Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (Jan 2024)

Effects of the Labor Inspection Authority’s regulatory tools on physician-certified sick leave and employee health in Norwegian home-care services – a cluster randomized controlled trial

  • Bjørnar Finnanger Garshol,
  • Stein Knardahl,
  • Jan Shahid Emberland,
  • Øivind Skare,
  • Håkon A Johannessen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4126
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 50, no. 1
pp. 28 – 38

Abstract

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effects of the Labor Inspection Authority’s regulatory tools on physician-certified sick leave and self-reported health outcomes among employees in municipal home-care services in Norway. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in the home-care service sector, and 96 eligible municipalities were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (i) labor inspection visits, based on the Labor Inspection Authority’s standard inspections; (ii) guidance-through-workshops, where participants from home-care services met with labor inspectors to receive information and discuss relevant topics; and (iii) the control group. Data on employee self-reported health (N=1669) were collected at baseline and 6 and 12 months after the interventions. Additionally, registry data (N=1202) on diagnosis specific physician-certified sick leave were collected for 18 months after the interventions. RESULTS: We found no statistically significant effects of either intervention on self-reported health outcomes. There was, for both interventions, a pattern of decrease in days and periods of physician-certified sick leave due to musculoskeletal diagnoses and increase in days and periods of physician-certified sick leave due to psychological diagnoses, but these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Labor inspections and guidance-through-workshops had no statistically significant effect on self-reported health and physician-certified sick leave. The results should be interpreted with caution given the low response rate and subsequent attrition, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies, in various industries, should further elucidate whether regulatory tools influence employee health and sick leave due to musculoskeletal and mental disorders.

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