Health and shiftworking in an administrative environment

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the issues in the shiftworking literature and to apply these to an administrative environment.Design/methodology/approachThe scope of the paper is the issue of health problems in shiftworkers in administrative environments. The method was to use case study organisations which had introduced shiftwork and discover from semi‐structured interviews of staff what the effects had been.FindingsGiven the choice, employees opted for shiftwork, especially women and especially for a night or evening shift; anticipated problems of absenteeism and labour turnover and low performance related to health issues were not present.Research limitations/implicationsThe design was limited to two organisations which gave access; this may have been because they were able to report positive outcomes. A broader survey may uncover negative aspects which this paper could not.Practical implicationsThe concerns over health cannot be transferred to an administrative environment. This may encourage organisations to introduce more shift patterns, given full employee involvement from the outset. Shift premia, so common elsewhere, and a concern to cost‐conscious managers were not paid.Originality/valueThe concerns over health uncovered by previous research on shiftwork are not present in administrative environments.