Zero-hour contracts and stress in UK domiciliary care workers
Zero-hour contracts and stress in UK domiciliary care workers
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DOI：
10.1111/hsc.12652
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发表时间：
2019-03-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Fidalgo, Antonio Rei
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ravalier, Jermaine;Morton, Rheanna;Fidalgo, Antonio Rei
英国的家庭护理工作者在维护和改善有各种需求的服务用户的生活方面发挥着至关重要的作用。这些员工中约有60%是在零时合同下工作的，但是，尽管众所周知，临时和轮班工作等条件会影响员工的健康和表现，但零时工作尚未得到广泛调查。该项目试图首先调查与作为一名护工工作相关的压力，并比较合同制为零时工的员工与合同制为每周至少16小时的员工的经历。29个半结构化访谈（15个零时，14个合同小时）进行了在英国西米德兰兹郡，并使用专题分析进行分析。在所有的参与者中，发现了四个主要的压力源：第一，高责任的工作报酬很低。其次，参与者描述了由于访问时间的不同以及服务用户及其家人的粗鲁和攻击性行为而难以保持适当的工作与生活平衡。最后，讨论了缺乏同伴支持和同伴照顾不力的问题。然而，每个受访者都描述了他们与服务用户建立的积极关系，这是一个独特的压力缓解者。零时受访者讨论了另外两个压力源。权力是指员工与管理层之间的关系，受访者描述了权力与管理层之间的平衡。不确定性反映了受访者没有固定的工作时间或工资，因此无法规划个人生活，有时无法支付账单。调查结果表明，护理人员暴露于一系列的压力源，与零时添加到这些。进一步的研究应该探讨如何改善工人的工作角色，并纠正那些零时合同的权力关系。
The UK domiciliary care workers play a vital role in maintaining and improving the lives of service users who have a variety of needs. Around 60% of these employees work under zero-hours contracts but, while it is known that conditions such as temporary and shift working can influence employee health and performance, zero-hours have not been widely investigated. This project sought to first investigate the stress associated with working as a domiciliary care worker, as well as comparing the experiences of employees contracted to zero-hours with those contracted to at least 16 hr per week. Twenty-nine semistructured interviews (15 zero-hour, 14 contracted hours) were conducted in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom and analysed using thematic analysis. Across all participants, four predominant stressors were found. First, the level of pay for a job with high levels of responsibility was poor. Second, participants described struggling to maintain an adequate work-life balance due to the varied timings of visits, as well as rude and aggressive behaviour from both service users and their families. Lastly, a lack of peer support and poor care from peers was discussed. However, every respondent described the positive relationships that they develop with service users being a distinct stress reliever. Zero-hours respondents discussed two further stressors. Power refers to the relationship between employee and management, with respondents describing the balance of power being with the management. Uncertainty reflected respondents not having set hours of work or pay, and thus not being able to plan their personal lives and sometimes not being able to pay bills. Findings suggest that domiciliary care workers are exposed to a range of stressors, with zero-hours adding to these. Further research should look into methods to improve both the job role for workers, and redress the power relationships for those with zero-hours contracts.