Stress And The Workplace: The Medical Scientists' Experience

Abstract

Health care in Victoria has undergone considerable change throughout the last decade. The need for productivity gains because of downsizing and budget cuts alongside Casemix funding, privatisation and the introduction of Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) has placed considerable strain on workers who are finding they are working more hours with considerably less control over their jobs and their working lives. This paper analyses the effects of the most recent changes on a group of Medical Scientists working in the health care sector using a similar questionnaire to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Employment Security and Working Hours Survey 1999. It finds that Medical Scientists are experiencing more work intensification, less control over their work and are more stressed than is suggested for other workers by the ACTU survey.