Beyond single OSH policies: Gender-specific psychosocial hazards in remote work

Abstract

Background

With the rise of remote work, the boundaries between home and the workplace have become blurred. When it comes to traditional work-family roles, the challenges faced by women and men in remote work and expectations for the future are beginning to diverge.

Objective

To investigate, from the perspective of Boundary Theory, gender-specific psychosocial risks and future work preferences related to remote work.

Methods

We used a cross-sectional design in the study. We reached 5002 professionals in Türkiye via the convenience sampling technique. The Pearson chi-square test was used via SPSS 31 to analyze the two research questions.

Results

Women reported higher levels of “monotony of work” (χ2 = 18.626, p < 0.001), “lack of communication” (χ2 = 4.531, p = 0.035), and “lack of feedback” (χ2 = 7.050, p = 0.009). Conversely, men reported “being in a constant state of work” (χ2 = 12.181, p < 0.001), “family conflict” (χ2 = 13.265, p < 0.001), “lack of technical support from the organization” (χ2 = 7.801, p = 0.006), and “struggling with an increased workload” (χ2 = 6.334, p = 0.013). Moreover, men favored hybrid work (χ2 = 19.831, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

These findings imply that gender-responsive OHS policies, such as the right to disconnect for men and virtual social support for women, are critical for ensuring the sustainability of remote work practices.