As unpredictable work schedule (UWS) has increased worldwide, various studies have been conducted on the resulting health effects on workers. However, research on the effect of UWS on workers' well-being in Korea is still insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between UWS and work-family conflict (WFC) using 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS).

Both UWS and WFC were measured using self-reported questionnaires, using data from the 6th KWCS conducted between 2020 and 2021, including 31,859 participants. UWS was measured by questions regarding the frequency of changes in work schedules and limited advanced notice. WFC was measured by questions regarding work to family and family to work conflicts. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between UWS and WFC.

The prevalence of UWS was higher among men, those under 40 years old, service and sales workers and blue-collar workers, and those with higher salaries. Workplace size also influenced UWS prevalence, with smaller workplaces (less than 50 employees) showing a higher prevalence. The odds ratio (OR) for WFC was significantly higher in workers with UWS compared to workers without UWS after adjusting for gender, age, marital status, occupation, salary, education, weekly working hours, shift work, company size, and having a child under the age of 18 years, employment status (OR: 3.71; 95% confidence interval: 3.23–4.25).

The analysis of nationwide data revealed that UWS interferes with workers’ performance of family roles, which can lead to WFC. Our findings suggest that it is crucial to implement policies to address unfair work schedule management, promoting a healthier work-life balance and fostering a conducive environment for family responsibilities.

Work-Family Conflict means that the demands of work and family roles cannot be met simultaneously, so one cannot concentrate on one’s work or family role. This conflict can negatively affect mental health and cause insomnia symptoms.

This study was conducted on 20,442 subjects. Insomnia symptoms were assessed using the Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale, and other variables were assessed using the questionnaire method. Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of Work-Family Conflict on insomnia symptoms, and subgroup logistic regression analyses were also performed.

The number of people with insomnia symptoms was 4,322 (15.1%). Compared with Low Work-Family Conflict, the odds ratios (ORs) for the risk of insomnia symptoms were 1.84 (95% confidence interval: 1.56–2.16) in High work-to-family conflict, 1.16 (1.02–1.32) in High family-to-work conflict, and 3.19 (2.87–3.55) in High Work-Family Conflict. The ORs were higher for men than women in High WFC but higher for women than men in High Work-Family Conflict.

The risk of insomnia symptoms was highest in High Work-Family Conflict.

Recently, use of work-related communication technology—smartphones, tablets, and laptops—is increasing rapidly by development of technology with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Some studies have suggested that work-related communication technology has a significant link with work-family conflict (WFC) but these studies included only limited number of participants and lacked essential covariates. Therefore, this study analyzes this association using large representative data sample and selected waged workers who were married-couples with children.

This study was conducted based on data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Surveys (KWCS). A total of 17,426 waged workers having a marriage partner and one or more children were selected. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether WFC was associated with communication technology use. The odds ratios (ORs) for WFC were stratified by sex and working hours.

In fully adjusted model, WFC was higher those who used communication technology outside regular working hours compared with those who did not use it (OR: 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39–1.97). When stratified by sex and working hours, the effect was greater in women than in men (OR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.42–2.26 vs. OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.17–1.97) and women who worked over 52 hours per week had the highest OR (3.40; 95% CI: 1.25–9.26).

This study revealed that the work-related communication technology use outside regular working hours was associated with WFC. The association were greater among those having longer working hours and female workers. These results suggest that appropriate policy should be implemented to reduce working hours and right to disconnect after work, particularly in female workers.

This study was conducted to determine the association between work-life (WL) balance, effort-reward (ER) imbalance, and depressive mood in Korean wage workers when 2 models were considered simultaneously.

We analyzed 26,014 Korean workers including 13,471 men and 12,543 women from the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between WL, ER status, and the depressive mood of Korean workers. We classified the subjects into a total of 4 groups as follows. Group 1: WL and ER status are both “balanced”, group 2: WL status is “imbalanced” and ER status is “balanced”, group 3: WL status is “balanced” and the ER status is “imbalanced”, group 4: WL and ER status are both “imbalanced.”

We found significantly increased odds ratios (ORs) for depressive mood in groups 2, 3, and 4 compared with group 1 after adjusting for the general and occupational characteristics of the subjects in both men and women. We also found that the trend of ORs increased gradually from groups 2 to 4 compared with group 1 in both men and women; group 2: OR: 1.23 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12–1.35), group 3: OR: 1.40 (95% CI: 1.27–1.55), group 4: OR: 1.99 (95% CI: 1.74–2.28) compared with group 1 in men; group 2: OR: 1.28 (95% CI: 1.15–1.42), group 3: OR: 1.45 (95% CI: 1.31–1.59), group 4: OR: 2.04 (95% CI: 1.76–2.36) compared with group 1 in women.

As a result, we found the association between imbalanced WL, ER status, and depressive mood in Korean workers using 2 models simultaneously. It is important to provide a balanced WL and ER condition to improve the mental health of workers.

The concept of work-life balance (WLB) has become an important issue in workers' health and safety. This study aims to investigate the relationship between WLB and occupational injury and work-related musculoskeletal pain.

The study included 27,383 workers who participated in the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey. Participants were divided into good WLB and poor WLB groups based on their responses to the five question items which comprised two dimensions: work-on-life conflict (items, 1–3) and life-on-work conflict (items 4 and 5). Occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain were also assessed using the question items. The χ² test and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship of WLB to occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain while considering socio-demographic and occupational characteristics and ergonomic and psychological risk factors.

Of the 27,383 participants, 252 (0.9%) had experienced an occupational injury and 6,408 (23.4%) had musculoskeletal pain. The poor WLB group had higher injury rates for both men (1.7%) and women (0.9%) than the good WLB group (1.1% and 0.4%, respectively). Additionally, the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was higher for both men and women in the poor WLB group (25.2% and 28.0%, respectively) than for men and women in the good WLB group (18.7% and 23.6%, respectively). In the logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratio of WLB for occupational injury was 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.78), and that for musculoskeletal pain was 1.14 (95% CI: 1.07–1.21), showing positive associations of WLB with both occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain.

Poor WLB causes an increase in occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain. Therefore, an improvement in WLB may reduce the incidence of occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain among workers. Social and policy-related initiatives are needed to improve workers' WLB to reduce occupational injury and musculoskeletal pain.