Association of work-time control with burnout and turnover intention: a cross-sectional analysis of a general working population in Korea

TL;DR

This study finds that less control over work time in Korean workers is linked to higher burnout and desire to quit, with burnout partially explaining the connection.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the relationship between work-time control, burnout, and turnover intention in the Korean working population.

Findings

Lower work-time control is associated with higher odds of burnout and turnover intention.

Burnout mediates about 36.6% of the relationship between work-time control and turnover intention.

The prevalence of burnout and turnover intention increases with lower work-time control quartiles.

Abstract

For employees, work-time control (WTC) may protect against burnout and turnover. However, evidence from Korean workplaces is limited. This study aimed to examine whether WTC is associated with burnout and turnover intention and to test whether burnout mediates this relationship.

We analyzed data from 4,745 wage workers in the 2024 wave of the Korean Work, Sleep, and Health Study. WTC was assessed across 6 domains, burnout was measured using the Korean Burnout Syndrome Scale, and turnover intention was assessed using a validated 4-item scale. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations of WTC quartile with burnout and turnover intention, and mediation analysis was used to decompose the association between WTC and turnover intention through burnout.

Among 4,745 workers, the prevalence of burnout was 3.9% and turnover intention was 34.5%; both increased stepwise across lower WTC quartiles. In adjusted models, workers in the lowest WTC quartile had higher odds of burnout (odds ratio [OR], 3.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.41 to 6.47) and turnover intention (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.85 to 2.71) than those in the highest quartile. Mediation analysis showed that burnout explained 36.6% (95% CI, 22.3 to 51.0) of the association between WTC and turnover intention.

Lower WTC was linked to higher burnout and turnover intention, with burnout explaining more than one-third of this relationship.

Figures