Introduction

Psychosocial hazards are workplace stressors or work organizational determinant that can place pressure on the psychological and physical health of employees which includes absence of social support from superior or colleagues, role uncertainty, absence of rewards and lack of respect for workers and the work they perform (Leka and Houdmont 2010).

In this article, research was conducted on a group of Japanese workers to analyse the relationship concerning organizational justice (procedural and interactional) and psychological distress. The purpose of this study is (a) to determine whether low procedural justice and low interactional justice will result in higher risks of psychological distress and (b) to investigate whether it influence more on permanent or non-permanent employees.

Summary of article

A study was conducted in a manufacturing listed organization situated in Kanton. The overall number of qualified employees considered for the research was 1,017 which comprise of 373 males (365 permanent and 8 non-permanent employees) and 644 females (161 permanent and 483 non-permanent employees), conducted from August 2009 to August 2010.

The information was gathered using self-administrated questionnaire except chronic physical conditions and life events which were evaluated by multiple choice questions. The scales includes Organizational Justice Questionnaire, K6 (evaluate psychological distress), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (evaluate neuroticism); Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire and Job Content Questionnaire (evaluate job demands, job control and social support at work). Other factors include demographics characteristics such as age (classified into 4 groups), education (college or higher and senior high school or lower), marital status (currently married, never married, divorced or widowed), chronic physical conditions (22 chronic physical conditions), life event in past 12 months (individual or family life events) and occupation (classified into 6 groups).

The participants were categorised according to gender and employment contract (permanent or non-permanent employees) using a series of multiple logistic regression analysis. The contract of employment details was extracted from the organization personnel data and were categorised into 5 groups. The K6 scale was utilized again after one-year follow-up.
The results reviews that there is a possibly that low procedural justice is a vital predictor for psychological distress in non-permanent female workers.

Accuracy, reliability and validity

The generalization of the research should be done with caution, however the author have cited some of the literatures which are out-of-dated, with references that is beyond 10 years. As a result, the validity and reliability of the research might have been affected. Strength

The researchers have conducted an in-depth research with a number of measure approaches, based on different classification of the employees participated. This provided a rich description on the subgroup difference and the way employees react to the organizational justice. Besides that, the researchers have also conducted a follow-up research on one year after it was carried out to revalidate their results. The article is logical with the appropriate measures approaches used and it is supported with many numerous valid supporting references from different authors.

Limitations

In the recent study, organisational justice was being found to be new evidence to psychosocial predictor of health (Marko, Mika and Juss 2002). The pursuit of justice is a fundamental aspect which will cause a significant impact on the health and mental stress on the permanent and non-permanent employees at work (David, et al. 2004). However, the evidence may still be inconclusive for there may confounding factors underlie with the association on the psychosocial hazards. For example, some of the psychosocial risk factors could be the lack of job control, the intensification of work, social support, sexual harassment, violence at work and so on (Emmanuelle, et al. 2007).

The authors may need to take into consideration that there could be such stressors which might be a contributing factor in the influence of the results of this research. As such, organisational justice might not be the sole contributor which associated to the job insecurity and the psychological distress on the employees.

With the utilization of the questionnaire to collect data, it is indeed a quicker approach to collect data and gather information. But on the other hand, there is no opportunity for the researcher to ask the participants for clarification and refocus on the information they need. This may impede on the setting of clear risk descriptions and the data might not be reliable as there could be a possibility of imprecise response and participants might interpret the questions differently. Therefore, the study might not be generalized.

According to Emmanuelle, et al., a feasibility study for a larger scale research with a long-term follow up is essential to constantly forecast on the up to date emerging risks. With reference to the article, there is an unbalanced distribution of demographics on the male and female employees. This significant difference between the headcount of each gender will results in the inconsistency in the data collected and the findings will not be comparable.
In the study by Jussi, et al., the restriction in the follow up time will gives minimal information about the changing risk in the psychosocial hazards. The authors have evaluated the results one year after the research, however, the follow up period was relatively shorter as compared to the other studies conducted, which can goes up to 7 years of evaluation (Jussi, et al. 2000). For such case, the purpose of the evaluation research is not well served in its reliability of the research being evaluated, as it might not provide a reflective or precise evidence to evaluate on the results.
Managing psychosocial hazards

Employee Engagement
The organization has a culture that treats all workers equally regardless of the type of contracts they hold, non-permanent employees should be given a chance to have a say concerning work activities, normally termed as the employee ‘voice’. Voice is one the main factor that guides them to judge whether a particular procedure is consider as fair or unfair. This allows employees to feel they are treated fairly as they can get to voice their opinions that influence decisions outcomes. Voice leads to procedural justice when involvement to the decision was appropriate and employees feel treated with respect and dignity (Albrecht 2010).
The existence of voice will lead to worker engagement; such as workers can convey their dissatisfaction faced in present situations that exist in the organization. This allows the managers to take remedial action to improve the situations (Albrecht 2010). With existence of unprejudiced, upward and downward communication and open decision making approach in the organization, it can avert the psychological distress or mental illness that non-permanent female workers are facing. In addition, it creates an environment whereby employees feel a sense of belonging, greater understanding and consequently result in better dedication towards the organization.

Equal Employment Opportunities
From the article, more males are employed in managerial positions while female were mainly holding support or administrative roles which indicates gender inequality.
Legislation on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) in Japan offers equality with relations to gender in 5 aspects; hiring and selections, job assignments and promotion; training and development; staff benefits; retirement, mandatory retirement age and dismissal. Although the EEO law created changes for woman in the marketplace, it still did not offer equal opportunity and was focus of much criticism (Goodman 2008).

Organization need to review its HR policies and procedures to ensure that their practices are fair and non-discriminatory against women. There is a need for organization to provide equal employment opportunity so that they will have an equal chance as the male employees to climb up the corporate ladder. For example, appraisal systems in Japan tend to favour man, organization often do not evaluate women based on individual work performance but rather evaluate based on the person or personal characteristics, an example of appraisal measurement is 360˚ feedback. Organization should adopt a fair appraisal practices that offers women with promotion and personal development opportunities. Another example would be recruitment and selection activities, the process should be fair and non-discriminatory, selection should not be based on gender, religion and age rather it should be based on the requirements of the job (Günther 2008).

Minimize job insecurity
Non-permanent female employees experienced stress due to job insecurity caused by uncertainty and ambiguity. Organizations should adopt a preventive measure against job insecurity by organizational communications. Management should notify employees the criteria that will be utilized in making decisions about the lay-off, to minimize any negative outcomes and enhance employee perception of workplace control. It is vital for organizations to take steps to provide employee with sufficient information with regards to possible future outcomes, thus minimizing their job insecurity. Managers need to establish standards that encourage employees to inquire for information or assist them with problem-solving and sharing of their doubts and concerns (Heery and Salmon 2002).

With the availability of information, it enables the employees to adjust to the circumstances, and consequently avoid negative health effects. It is vital for the management to talk to employees before and after any planned changes and assure the stayers that their jobs are secured. In order to avoid employees from excessive work precariousness is to train, coach and inculcate the thought of ‘boundless career’ in minds of employees so that they learn to take ownership of their own career path. By doing so, they will be more flexible and open to changes. Social support such as counselling should be given to employees who have high job insecurity both at home and at work, as support could help minimize damaging effects on work precariousness has on health (Sargeant and Giovannone 2011).