Fixed-term work and violence at work.

OBJECTIVES This study investigated the effect of a fixed-term job contract on encounters of violence at work. We assumed that fixed-term employees encountered more violence or threats of violence at their work than permanent employees. METHODS This study is based on 3 large statistical data sets: (a) the Work and Health surveys carried out by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in 1997-2006 (n=7,519); (b) the so-called Victim study carried out by Statistics Finland in 2006, where 4088 working people were interviewed about victimization resulting in injuries and violence; and (c) another study from Statistics Finland, which interviewed 4 392 wage-earners about their working conditions in 2008. RESULTS One of the 3 data sets showed that fixed-term employees encountered more violence at work than permanent employees, whereas the other 2 did not show any difference between different contract groups. CONCLUSIONS Our hypothesis concerning greater violence encounters among fixed-term employees was not confirmed.