Norway has a high prevalence of sick leave compared to other Nordic countries and has been criticized for offering generous sick leave benefits. This qualitative study aims to explore experiences of graded sick leave and return to work in Norway. Six employees from the private sector were interviewed regarding their experiences of the Norwegian model for earlier follow-up of employees on sick leave. The collected data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results indicated several important aspects of the return to work process which were perceived as both obstacles and opportunities. The possibility of having time to recover as well as finding a balance of a manageable work load with stimulating assignments were seen as essential and communication was crucial to attain the latter.

Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på föräldrars tankar kring uppdelningen de haft av föräldradagar, samt vilka eventuella faktorer som skulle göra fördelningen mer jämställd mellan föräldrarna. Datainsamlingen genomfördes med kvalitativ metod i form av strukturerade intervjuer med utrymme för diskussioner. Intervjuerna analyserades med den fenomenografiska analysmetoden. Resultatet visade att ekonomin och kvinnans känsla av att vilja vara hemma var den främsta anledningen till hur uppdelningen fördelades mellan paren. Skillnader sågs hos de som valt att dela jämställt och de som hade kvinnan hemma den större tiden. Hos det jämställda paret fanns ingen större skillnad i inkomst samt att kvinnan ville arbeta och dela på ledigheten med sin sambo. Föräldrarnas psykiska hälsa visades ha blivit påverkad av hur uppdelningen fördelats, både åt det positiva och negativa hållet. Slutsatsen av studien är att de som valt ojämn uppdelning såg sig förlora för mycket pengar om mannen var hemma, både privat och företetagsmässigt. De problem som framkom vad gäller den ojämna uppdelningen sågs på flera nivåer. Dels individnivå där kvinnan helst ville vara hemma den större delen, på samhällsnivå där kvinnans låga lön i jämförelse med mannens bidrar till att mannen inte anses kunna vara hemma, ekonomin faller även in på den politiska nivån där ekonomin blir ett problem för hela familjen när kvinnans lön oftast är lägre än mannens. / The purpose of the study was to investigate the distribution of parental leave and finding out for what reasons the parents in the study had chosen to distribute it that way. Data was collected by structured interviews. The interviews analyzed using the phenomenographic analysis method. Results from the interviews showed that economic reasons and that the woman of the household typically liked being home more than her partner. Parental mental health appeared to have been affected by the division distributed, both in the positive and negative direction. The conclusion of the study are that those who have chosen uneven division saw themselves lose too much money if the man was stay at home, both private and corporate terms. The problems that showed was the unequal division were seen at several levels. Partly individual level where the woman would rather be at home most of the time. At the community level where the woman's low wages in comparison with men's contributes to men is not considered to be at home, the economy will also fall into the political level where the economy is becoming a problem for the whole family when the woman salaries usually are lower than men's.

The use of a channelization mechanism on model observers not only makes mimicking human visual behavior possible, but also reduces the amount of image data needed to estimate the model observer parameters. The channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) and channelized scanning linear observer (CSLO) have recently been used to assess CT image quality for detection tasks and combined detection/estimation tasks, respectively. Although the use of channels substantially reduces the amount of data required to compute image quality, the number of scans required for CT imaging is still not practical for routine use. It is our desire to further reduce the number of scans required to make CHO or CSLO an image quality tool for routine and frequent system validations and evaluations. This work explores different data-reduction schemes and designs an approach that requires only a few CT scans. Three different kinds of approaches are included in this study: a conventional CHO/CSLO technique with a large sample size, a conventional CHO/CSLO technique with fewer samples, and an approach that we will show requires fewer samples to mimic conventional performance with a large sample size. The mean value and standard deviation of areas under ROC/EROC curve were estimated using the well-validated shuffle approach. The results indicate that an 80% data reduction can be achieved without loss of accuracy. This substantial data reduction is a step toward a practical tool for routine-task-based QA/QC CT system assessment. (C) 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Title: Leave Legislation in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland Author: Iveta Niemiec Abstract: There are three neighbouring states in the spotlight of this thesis: Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Approach of the annual leave legislation in those countries and mutual comparison could be defined as a main goal. Adumbration of annual leave as a significant part of labour law legislation and its purpose definition, which consists mainly in creating space for recovery and longer rest, is followed by short excursion into the history of legislation development. In this regard the year 1918 is found to be a breakthrough, which opened up the possibility of own legislation in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Getting closer to the leave legislation of particular states is preparation for a comparison of particular institutes and sub-institutes of leave of each labour code. Subsequenlty stated judicature provides an overview of application of legal rules related to the leave. Investigation is concluded by impact of the EU legislation on the particular institutes of the leave. The thesis is finalized by adumbration of inspirational parts of slovak and polish leave legislation. Key words: labour code, leave, recovery, leave entitlement, comparison, inspiration

The U.S. is the only OECD country that does not offer any form of federal paid parental leave. Only three states—California, New Jersey and Rhode Island—have state paid parental leave policies; implemented in 2004, 2009 and 2014, respectively. Through descriptive statistics and a regression analysis of women and men’s wages in those three states, before and after the implementation of the policies, we assess the effects of paid leave programs on the gender wage gaps in those states. Our results show us that California’s paid family leave policy had greater effects on decreasing the gender wage gap than the policies in New Jersey and Rhode Island. In addition, our regression analysis shows us that women of childbearing age (19-45 years) saw an increase in their wages after the policy implementations, while men of childbearing age saw a decrease in their wages. This led us to the conclusion that paid family leave policies may be effective in decreasing the gender wage gap; however it is problematic that men’s wages decreased, implying that the policies may not be totally welfare optimizing. However, we came to an important conclusion that will hopefully entice more states and the federal government to implement policies to better support working parents.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur enhetschefer i kommunal äldreomsorg hanterar sjukskrivningar bland omsorgspersonal. I studien användes en kvalitativ metod och sammanlagt genomfördes fem intervjuer med yrkesverksamma enhetschefer inom kommunal äldreomsorg. Vi har inspirerats av kritisk teori som analysmetod. Den teoretiska referensramen i studien är handlingsutrymme, handlingsfrihet och klämsits. Studiens resultat visar att sjukskrivningar bland omsorgsarbetare enligt enhetscheferna är ett omfattande problem. Resultatet visar att enhetschefer själva är ett viktigt verktyg i hanteringen av sjukskrivningar. Samtliga enhetschefer är medvetna om den ram som styr deras handlingsutrymme i form av lagar, regler och organisatoriska förutsättningar, men resultatet visar att de hanterar sjukskrivningar på olika sätt. Hur man skall hantera sjukskrivningar är upp till varje enskild enhetschef att avgöra och det kan ibland vara svårt att parera de olika förväntningar som de har på sig själva och sitt uppdrag. Enhetscheferna beskriver bristande stödfunktioner som en orsak till att det blir svårt och menar att de tvingas utveckla egna strategier för att kompensera för dessa. Resultatet visar också att det finns bristande resurser, både i form av tid och av pengar för att kunna möta de juridiska skyldigheter som enhetscheferna har i sitt arbetsgivaransvar. / The purpose of this study was to examine how first line managers in municipal elderly care manage sick leave among care workers. The study uses a qualitative method and five interviews were performed with first line manager professionals in municipal elderly care. We have been inspired by critical theory when analyze the result. The theoretical framework is space of action, freedom of action and conflict of interest. The result of the study shows that according to first line managers sick leave among care workers is an extensive problem. The result shows that first line managers themselves are an important tool while managing sick leave. They are all aware of the framework that controls their space of action and the framework consists of laws, rules and organizational conditions. The result shows that first line managers manage sick leave in different ways. How to manage sick leave is up to each and every one of them and it can sometimes be difficult to parry the different expectations they have on themselves and on their mission. First line managers describe lack of support functions as a reason why it can be difficult and they say that they are forced to develop their own strategies to compensate for these. The result also shows that there is a lack of resources, in both time and money to meet the legal obligations that first line managers have by their employer's' responsibility.

New Jersey is one of only three states in the United States offering a paid maternity leave benefit beyond temporary disability insurance at the present time. Understanding the impact of state maternity leave policies on low-income mothers is of particular urgency, since previous research suggests this group is less likely to utilize paid leave than wealthier women. In addition, existing literature also suggests that in a poverty environment, with its already existing vulnerability to social, emotional, cognitive, and health impairments, rapid return to work postpartum may be particularly damaging to the physical and emotional health of both mothers and their babies. This study examines the effectiveness of the New Jersey law mandating payments to postpartum mothers who were employed before giving birth. Using a mixed methods approach, outcomes from high- and low-income mothers were compared regarding the usage and impact of Family Leave Insurance (FLI), New Jersey’s paid family leave policy. For the quantitative study, data from 497 postpartum mothers from the Center for Disease Control’s 2012 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data set were analyzed. For the qualitative study, three high- and three low-income mothers from the same New Jersey county were interviewed in depth, and six narrative profiles were constructed. Data from the qualitative and quantitative analyses were combined. Consistent with existing literature, quantitative results suggested poor FLI utilization. However, there was no significant association (p > .05) between low-income status (household income under $22,000) and FLI usage. A statistically significant (p < .05) association between FLI usage and postpartum depression in low-income mothers was noted. Qualitative findings supplemented and explained the quantitative results. The qualitative data suggested policy underutilization stemmed from poor public awareness due to inadequate publicity, lack of community education, and poor advisement on the part of human resource personnel and New Jersey Department of Labor of Workforce Development call-in center advisors. Results also suggest that if parameters of FLI and the awareness of the policy remain the same, the benefits existing research associates with paid maternity leave will not be fully reaped by New Jersey families.

<p>The background to the thesis is the high rate for sickness absence in Sweden since the end of the 1990s. In an international perspective, the Swedish sickness absence appears exceptionally high. This can appear paradoxical bearing in mind the high standard of living and the high average length of life in Sweden, and there is much to indicate that complex causal correlations are involved.</p><p>The overall aim of the thesis is to study and analyse the return to work or transition to disability pension, for persons on long-term sick leave from their own perspective. The focus of the thesis is the individual in a social context.</p><p>The theoretical frame of reference is within medical sociology and is about sickness concepts and models and on medicalisation. The concept of work capacity is also taken up based on the concepts of disability and impairment.</p><p>The empirical material consists of four studies. Two of these are qualitative interview studies with women. One of them (I) is about Greek women who have been granted Swedish disability pension. The aim of this study is to find explanations why such a large number of Greek women have become disability pensioners in Sweden. The analysis indicated some important factors: the doctors, the family and the social insurance system. The women had unclear psychosomatic complaints, which had been medicalised. The other qualitative study (IV) concerned women who after sick leave and rehabilitation succeeded in returning to work. It was seen to be strong and stubborn women who had to struggle to get back to working life. They had also been well taken care of in rehabilitation.</p><p>The other two studies (II and III) are quantitative, prospective cohort studies with persons on sick leave with unspecified back and neck complaints. One main aim of one study (III) was to investigate the importance of motivation for rehabilitation and return to work. Two specially designed forms were used. It was seen, among other things that the forecasts of the person on sick leave on return to work coincided quite well with a follow-up two years later. One important result was that those who had undergone rehabilitation measures had returned to work to a much lesser extent than those who had not.</p><p>Overall, the results showed the importance of listening to the individual and taking their own assessments of obstacles and possibilities in the rehabilitation process into consideration. The results in study III indicated that rehabilitation had not been sufficiently effective and in many cases did not lead to a return to work.</p>

The background to the thesis is the high rate for sickness absence in Sweden since the end of the 1990s. In an international perspective, the Swedish sickness absence appears exceptionally high. This can appear paradoxical bearing in mind the high standard of living and the high average length of life in Sweden, and there is much to indicate that complex causal correlations are involved. The overall aim of the thesis is to study and analyse the return to work or transition to disability pension, for persons on long-term sick leave from their own perspective. The focus of the thesis is the individual in a social context. The theoretical frame of reference is within medical sociology and is about sickness concepts and models and on medicalisation. The concept of work capacity is also taken up based on the concepts of disability and impairment. The empirical material consists of four studies. Two of these are qualitative interview studies with women. One of them (I) is about Greek women who have been granted Swedish disability pension. The aim of this study is to find explanations why such a large number of Greek women have become disability pensioners in Sweden. The analysis indicated some important factors: the doctors, the family and the social insurance system. The women had unclear psychosomatic complaints, which had been medicalised. The other qualitative study (IV) concerned women who after sick leave and rehabilitation succeeded in returning to work. It was seen to be strong and stubborn women who had to struggle to get back to working life. They had also been well taken care of in rehabilitation. The other two studies (II and III) are quantitative, prospective cohort studies with persons on sick leave with unspecified back and neck complaints. One main aim of one study (III) was to investigate the importance of motivation for rehabilitation and return to work. Two specially designed forms were used. It was seen, among other things that the forecasts of the person on sick leave on return to work coincided quite well with a follow-up two years later. One important result was that those who had undergone rehabilitation measures had returned to work to a much lesser extent than those who had not. Overall, the results showed the importance of listening to the individual and taking their own assessments of obstacles and possibilities in the rehabilitation process into consideration. The results in study III indicated that rehabilitation had not been sufficiently effective and in many cases did not lead to a return to work.

Aims: The starting point of this study was the experience of great problems with persons on long-term sick leave in the county of Västerbotten. In order to illuminate the situation we designed a study of the actors most involved who dealt with persons on long-term sick leave. These actors were the medical doctors; the employers: the social insurance officials; and members of the board of social insurance and persons reporting on the cases to the board. One aim was to describe and analyse the situation for persons on sick leave. Another aim was to describe and analyse the perception of the role the different actors played when dealing with persons on long-term sick leave. The third aim was to describe and analyse the different actors' views of each other, and of the co-operation around the persons on long-term sick leave. Method and material: Interviews with persons on sick leave, employers, social insurance officials and medical doctors. Questionnaires were sent to persons on sick leave, doctors and the members of the board of social insurance and those reporting on the cases. The interviews were audio- taped and transcribed word by word. Coding and analysis of collected data was done simultaneously by performing new interviews, using an adjusted form of grounded theory with the purpose of trying to find patterns and contexts. The aim was to describe the subjective experiences of how the actors look upon their situation and their way of coping with it. Results: The interviews with the employers showed great differences in attitudes and ways of treating employees, which also led to different models for dealing with work environment, sickness absence and rehabilitation. We divided the employers into five different "ideal types". Two of them could be described as "well-functioning" with regard to rehabilitation, and three of them as "less well-functioning". A high degree of flexibility characterises the successful employer, and he also takes good care of his personnel. The good employer also co-operates with other actors. The employers that are not well-functioning are not engaged in making adjustments, and have little confidence in their staff; the unions within their field are weak. Interviews with medical doctors revealed that they felt lonely, and that the demands were frustrating to them. They also had feelings of losing the locus of control. The doctors showed lack of knowledge of the labour market and the social insurance legislation, which made their work harder. They experienced that their lack of time made sickness periods longer. Among the results from the interviews with social insurance officials can be mentioned that they had good knowledge about laws, but sometimes it was difficult to use their knowledge and methods due to lack of flexibility. They experienced feelings of loneliness and had great difficulty in making decisions. Co-operation with partners often did not work out - the officials did not demand so much of their co-actors. The results of the questionnaire directed towards the members of the board of social insurance and those who reported on the cases did not show statistically significant differences between the three counties. The members of the board had almost the same proposals for decision as those who reported on the cases. There were no significant differences between men and women in decision-making. As a whole the members of the board seemed to be skilled in their knowledge of how to use the social insurance legislation. The results of the interviews with persons on sick leave showed that those persons had difficulties in asking for help and support. They felt such loyalty to their employers that they did not ask for adjustments of working places when needed. At the same time they were disappointed that the employers were not sufficiently involved in making it possible to come back to work again. More than half of the respondents had not received enough support from the employers, the medical doctors or the social insurance officials. Most of them felt frustrated, with little or no hope for the future. The results of the questionnaire to persons on long-term sick leave showed that women took a greater responsibility for their own rehabilitation, while the employers showed an earlier interest in sick male employees than in sick female employees. The employers were also keener to adjust the working places for men than for women. Despite those factors, women more often met their employers than men did, and they also had a more positive attitude to social insurance officials and doctors than men had. People with longer education took greater responsibility for their rehabilitation than those with shorter education. Compared to older people, younger persons were more optimistic about their future health and work, and also expressed that work was not so stressful. / digitalisering@umu