Strategies to manage working from home during the pandemic: the employee experience

Many Australian workers were mandated to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a qualitative approach, this study aimed to identify optimal work from home management strategies, by analysing the experience of Australian employees working from home (WFH) during this time. A purposive sample, drawn from the Australian Employees Working from Home Study, of managers and non-managers from a range of sectors, was invited to participate in focus groups. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and mapped to the work-systems framework approach to determine strategies implemented to support WFH. Most participants' experiences were more negative than positive, in part due to extreme lockdowns including curfews, with childcare and school closures compounding their WFH experiences. Effective workplace-initiated strategies to optimise WFH included: management support of flexible work hours; provision of necessary equipment with ICT support; regular online communication; performance management adjustments; and manager training.

Perceptions of the impact of non-standard work schedules on health in Australian graduates: an exploratory study

Non-standard working hours are associated with negative health outcomes. However, little is known about the early years of exposure to non-standard work hours, or whether workers new to these work schedules perceive their work as impacting their health. This limits our ability to develop meaningful intervention strategies for transitioning into non-standard work hour schedules. This exploratory study investigated whether recent Australian graduates in various non-standard workhour schedules perceive that their work schedule negatively impacts their health. The responses of 120 graduates within four years of completing their tertiary qualification collected from an online survey were analysed. Graduates were asked whether they perceived their work arrangements as impacting their health. Significantly more of those who were engaged in non-standard work schedules or worked beyond contracted hours perceived their working arrangements as having an impact on their health. This study highlights the importance of studying workers' perceptions of the impact of work hours on health, particularly when workers may be experiencing good global health but be at risk for negative health outcomes in future.