Employmentweb_low

employment relations and health inequalities: a conceptual and empirical overvieW
Figure 7. distribution of employment contracts by country group* in the eu-27 (%) in 2005.
CC: TR, HR
IE, UK
EL, ES, IT,CY, MT, PT
CZ, EE, LV, LT, HU, PL, SI, SK
EU27
DK, NL, FI, SE
AC: BG, RO
BE, DE, FR, LU, AT
Non-EU: CH+NO
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
indefinite-term contract fixed-term contract temporary employment
agency contract
apprenticeship or other
no contract
other
training scheme
Workers with a permanent contract have more skills and credentials,
more information on workplace hazards, experience less hazardous work
conditions, and have better health outcomes. In the EU-15, for example,
nearly 20 per cent of workers with no contract, temporary contract or those
working in manual occupations are not well-informed about workplace
hazards as compared to only 12 per cent among permanent and whitecollar
workers (Parent-Thirion, et al., 2007). research also shows that 31.6
per cent of full-time permanent workers suffer backache, and for women
this risk seemed to increase (Benach, Gimeno, & Benavides, 2002). Overall,
full-time permanent workers present low levels of job dissatisfaction and
health problems (i.e., fatigue, backache and muscular pains) and moderate
levels of stress, but absenteeism was high (Benavides, Benach, Diez-roux,
& roman, 2000). Many studies on permanent employment have
determined that psychological health and job satisfaction may be parts of a
causal chain reflecting the interplay of health and other aspects of
wellbeing. People with impaired health may be more vulnerable in critical
transitions in their life-course, and this, in turn, reinforces the social
gradient in health. Furthermore, findings of similar associations between
types of employment and health in several surveys on working conditions in
the European Union suggest that these associations may be robust
(Benach, Gimeno, Benavides, Martínez, & Torné, 2004).
* Candidate countries (CC): Turkey (Tr),
Croatia (Hr); Ireland (IE) and the United
Kingdom (UK); Southern European countries:
Greece (El), Spain (ES), Italy (IT), Cyprus (Cy),
Malta (MT), Portugal (PT); Eastern European
countries: Czech republic (CZ), Estonia (EE),
latvia (lV), lithuania (lT), Hungary (HU),
Poland (Pl), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK);
Scandinavian countries and the netherlands:
Denmark (DK), The netherlands (nl), Finland
(FI), Sweden (SE); acceding countries (aC):
Bulgaria (BG), romania (rO); Continental
countries: Belgium (BE), Germany (DE),
France (Fr), luxembourg (lU), austria (aT);
non-EU (European Free Trade association,
EFTa): Switzerland (CH), norway (nO).
note: Figures apply to employees only
source: parent-thirion, a., Fernández macías, e., hurley, J., & vermeylen, g. (2007). Fourth European working conditions survey. dublin:
european Foundation for the improvement of living and Working conditions.
137