Associations between overtime and psychological health in high and low reward jobs

This study focused on the relationship between overtime and psychological h ealth in high and low reward jobs and in jobs with high and low external pr essure to work overtime. Data were collected Cor 535 full-time employees of the Dutch Postal Service. In general, overtime was associated with negativ e work-home interference and negative home-work interference. Split-sample logistic regression analyses showed that employees reporting low rewards ha d elevated risks of burnout, negative work-home interference and slow recov ery. In addition, the combination of overtime and low rewards was associate d with negative home-work interference. A second analysis was conducted sep arately for employees who reported overtime in order to study the effects o f external pressure to work overtime. In this Subgroup, low rewards were as sociated with elevated risks of health complaints. emotional exhaustion and negative home-work interference. Moreover employees who reported overtime and a high pressure to work overtime in combination with low rewards had el evated risks of poor recovery, cynicism, and negative work-home interferenc e. The results suggest that even a limited number Of hours Of involuntary o vertime is associated with adverse mental health. but only in low reward si tuations.