A multi-wave study of organizational justice at work and long-term sickness absence among employees with depressive symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
Mental health problems are strong predictors of long-term sickness absence (LTSA). In this study, we investigated whether organizational justice at work - fairness in resolving conflicts and distributing work - prevents risk of LTSA among employees with depressive symptoms.


METHODS
In a longitudinal study with five waves of data collection, we examined a cohort of 1034 employees with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms and organizational justice were assessed by self-administered questionnaires and information on LTSA was derived from a national register. Using Poisson regression analyses, we calculated rate ratios (RR) for the prospective association of organizational justice and change in organizational justice with time to onset of LTSA. All analyses were sex stratified.


RESULTS
Among men, intermediate levels of organizational justice were statistically significantly associated with a decreased risk of subsequent LTSA after adjustment for covariates [RR 0.49, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.26-0.91]. There was also a decreased risk for men with high levels of organizational justice although these estimates did not reach statistical significance after adjustment (RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.20-1.10). We found no such results for women. In both sexes, neither favorable nor adverse changes in organizational justice were statistically significantly associated with the risk of LTSA.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that organizational justice may have a protective effect on the risk of LTSA among men with depressive symptoms. A protective effect of favorable changes in organizational justice was not found.
National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. pmi@nrcwe.dk.
Pernille U
PU
Hjarsbech
Karl Bang
KB
Christensen
Jakob B
JB
Bjorner
Ida E H
IE
Madsen
Sannie V
SV
Thorsen
Isabella G
IG
Carneiro
Ulla
U
Christensen
Reiner
R
Rugulies
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015984:Causality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011640:Public Policy; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012935:Social Justice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult