Employee Well-being and Sick Leave, Occupational Accident, and Disability Pension A Cohort Study of Civil Servants

Objective: To study the association between employee well-being and sick leave, occupational accident, and disability pension. Methods: A random population of 967 civil servants participated in a survey on psychosocial factors and health at work in 2000 in Finland. The median follow-up time was 7.3 years. Results: The risks of sick leave and disability pension were decreased by job satisfaction (RR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.58 to 1.05; RR = 0.47, CI = 0.20 to 1.06; respectively), good work ability (RR = 0.35, CI = 0.22 to 0.56; RR = 0.11, CI = 0.04 to 0.33), good health (RR = 0.42, CI = 0.27 to 0.64; RR = 0.32, CI = 0.11 to 0.98), and strong sense of coherence (RR = 0.53, CI = 0.36 to 0.79; RR = 0.17, CI = 0.07 to 0.37). Employee well-being was also associated with occupational accident but somewhat less consistently. Conclusions: Employee well-being is associated with sick leave, occupational accident, and disability pension. It is important to find means to support employee well-being both in general and at work.