German temporary agency workers’ SWB: the impact of POS provided by agencies

Published date06 November 2017
Pages1030-1047
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/ER-08-2016-0162
Date06 November 2017
AuthorSusanne Imhof,Maike Andresen
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law
German temporary agency
workersSWB: the impact of
POS provided by agencies
Susanne Imhof and Maike Andresen
Department of Social Sciences, Economics, and Business Administration,
University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific relationship between temporary agency
workers (TAWs)and their employing temporary workagencies in Germany that is characterizedin contrast
to other European countries by agenciescentral role in employment and the prevalence of permanent
contracts.The study addresses a research gap in understanding the mediatingrole of perceived organizational
support (POS) provided by temporary work agencies in the relationship between employment-specific
antecedents and TAWssubjective well-being (SWB).
Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 350 TAWs in Germany, the mediating role of
POS provided by agencies is analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings The authors show that procedural justice, performance feedback and social network availability
positively relate to POS while perceived job insecurity shows the expected negative influence and distributive
justice has no impact on POS. POS, in turn, positively relates to SWB. The partially mediating effect of POS
between employment-specific antecedents and SWB is also confirmed.
Research limitations/implications The study is based on cross-sectional data and self-reported
measures; this may limit causal inferences.
Practical implications The results highlight the importance of agencies creating POS and reducing
perceived job insecurity for improving TAWsSWB.
Originality/value The study contributes to previous POS research by focusing on the agenciesrole and
by showing the mediating effect of POS on TAWsSWB in Germany.
Keywords Subjective well-being, Perceived organizational support, Temporary agency work
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
While organizations benefit from employing temporary workers through increased
workforce flexibility ( Jahn et al., 2012), temporary workers experience the precarious
consequences of these flexible work arrangements. Besides lower compensation and limited
access to further training opportunities (Mitlacher, 2008), increased job insecurity and an
inadequate use of skills (Kompier et al., 2009) have also been shown to negatively influence
the well-being of temporary workers. Short assignment durations at different user
companies resulting in frequently changing work environments (Cappelli and Keller, 2013)
lead not only to a lack of social support by supervisors and coworkers (Crozier and
Davidson, 2009) but also to reduced social integration into user companiesworkforces
and society (Gundert and Hohendanner, 2014; Viitala and Kantola, 2016) which in turn
might be thought likely to negatively affect the well-being of temporary workers.
However, in contrast to expectations, previous results on temporary workers
well-being have been widely inconsistent (De Cuyper et al., 2008). Some studies confirm
that temporary workers have lower levels of well-being in comparison to permanent
employees, but others find no differences between both groups or even show the reverse to
bethecase(Kompieret al., 2009). One explanation for these inconsistent findings is the use
of mixed samples comprising dissimilar kinds of temporary work, such as persons
temporarily employed by employers directly and temporary agency workers (TAWs)
employed by agencies on fixed-term or permanent contracts. Unfortunately, former
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 7, 2017
pp. 1030-1047
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-08-2016-0162
Received 14 August 2016
Revised 15 January 2017
30 April 2017
30 May 2017
Accepted 30 May 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
1030
ER
39,7
studies have not taken the heterogeneity of temporary work into account (Petilliot, 2016)
and consequently have not considered employment-specific characteristics of different
employment forms (Wagenaar et al., 2012). In our view, combining these conceptually
distinct groups contaminates results and poses a threat to the validity of findings. Here,
we solely focus on German TAWs employed in triangular employment relationships with
temporary work agencies and user companies.
The heterogeneity of general and job-related well-being constructs also limits the
generalizability of previous research findings. In our study, we focus on subjective
well-being (SWB) defined as a persons subjective evaluation of their life as a whole and of
specific life domains like work or family. In contrast to other conceptualizations
of well-being, SWB covers both affective (happiness) and cognitive (life satisfaction)
components (Diener, 2012). We analyze SWB as a global variable since employment as a
TAW does not only affect work but also other life domains, such as ones position in society
(Kalleberg, 2009). Evaluating SWB across various life domains in contrast to evaluating
only TAWsemployment situation and job satisfaction allows a broader picture of the
well-being of TAWs to be gained.
A considerable and growing body of research on antecedents affecting well-being exists.
Besides socio-demographic factors (e.g. gender, age, educational background and marital
status), personality has also been shown to have an impact on well-being (Diener and
Ryan, 2009). In addition to individual antecedents, the effects of economic antecedents
(e.g. income or unemployment) as well as contextual and situational factors (e.g. health
situation, personal relationships, life and employment conditions) have also been empirically
confirmed (Erdogan et al., 2012). However, there is a dearth of studies investigating the
influence of specific employment situations, like temporary agency work, in considering
employment-specific antecedents (Dolan et al., 2008). Previous studies relating to well-being
in the context of temporary work have looked at a narrow range of employment-related
factors including job insecurity, motives for working as a temporary worker and
employability. Our analysis of perceived organizational support (POS) by the current
employer as a further employment-specific antecedent adds a further dimension to this
body of well-being research.
According to organizational support theory (OST), an employers support may reduce
negative effects on a persons well-being (Baran et al., 2012). This suggests that
employment-specific disadvantages of temporary agency work that negatively affect
TAWsSWB could potentially be offset by organizational support as perceived by TAWs.
However, no study up to now has analyzed the role of POS and its influence on SWB
in the temporary agency work context. Following this, Baran et al. (2012) called for more
research on POS in the field of temporary work, our study analyzes POS as reported
by German TAWs and its impact on their SWB.
Although TAWs may perceive support by both organizations in the triadic relationship,
our focus here is on the role of the employing agency for providing POS for several reasons.
First, despite agenciesintermediary role, TAWs perceive their respective agencies as the
constant (Druker and Stanworth, 2004) in their continuously changing, atypical employment
situations. Second, short assignment durations at user companies increase the centrality of
agencies in the triangular employment relationship (van Breugel et al., 2005). Third, the
agency is the sole legal employer of German TAWs (Mitlacher, 2006). This contrasts with
the US situation, where agencies and user companies act as joint employers, and further
underscores the responsibility of the agencies. Fourth, fixed-term contracts between TAWs
and their agencies are the predominant contractual form in European count ries.
In Germany, however, the percentage of permanent contracts concluded between TAWs
and their employing agencies is among the highest in Europe (OECD, 2014); and this is likely
to affect the kind of organizational support expected from agencies. Data from the German
1031
German
temporary
agency
workersSWB

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