria Szulc & Małgorzata Szczerska, 2021. "Inclusive Communication Model Supporting the Employment Cycle of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Gregor Murray & Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau & Christian Lévesque & Nicolas Roby, 2023. "What makes work better or worse? An analytical framework," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(3), pages 305-322, August.
    4. Michele BAIOCCO & Martin BLAIS & Mariia SAMOILENKO & Line CHAMBERLAND & Isabel CÔTÉ, 2023. "Development of a composite job quality index for LGBTQ+ workers in Quebec (Canada)," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(2), pages 327-353, June.
    5. Kaori Fujishiro & Emily Q. Ahonen & Megan Winkler, 2022. "Investigating Employment Quality for Population Health and Health Equity: A Perspective of Power," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    6. PORANCEA-RĂULEA Andreea Simina, 2023. "The Potential Of Work From Home For Determining Job Quality," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 18(1), pages 261-274, April.
    7. Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa & Philipp E. Sischka & Georges Steffgen, 2023. "Predicting Challenge and Threat Appraisal of Job Demands among Nurses: The Role of Matching Job Resources," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-16, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prümer, Stephanie, 2019. "Ist der Staat der bessere Arbeitgeber? Arbeitsqualität im Öffentlichen und Privaten Sektor in Deutschland," Discussion Papers 107, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    2. Paula Franklin & Wouter Zwysen & Agnieszka Piasna, 2022. "Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Shi, Zheng, 2023. "The impact of regional ICT development on job quality of the employee in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    4. Green, Francis, 2021. "Decent Work and The Quality of Work and Employment," GLO Discussion Paper Series 817, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Michele BAIOCCO & Martin BLAIS & Mariia SAMOILENKO & Line CHAMBERLAND & Isabel CÔTÉ, 2023. "Development of a composite job quality index for LGBTQ+ workers in Quebec (Canada)," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(2), pages 327-353, June.
    6. Bakker, Vincent & Van Vliet, Olaf, 2019. "Social Investment, Employment Outcomes and Policy and Institutional Complementarities: A Comparative Analysis across 26 OECD countries," MPRA Paper 96140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Georges Steffgen & Diane Kohl & Gerhard Reese & Christian Happ & Philipp Sischka, 2015. "Quality of Work: Validation of a New Instrument in Three Languages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Esef Hakan Toytok & Sungur Gürel, 2019. "Does Project Children’s University Increase Academic Self-Efficacy in 6th Graders? A Weak Experimental Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-12, February.
    9. Alexander Matros & Vladimir Smirnov & Andrew Wait & Helen Zhang, 2023. "Microfoundations of work intensification and burnout," Working Papers 2023-02, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    10. Agnieszka Piasna & Marcello Pedaci & Jan Czarzasty, 2021. "Multiple jobholding in Europe: features and effects of primary job quality," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(2), pages 181-199, May.
    11. Helena Lopes & Sérgio Lagoa & Teresa Calapez, 2014. "Work autonomy, work pressure, and job satisfaction: An analysis of European Union countries," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 306-326, June.
    12. M. Agovino & A. Rapposelli, 2017. "Regional Performance Trends in Providing Employment for Persons with Disabilities: Evidence from Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 593-615, January.
    13. Yi Zhang & Martin Salm & Arthur Soest, 2021. "The effect of training on workers’ perceived job match quality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 2477-2498, May.
    14. Kate R. Pawloski & Betty Kolod & Rabeea F. Khan & Vishal Midya & Tania Chen & Adeyemi Oduwole & Bernard Camins & Elena Colicino & I. Michael Leitman & Ismail Nabeel & Kristin Oliver & Damaskini Valvi, 2021. "Factors Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Physician Trainees in New York City during the First COVID-19 Wave," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    15. McGinnity, Frances & Russell, Helen & Privalko, Ivan & Enright, Shannen & O'Brien, Doireann, 2021. "Monitoring decent work in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT414, June.
    16. Sebastian Kurten & David Winant & Kathleen Beullens, 2021. "Mothers Matter: Using Regression Tree Algorithms to Predict Adolescents’ Sharing of Drunk References on Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Clark, Andrew E. & Kozák, Michal, 2023. "Twenty Years of Job Quality in OECD Countries: More Good News?," IZA Discussion Papers 16597, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Zuzanna Kowalik & Piotr Lewandowski & Paweł Kaczmarczyk, 2022. "Job quality gaps between migrant and native gig workers: evidence from Poland," IBS Working Papers 09/2022, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    19. Hayes, Timothy & McArdle, John J., 2017. "Should we impute or should we weight? Examining the performance of two CART-based techniques for addressing missing data in small sample research with nonnormal variables," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 35-52.
    20. Stef Adriaenssens & Giulia Garofalo Geymonat & Laura Oso, 2016. "Quality of Work in Prostitution and Sex Work. Introduction to the Special Section," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(4), pages 121-132, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7771-:d:433905. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.