Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Job Accommodation for Workers with Health Problems in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

TL;DR

Workers with health issues and low socioeconomic status in Japan were less likely to receive job accommodations during the pandemic.

Contribution

This study identifies how socioeconomic factors influence job accommodation for health-impaired workers during the pandemic in Japan.

Findings

Non-desk workers had higher odds of lacking job accommodations compared to desk workers.

Lower household income was strongly associated with a lack of job accommodations.

Smaller companies were less likely to provide job accommodations than larger firms.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health-impaired workers of vulnerable socioeconomic status (SES) suffered employment and health problems. This study investigated the relationship between workers with health problems in vulnerable SES and job accommodation.

This cross-sectional internet monitoring study was conducted among 33,302 Japanese workers from December 22 to 26, 2020. Of the total survey participants, 6,309 who reported that they needed accommodations from their companies were included in the analysis. Using a multilevel logistic regression model, we examined the relationship between their SES and the lack of job accommodations from their companies, and age-sex-adjusted and multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated.

Multivariate analysis revealed that the OR for the lack of accommodations from companies was significantly higher for non-desk jobs than desk jobs (OR=1.15, 95% CI: 1.04–1.28, p=0.01). The ORs also differed based on household incomes and number of employees. ORs were significantly higher for those with an equivalent household income of less than 2.9 million yen compared with 9 million yen or more (OR=1.66, 95% CI: 1.39–1.97, p<0.01). Comparing with firms with 1,000 or more employees, the ORs were significantly higher for those with fewer than 30 employees (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.05–1.40, p<0.01).

We found a relationship between SES and the lack of job accommodation for workers with health problems. The lack of job accommodation may further worsen SES and health conditions, reinforcing the importance of accommodating the needs of vulnerable SES workers.