The physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees before and during the COVID-19 epidemic
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-10-2020-0469 |
| Published date | 08 July 2021 |
| Date | 08 July 2021 |
| Pages | 19-45 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Maja Rožman,Polona Tominc |
The physical, emotional and
behavioral symptoms of health
problems among employees before
and during the COVID-19 epidemic
Maja Ro
zman and Polona Tominc
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Abstract
Purpose –The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has caused stress for everyone and impacted
the lives of people globally. Such stress increases troubles forthe employees. Therefore, the aim of the paper is
to identify symptoms of health problems that employees face during the COVID-19 epidemic. Also, the aim of
the paper is to examine if thereare statistically significant differences in the physical, emotional and behavioral
symptoms of health problems among employees before the COVID-19 epidemic and employees during the
COVID-19 epidemic.
Design/methodology/approach –The research is based on a survey of 950 employees in Slovenian
companies. The factor analysis and the t-test for two independent samples were used to test the hypotheses of
the research.
Findings –The results show that physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems of
employees during the COVID-19 epidemic are intensified as compared to the before COVID-19 epidemic era.
Originality/value –The results highlight the measures with which companies can reduce the problem of
different symptoms of employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. The results can be useful for employers and
for managers who want to create an adequate working environment for employees during the COVID-19
epidemic.
Keywords Physical symptoms, Emotional symptoms, Behavioral symptoms, COVID-19 epidemic
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, in combination with the strict health
protection and containment measures, represents a significant negative shock for economic
activity in Slovenia, other European countries and globally (Institute of Macroeconomic
Analysis and Development, 2020). The World Health Organization on March 11th, 2020,
declared a pandemic of the highly transmissible COVID-19 (WHO, 2020a,b). Since then, the
rapid worldwide outbreak of the novel coronavirus has triggered an alarming global health
crisis. Many countries’governments have taken measures dramatically affecting the daily
life of society (Kraus et al., 2020). These measures not only affect the populations’daily life but
have caused significant economic consequences in economies around the world (Baker et al.,
2020). Governments have set severe restrictions on various industries, mandated social
distancing and health protection policies, and even locked down nonessential businesses in
many countries, triggering simultaneous demand as well as supply-side issues (del Rio-
Chanona et al., 2020). Many industries face supply-side issues, as governments curtail the
activities of nonessential industries, and employees are confined to their homes. Businesses
Health
problems
19
© Maja Ro
zman and Polona Tominc. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is
published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce,
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 13 October 2020
Revised 7 April 2021
8 June 2021
Accepted 8 June 2021
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 44 No. 7, 2022
pp. 19-45
Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-10-2020-0469
need to contend with several challenges, including the implementation of required health
protection measures, reduced production and demand and supply chain disruptions (Kraus
et al., 2020). As the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic and the time of its containment are a
great unknown, high uncertainty remains, and there is a risk that the period of severely
paralyzed economic activity will last longer than assumed (Institute of Macroeconomic
Analysis and Development, 2020).
The COVID-19 has shattered the daily routine, business, schools, lifestyle and the
economy of the globe (Gautam and Sharma, 2020). The COVID-19 crisis presents a new type
and quality of challenge for companies (Kraus et al., 2020;Kabadayi et al., 2020). At the time of
the COVID-19 epidemic, market and business conditions changed overnight for almost all
companies (European Commission, 2020). Physical business declined significantly, and
companies have become more active online, taking advantage of modern technologies that
have not been used before to this extent (Shareena and Mahammad, 2020). As part of the
physical distancing measures taken in most EU Member States, employees are obliged to
work from home. Most of these employees face first-time as “teleworkers,”and their working
environment is likely to be deficient in many aspects compared to their workplace in
companies’facilities (International Labour Organization, 2020a,b). The extent to which the
home environment can be adapted varies according to the situation of the employee and the
time and resources available for adaptations (Tam, 2020). The COVID-19 crisis may lead to
mental illness for many employees (International Labour Organization, 2020a,b). Many are
teleworking full-time for the first time, isolated from coworkers, friends and family. Our daily
living routines are disrupted causing added anxiety, stress and strain physically, mentally
and financially (International Labour Organization, 2020a,b). Therefore, more and more
employees are dealing with stress, depression and anxiety. The problem is that the COVID-19
crisis increases the risk for depression (Institute for employment studies, 2020). According to
Wong et al. (2019), mental health at work is a crucial factor for employee well-being,
productivity and work engagement.
As employers wrestle with business continuity planning during COVID-19, research
according to Gavidia (2020) confirms that employers need to make mental health support a
critical aspect of that plan or risk a dramatic impacton employee health and productivity. The
COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on employee relations as there is poor communication or
face-to-face interactions are missing, which lead to higher stress or symptoms of health
problems among employees (Kaushik and Guleria, 2020). Creating and reinforcing relations
among individuals at work is basic for information sharing with the goal that companies can
rapidly react to the present unique business condition (Chen and Tjosvold, 2012). In such a
scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic, the employers are responsible for maintaining harmony
in relations (Kaushik and Guleria, 2020). Happy relations between the employee and the
employer are key to increase the productivity and performance of both the employee and the
company, especially during the COVID-19 (Abrol and Madan, 2020).
Most of the current COVID-19 research focused on health, but research data on physical,
emotional, behavioral symptoms of health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic are
lacking. This situation calls for academic research providing firms with valid strategies on
how to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis (Qiu et al., 2020). Therefore, the aim of
the paper is to highlight which physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms do employees
face during the COVID-19 epidemic. Also, the aim of the paper is to examine if there are
statistically significant differences in these symptoms of health problems among employees
before the COVID-19 epidemic and during the COVID-19 epidemic and to highlight the
measures with which companies reduce these problems. Additionally, the aim of the paper is
to examine if there are statistically significant differences in different symptoms of health
problems of employees who worked from home and those who work at the workplace during
the COVID-19 epidemic.
ER
44,7
20
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