Job insecurity and sickness absence: correlations between attrition and absence in 36 occupational groups.

AIMS: To investigate how job insecurity, as indicated by attrition rates out of employment, affects sickness absence among remaining workers.
METHODS: A longitudinal analysis investigated how the percentage of workers absent due to sickness was affected by attrition out of employment in Norwegian Labour Force Surveys from 1997 to 2005, between 31 quarterly observations at the level of 36 occupational groups.
RESULTS: Rising attrition is associated with more sickness absence.
CONCLUSIONS: Previous research has argued that job insecurity can lead to more absence because of a stressor effect as well as to less absence because of a disciplinary effect. This research indicates that the stressor effect is stronger than the disciplinary effect.