Temporary work 'risks employee mental health'
According to new research, people who remain in temporary employment are more likely to suffer from mental health issues, as uncertainty surrounding their position plays on their minds.
Dr Charles Muntaner, who carried out the research, said that the types of employment conditions for temporary roles can give flexibility to the employer, but also create a huge amount of insecurity among staff because they do not know when they are going to lose their job.
The study, which carried out at McGill University in Canada discovered that if people work in jobs which are seen as disposable or second-class, they are more at risk of declining mental health.
Amelie Quesnel-Vallee, a medical sociologist at McGill University, said that temporary workers reported more symptoms of depression compared to their permanent counterparts, and added that employers must consider the impact of employing contingency workers.
There are over six million temporary workers across the UK, and last month, a YouGov survey of agency workers published by the Trades Union Congress showed that they are not getting the same treatment as their permanent colleagues, and are having their career development hindered.
Is uncertainty a given for temporary workers? What can be done to make them feel more secure?
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Employers are typically only required to give contractors a week notice. If a situation allows, the more notice given the better. Or if it is discussed at the beginning of the role how long they anticipate the contract to last.
ps...McGill University is in Canada, not the US.
Well spotted Celia.
Difficult one. I believe some are happy with this way of life, others not.
I'd be interested to see more of this study as it strikes me that more depression is around period. Not necessarily connected to temporary vs permanent....
Agreed Vince
Depression strikes again! In an attempt to be contentious - how many people would be depressed if they were told there was no treatment for it - just put up with it - and no benefits if you are off sick with it?
The stresses and strains of modern life are no doubt there and we are possibly more of a caring society. However, I would like to propose that they have always been there in whatever era you live in and are no worse today than previous eras - just the expectations and lifestyles are different. What people were satisfied with 50 years ago would seem a million miles away from todays consumerist society but the pressure of the rat race was relevant to those levels of circumstances.
If you accept this proposition, are there more unfairly treated and depressed people today than, say 50 or 60 years ago? Are the stresses and strains significantly higher as (opposed to differences in era)?
Look forward to some healthy debate in response :-)
Can't help but agree with you Ray. My first impression when I read the article was toughen the heck up. If you're in temporary employment this is one of those things. If the stress of that is too much, go after a full time post with more security. Although of course most of those will have a probation period, which presumably will cause you equal stress. It's tough out there!
We seem to be stressed for all sorts of reasons. Managers are more stressed than workers - line managers are more stressed than staff managers, finance managers are more stressed than HR managers. I personally believe we can prove that our category (in whatever category we are) can prove that we are more stressed than any other category - if it can lead to some advantage. It is so easy to prove that we are stressed if it is to our benefit (say to take some extra leaves or an extended vacation) and yet almost impossible for anybody to prove that we are stressed if it is to our disadvantage (say to get a raise of a promotion).
I do think the term depression is over used. There’s a huge difference between depression and stress. Everyone experiences stress. By classifying anyone who is stressed out as suffering depression, those who actually do suffer depression will be neglected.
Depression is a serious issue and shouldn’t be ignored. Those who are just stressed out shouldn’t be labelled depressed.
Fair point Caroline - I agree that depression is a serious illness. I also believe that there are many levels of depression, some of which are not as serious as others.
I agree with many of the comments above. My parents suffered the stresses of living/fighting through WWII. I will hopefully never have this.