Night Work Hours Reduction Trial
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorFinnish Institute of Occupational Health
About this trial
The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effects of reducing weekly working hours among employees working night shifts regularly from 38 hours 15 minutes to 36 hours on payroll-based, objective working-hour characteristics, sickness absence, and workforce retention. The secondary aim is to investigate experiences of promoting and hindering factors related to the working-hour reduction, its implementation process, and perceived benefits and challenges.
The working-hour reduction will be implemented in three Finnish wellbeing services counties with different starting dates, the first being in late September 2026 and the latest in early 2027. The working-hour reduction has been agreed upon by the parties to the collective agreement for Finnish public social and health care. Thus, intervention is a so-called natural experiment in a real-life setting.
The effects of the intervention will be evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with staggered, non-randomized implementation across participating counties. Administrative, payroll-based, employer-owned working-hour data, including records of sickness absences without any medical or health information and other absences (including unpaid, education, and childcare), will be used to compare changes before and during the intervention among work units participating in the working-hour reduction. The investigation will also utilize matched work units that do not participate in the reduction (i.e., intervention) as control units (i.e., continuing standard working-hour arrangements).
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
None
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Reduced Working Hours (from 38h15minutes to 36h)
Other interventionReduced Working Hours (from 38h15minutes to 36h) for those conducting night shift work regularly
Treatment groups
200 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Reduced working hours (36 h)Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Standard working hours (38 h 15 min)No intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Sickness Absence Rate
Percentage of working time lost due to sickness absence, derived from administrative, payroll-based employer records. No medical or diagnostic information will be collected.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.2
Employee Turnover
Termination of employment during the follow-up period, derived from employment records.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.3
Retention of Employees Performing Night Work
Proportion of employees performing regular night work who remain employed and performing night shifts during the follow-up period.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.4
Total Weekly Working Hours
Average number of paid working hours per week, derived from administrative, payroll-based working-hour records.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.Secondary outcomes
1
Number of Sickness Absence Episodes
Total number of sickness absence episodes recorded in administrative payroll-based employer records.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.2
Total Sickness Absence Days from Short Episodes (1-5 days) of Sickness Absence
Total number of sickness absence days from short episodes of sickness absence recorded in administrative payroll-based employer records.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.3
Short-Term Sickness Absence Episodes (1-5 Days)
Number of sickness absence episodes lasting 1-5 consecutive calendar days.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.4
Number of Consecutive Shifts
Number of instances in which employees work consecutive shifts without a day off, derived from administrative, payroll-based working-hour records.
Time frame
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 66 weeks.Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Lead sponsor
Finnish Work Environment Fund
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options: