Study title

Temporary Agency Work in Health Care 2006

Dataset ID Number

FSD2516

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2516
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2516

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Palukka, Hannele (University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology)
• Tiilikka, Tiina (University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Palukka, Pertti
• Ruotsalainen, Juho
• Tolkki, Helena

Abstract

The survey focused on temporary agency workers in the health care sector in Finland. The main themes were the characteristics of temporary work, working conditions, autonomy at work, work atmosphere, and the impact of young children to work situation.

The respondents (doctors and nurses) were asked how many months it took them to find their first job after graduation, whether the first job was permanent or fixed-term, and whether it was commensurate with their education. Periods of unemployment during the past three years, years/months of working in health care, years/months of doing temporary agency work, and hours worked per week were charted.

Characteristics of temporary agency work were studied with questions on reasons for taking up such work (open-ended), working time and schedule, type of workplace, job title (open-ended), changes in employment and contract, future prospects, sufficiency of work offers, availability of trade union and occupational safety services, and experiences of being subjected to mental or physical violence. Autonomy at work was surveyed with a few questions relating to the amount of control over facilities, own time use and patient care. Further questions explored possible causes of difficulties at work, work atmosphere, and possibilities to attend job-related training. One topic covered income from temporary agency work.

The respondents with children aged under 10 were asked whether the family had used paternity leave or child-care leave, whether the respondents had done temporary work during parental leave, what kind of impact parental leave had had on their occupational status and contract, and whether their family situation had had an effect on their choice of temporary employment.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, vocational education, year when completed the vocational education, country where obtained the vocational qualification, household composition, number and age of children, and whether R was a citizen of Finland or not.

Keywords

autonomy at work; conditions of employment; employee leasing; health professionals; health services; nurses; physicians; temporary employment; working conditions; workplace relations

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Labour relations/conflict (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Health care services and policies (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Palukka, Hannele (University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology)
• Tiilikka, Tiina (University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology)

Data Producers

• Palkansaajasäätiö Foundation
• University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology
• Finnish Work Environment Fund

Time Period Covered

2006

Collection Dates

2006-04 – 2006-05

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons who worked for the temporary employment agency selected for the study during the three months preceeding the arrival of the questionnaire.

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The questionnaire was posted to all persons (158 nurses and 822 doctors) who were on the list of one temporary employment agency and who had done temporary work for the agency during the previous three months. The participants were given the choice of answering an online questionnaire in lieu of the paper questionnaire. Of the target group, 57% were women and 43% men. The agency was selected for the study because it operated on a national level in Finland and was one of the largest agencies providing health personnel leasing.

There were 327 responses. The respondent group is representative of the target group in terms of age, gender and occupation.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

33

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD2517 Temporary Agency Work in Health Care 2006: Interviews

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Variables identifying the municipality of residence and the location of workplaces have been removed from the data. Responses to open-ended questions have been anonymised. The answer alternative 6 'semi-retired' of question q11 was not selected by any respondent, so there is no corresponding variable. The questionnaire did not have question 30.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Palukka, Hannele (University of Tampere) & Tiilikka, Tiina (University of Tampere): Temporary Agency Work in Health Care 2006 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2011-04-04). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2516

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Palukka, Hannele & Tiilikka, Tiina (2007). Vuokratyöntekijänä hyvinvointipalvelurakenteen murroksessa [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Palkansaajasäätiö & Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Sosiologian ja sosiaalipsykologian laitos & Helsinki: Työsuojelurahasto. http://www.tsr.fi/tsarchive/files/TietokantaTutkittu/2005/105289Loppuraportti.pdf [viitattu 6.4.2011].

Related Publications

Palukka, Hannele & Tiilikka, Tiina (2007). Vuokratyöntekijänä hyvinvointipalvelurakenteen murroksessa [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Palkansaajasäätiö & Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Sosiologian ja sosiaalipsykologian laitos & Helsinki: Työsuojelurahasto. http://www.tsr.fi/tsarchive/files/TietokantaTutkittu/2005/105289Loppuraportti.pdf [viitattu 6.4.2011].

Palukka, Hannele & Tiilikka, Tiina (2008). Terveydenhuollon vuokratyö - joustava ja vapaa työn muoto? Työelämän tutkimus 6(2), 173-184.

Palukka Hannele & Tiilikka Tiina (2011): Temporary agency work in the health care sector - greater flexibility and freedom in the workplace? Work, organization, labour & globalization Vol 5, nro 1. Pp.110-126.