The consequences of after-hours work: a fixed-effect study of burnout, pain, detachment and work-home conflict among Norwegian workers.

Abstract

Objectives: Working outside the workplace and ordinary work hours has become common for a larger part of the working population. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between working after-hours and employee burnout, musculoskeletal pain, detachment and work-home conflict, delineating the independent effect of four different types of after-hours work, and the moderating role of work-time control.

Methods: The data comprised longitudinal questionnaire data from 1465 full-time employees in Norway across four waves (2021-2022). We examined the link between four types of after-hours work: (i) long daily work hours (>10 hours); (ii) late evening work (after 21:00 hours); (iii) quick returns (<11 hours continued rest); and (iv) long weekly work hours (>40 hours a week) and employee health and wellbeing (ie, work-home conflict, detachment, burnout, and musculoskeletal pain), in fixed effects models. We stratified the analyses by working-time control.

Results: The results support a link between late evening work, long daily and weekly work, and higher work-home conflict and lower detachment as well as between weekly work hours and higher burnout. The findings yielded limited support for work-time control as a moderating factor; the link between quick returns and burnout was only evident for employees with below-average work-time control.

Conclusions: The four types of after-hours work were all independently related to at least one employee outcome, although the link with quick returns was only evident when work-time control was below average. The results are important for practitioners aiming to implement family-friendly and healthy practices.