• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.476-482
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• 2023

Introduction: There is a growing global interest in the issue of precarious employment. We aimed to analyze the characteristics and socio-demographic distribution of precarious employment using a summative score approach. Methods: To operationalize precarious employment, we utilized data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey and focused on three distinct dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and a lack of rights and protections. By constructing a summative scale ranging from -16 to 2, with lower scores indicating higher precariousness, we measured employment precariousness among Korean wage workers. To compare employment precariousness according to survey participant characteristics, we employed the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. Results: We analyzed a weighted number of 38,432 workers. The overall sample showed a median (Q1, Q3) summative scale score of -3 (-6, -1). The median summative score was lower for women compared to men (men: -2; women: -5; p < 0.001), as well as for young or older workers compared to middle-aged workers (young: -4; middle-aged: -2; older: -5; p < 0.001). Similarly, workers with lower educational levels (middle school or below: -8; high school: -5; college or above: -2; p < 0.001) and non-white collar workers (blue collar: -5; service/sales worker: -6; white collar: -2; p < 0.001) experienced higher levels of employment precariousness. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that certain vulnerable groups, such as women, young or older adults, workers with low educational attainment, and caregiving or low-skilled elementary workers, are disproportionately exposed to high employment precariousness. Active policy interventions are needed to improve the employment quality of vulnerable groups.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.371-377
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• 2017

Background: Social status might be a determinant of occupational health inequalities. This study analyzed the effects of social status on both work environments and health outcomes. Methods: The study sample consisted of 27,598 wage employees aged 15 years and older from among the Korean Working Condition Survey participants in 2011. Work environments included atypical work, physical risks, ergonomic risks, work demands, work autonomy, social supports, and job rewards. Health outcomes comprised general health, health and safety at risk because of work, the World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index, work-related musculoskeletal disease, and work-related injury. Multivariable logistic-regression models were used to identify the associations between social status and work environments and health outcomes. Results: Employees in the demographically vulnerable group had lower occupational status compared with their counterparts. Low social status was largely related to adverse work environments. Especially, precarious employment and manual labor occupation were associated with both adverse work environments and poor health outcomes. Conclusion: Precarious and manual workers should take precedence in occupational health equity policies and interventions. Their cumulative vulnerability, which is connected to demographics, occupational status, adverse work environments, or poor health outcomes, can be improved through a multilevel approach such as labor market, organizations, and individual goals.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.351-358
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• 2021

Backgrounds: Irregular and unpredictable work schedules have become more common in most societies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between unpredictable work schedules and depressive symptoms in Korea. Methods: Data from 34,486 workers who participated in the Korean Working Condition Survey in 2017 were used. Unpredictable work schedules were measured by questions about the frequency of changes in work schedule and limited advanced notice. Depressive symptoms were assessed by a single item asking if the participants had depressive symptoms over the last 12 months. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for high depressive symptoms. Results: The OR for depressive symptoms was significantly higher in the workers with unpredictable work schedules compared to those with predictable work schedules after controlling for age, sex, education, salary, marital status, occupation, contract period, full-time versus part-time, shift work, weekly working hours, and having a child under the age of 18 years (OR = 2.43, 95% confidence interval 1.93-3.07). Conclusion: Unpredictable work schedules were associated with depressive symptoms controlling for the other dimensions of precarious employment in a representative working population in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.108-113
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between changes in employment status and new-onset depressive symptoms through a one-year follow-up of permanent waged workers. Methods: We analyzed the open-source data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Using the 2017 data, we selected 2,314 permanent waged workers aged 19 to 59 years without depressive symptoms as a base group. The final analysis targeted 2,073 workers who were followed up in 2018. In 2018, there were five categories of employment status for workers who were followed up: permanent, precarious, unemployed, self-employed, and economically inactive. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between employment status change and new-onset depressive symptoms. Results: Adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among male workers, workers who went from permanent status to being unemployed (odds ratio: 4.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.19 to 17.06) and from permanent status to being precarious workers (odds ratio: 3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.30 to 7.65) had significantly high levels of new-onset depressive symptoms compared with those who retained their permanent employment status. There were no significant increases in new-onset depressive symptoms of male workers who went from permanent status to being self-employed or economically inactive. On the other hand, no significant differences were found among female workers. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the change of employment status to precarious workers or unemployment can cause new-onset depressive symptoms in male permanent waged workers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.167-174
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the accessibility of dental care services among individuals with precarious employment in South Korea. Methods: We used the $9^{th}$ wave of the Korean Health Panel data (2015) and included 7,736 wage and non-wage earners in our study. We determined precariousness in the labor market as a combination of employment relationship and job income, and categorized individuals based on this into the following four groups: Group A comprising those who report job and income security, Group B comprising those who experience job insecurity alone, Group C comprising those who report a stable job but low income, and Group D comprising those who experience both job and income insecurity. Accessibility to dental care services was determined by experience of unmet dental care needs and unmet dental care needs caused primarily by financial burden. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of precarious work on access to dental care services. Results: Individuals with job insecurity (Group B; OR=1.445; 95% CI=1.22-1.70) and both job and income insecurity (Group D; OR=1.899; 95% CI=1.61-2.24) were more likely to have unmet needs than the comparison group. Both groups B and D were also 2.048 (95% CI=1.57-2.66) times and 4.435 (95% CI =3.46-5.68) times more likely, respectively, to have unmet dental care needs caused by financial burden. Education status, health insurance, and health status were all also effective factors influencing unmet dental care needs. Conclusions: Unstable employment and low income resulted in diminished access to dental care services. Therefore, governments should consider health policy solutions to reduce barriers preventing individuals with employment and income instability from accessing adequate dental care.

• 산업노동연구
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.109-142
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• 2018

이 논문은 대표적인 불안정 노동자 직군에 속하는 건설 노동자에 대한 호주의 어워드 임금 체계와 사회보장제도를 분석하고 한국에 대한 시사점을 도출하는 데 그 목적이 있다. 호주는 19세기 후반 격렬한 노사분쟁을 겪은 후 노사갈등을 예방, 해결하기 위한 노사정 중심의 중재위원회를 구축하고 이를 토대로 어워드라는 고유한 임금 체계 및 사회보장제도를 운용하고 있다. 어워드는 공정노동위원회라는 중재위원회에서 결정되는 임금 체계로서 전후 자본주의의 황금기에 고임금을 유지하고 경제성장을 견인해 내는데 중요한 요소로 작용했다. 신자유주의 개혁 이후 그 역할이 축소되었지만, 호주의 건설 노동자들은 여전히 높은 수준의 최저임금을 유지하고 있고 어워드 임금 체계가 직업교육훈련과 숙련 관리체계와 연계되어 있다는 점에서 시사하는 바가 크다. 신자유주의 개혁과정에서 시장경쟁을 이유로 고임금=유효수요창출이라는 전통적 케인스주의적 정책적 목표가 수정되었고 그에 대한 반발을 누그러뜨리려 의무 퇴직연금과 공공 건강보험과 같은 보편적 복지제도가 도입되었다. 한편, 건설 노동자와 같이 이동성과 불안정성이 높은 노동자들을 위해 어워드 임금 체계를 통해 장기근속 유급휴가와 퇴직급여라는 이동식 급부가 제공되고 있다. 호주의 숙련 수준이 낮은 건설 노동자의 사회보장 부담률은 우리나라의 평균 건설 노동자의 사회보장 부담률과 비슷한데 노후소득의 소득 대체율이 월등히 높다는 점에서 우리에게 주는 시사점이 있다.

• 한국사회정책
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.1-29
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• 2017

본 연구는 젠더와 직업계층의 관점에서 한국과 일본의 불안정 노동시장을 비교분석한다. 기존의 연구들이 불안정 노동을 비정규직 등 고용형태 차원에 국한하여 분석하였다면 본 연구는 고용과 소득의 조합 관점에서 불안정 노동을 재개념화하여 분석하였다. 그리고 노동시장의 불안정성 연구에서 강조되어왔던 여성의 불안정성 뿐 아니라, 직업계층의 관점에서 한국과 일본이 불안정 노동의 특성에 차이가 있는지를 분석하였다. 한국 노동시장의 불안정성을 분석하기 위해 한국노동패널조사 17차(2014년)와 일본의 게이오 가계패널조사의 9차(2012년)자료를 사용하였다. 분석결과 한일 양국 모두에서 노동시장 불안정성의 여성화와 직업계층별 분할을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 서열로짓회귀분석 결과 여성일수록, 60대 이상일수록, 저숙련 서비스 노동자 또는 생산직 노동자일수록 한국과 일본 모두에서 노동시장 불안정성에 직면할 가능성이 높음을 확인하였다.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.93-98
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• 2022

Background: Despite a growing number of investigations exploring the health problems in precarious workers, there is still a paucity of studies investigating workplace violence in workers with multi-party employment arrangements (WMPEAs). This study was aimed at comparing the prevalence of workplace violence between non-WMPEA and WMPEA. Methods: The 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey data were used. The study subjects were employees aged 20-74, with 26,239 non-WMPEA and 1,556 WMPEA. WMPEA included temporary agency workers and workers providing outsourced services. Workplace violence including verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threats, and humiliating behaviors were used as outcome variables. The odds ratios of risk of workplace violence were calculated using multiple logistic regression. Results: The age-standardized prevalence of workplace violence was significantly higher among WMPEA. After adjusting for all covariates, the risk of workplace violence among WMPEA was still significant (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.5-2.2) compared with non-WMPEA. The odds ratio of workplace violence among female WMPEA was 1.99 (95% CI 1.53-2.59), which is higher than that of male WMPEA (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.18-1.96). Conclusion: We found that WMPEA were exposed to higher risk of workplace violence. Discrimination against WMPEA in the working environment and management policy need to be corrected. It is also necessary to identify the risk factors of workplace violence in WMPEA and to make efforts to prevent violence.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.57-65
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• 2021

Background: The objective of this study was to elucidate the relationships musculoskeletal pains with combined vulnerability in terms of age, gender, and employment status Methods: The fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) in 2010 (43,816 participants aged 15 years and over) analyzed for European employees and the third Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) in 2011 (50,032 participants aged 15 years and older) analyzed for Korean employees. In this study, three well known vulnerable factors to musculoskeletal pains (older age, female gender, and precarious employment status) were combined and defined as combined vulnerability. Associations of musculoskeletal pains with combined vulnerability were assessed with prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimated by Poisson regression models with robust estimates of variance. Results: The prevalences of musculoskeletal pains were lower but the absolute and relative differences between combined vulnerabilities were higher among Korean employees compared with the European employees. Furthermore, the increased risk of having musculoskeletal pains according to combined vulnerability was modestly explained by socioeconomic factors and exposure to ergonomic risk factors, especially in Republic of Korea. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the labor market may be more unfavorable for female and elderly workers in Republic of Korea. Any prevention strategies to ward off musculoskeletal pains, therefore, should be found and implemented to mitigate or buffer against the most vulnerable work population, older, female, and precarious employment status, in Republic of Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.261-262
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• 2022

Globally, it is estimated that the number of people living outside of their country of origin reached 281 million in 2020. The primary drive of those migrants when migrating voluntarily is work to increase their income and provide for their families left behind in their home countries. Those who migrate immediately seek means of income to sustain themselves through a perilous process as currently evidenced in the war in Ukraine and not too long ago in Syria and Venezuela. Unfortunately, migrant workers are globally known to predominantly be working in "4-D jobs"- dirty, dangerous, and difficult and discriminatory; the fourth D was recently added to acknowledge the discriminatory aspect and other social determinants of health migrant workers face in their host country while exposed to precarious work. Consequently, migrant workers are at considerable risk of work-related illnesses and injury but their health needs are critically overlooked in research and policy. Recognizing the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment", we cannot consider any human life - thus, the life of migrant workers - as dispensable through a structural discriminatory process that undervalues their occupational safety and health, livelihood and the contribution these workers bring to their host countries. This was seen during the preparation for the upcoming world cup in Qatar where migrant workers were exposed to a multiplicity of serious hazards including deadly heat hazards.