Reorganization and Sick Leave : The Ombudsman s Report on Organizational Change at Local Government Workplaces The aim was to analyze why certain reorganizations at public sector workplaces seem to generate both organizational anxiety and long-term sick leave. The study was based on a survey with employees conducted 2000 and a new survey directed to the ombudsman at 88 of these workplaces in 2003. The findings showed strong correlations between organizational anxiety in 2000, and the degree of long-term sick leave in 2003. Apart form the effect of organizational anxiety, multivariate analysis showed that both the number of reorganizations during the previous five year period and how the process of reorganization was handled by the workplace management had great separate impact on the reported illness at the workplace. The model of the reorganization was of less importance in this regard. The most significant effects instead occurred when several reorganizations were carried out at the workplace or when the process was characterized by indistinct and uncompromising workplace management. Keywords: Reorganization, urban innovation, organizational anxiety, management, health, sick leave, long-term sick leave, faze-out.

Syftet var att analysera varför viss kommunal omorganisation verkar ge upphov till både större organisatorisk oro och ökad ohälsa. Studien bygger på en undersökning av personalen vid kommunala arbetsplatser år 2000 och en studie av skyddsombudens uppgifter om omorganisation vid 88 av dessa år 2003. Resultaten uppvisar ett starkt samband mellan organisatorisk oro år 2000 och långtidssjukskrivning/förtidspensionering 2003. Även om personaldemokratiska inslag tenderade att reducera den organisatoriska oron, hade omorganisationens syfte ringa betydelse för ohälsan. De allra viktigaste orsakerna utgjordes i stället av organisatorisk utmattning orsakad av att flera omorganisationer utförts i rad, och processer som kännetecknas av arbetsledningens kompromisslöshet, otydlighet eller pseudodemokratiska inslag. Stefan Szücs är verksam vid Centrum för forskning om offentlig sektor (CEFOS), Göteborgs universitet