Teleworking in the banking sector has increased considerably as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work examines the role that home work environment and organisational support for teleworking played in the health of bank employees who were forced to work from their homes during the health emergency. For this, the authors propose and test a structural equation model and a moderated serial mediation model using a sample of 1037 bank employees in Spain, obtained through an online self-administered survey. The results reveal the direct and indirect effects of home physical conditions on health, mediated by family interference with work and technological overload. The results also show that the organisation's support for teleworking enhances the impact of home physical conditions on family interference and technological overload, also detecting that the indirect effects of physical conditions on health have been conditioned by the organisation's support for teleworking. The study therefore provides a better understanding of the impact of home environment on teleworkers' health and identifies useful strategies to improve the well-being of bank employees who wish to work from home.
Policy Implications
- The popularity of teleworking as a way to improve the sustainability of the organization is increasing, but the success of this work arrangement requires the protection of the employee’s health.
- The health of the teleworker is conditioned by the home work environment, i.e., ergonomic conditions of the workspace, presence of the family and technological overload.
- The success of teleworking will depend on the ability of organizations to assess and control the home work environment and monitor the health of teleworkers, making necessary specific support of the organization towards teleworking.
- Occupational health providers must establish adequate mechanisms for occupational risk prevention and health promotion of teleworkers.
- It is of great importance to develop regulations and establish protocols that make it easier for organizations to monitor the health of employees who work from home.
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