Workplace accommodation for older teachers in Japan and Germany: The role of the institutional context in supporting late career options for teachers with ill health

Abstract

IntroductionThe likelihood of having a physical or mental disability drastically increases with age, and especially for members of the teaching professions ( Freude, Seibt, Pech, & Ullsperger, 2005); a white collar profession that has a high prevalence of being affected especially by mental health problems such as burnout ( Hakanen, Bakker, & Schaufelli, 2006; Bauer, Unterbrink, Hack, Pfeifer, Buhlgrieshaber, Muller, Wesche, Frommhold, Seibt, Scheuch, & Wirsching,2007) which leads to depersonalisation, emotional exhaustion and/or a reduced sense of personal accomplishment and achievement (Griva & Joekes, 2003). Besides potentially affecting an individual's capability to fulfil his/her original work-related tasks, burnout directly affects individual job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2009) and, as a consequence, turnover intention (Yang & Lee, 2009) and, potentially, physical health (Tsuboi, Takeuchi, Watanabe, Hori, & Kobayashi, 2002).Ill health of both the physical and mental types and its effects on teacher careers has been a prominent topic in international HRM research (cf. Travers & Cooper, 1993; Goddard & Goddard, 2006; Hughes, 2001; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011). For example, the incidence of early labour market exit due to ill-health is considered to be high in general ( Van Rijn, Robroek, Brouwer, & Burdorf, 2014) as well as among teachers, both in Europe and in North America (Bowers, 2001). This specifically applies to Germany (Weber, 2004; Bauer et al., 2007; Goetz, Loew, Hornung, Cojocaru, Lahmann, & Tritt, 2013), where, for example in the German Federal State of Hamburg, 23.4 per cent of those leaving the teaching profession prior to pension age in 2008 did so because of ill-health reasons (Bonorden, 2009). Ill-health also affects the teaching force in Japan where the amount of Japanese teachers taking leave of absence due to health reasons in general, and psychiatric disorders in particular, has increased significantly between 1995 and 2004 ( Inoue, Tanii, Kauta, Masaki, Fukunaga, & Okazaki, 2007). Furthermore, the percentage of teachers that retired prior to retirement age (age 60) in Tokyo increased from 12.8 per cent to 22.3 per cent between 1994 and 1997, and the percentage of those quitting their job in the teaching profession increased from 21.6 per cent to 24.1 per cent over the same time period (Kudomi, 1999). Reasons for ill-health, and especially for burnout, are similar across Japan and Germany, and include work intensification and changing pupil-parent-teacher relationships (Van Droogenbroeck et al., 2014, Santavirta et al., 2007, Kudomi, 1999, Yamashita and Okada, 2010); the changing image of teachers in society ( Yorimitsu, Houghton, & Taylor, 2014) and psychological factors such as increased work commitment (Kieschke & Schaarschmidt, 2008).Japan and Germany have been chosen because both countries have highly institutionalised employment and human resource management (HRM) systems managing the teaching force, with HRM policies being established at the School Authority-level (OECD, 2005; Cortina, Leschinsky, Baumert, Mayer, & Trommer, 2008). Given that health issues among the teaching force are prevalent in both countries, the comparison presented here aims to show whether and how institutional-level stakeholders are able to accommodate teachers with ill health and disabilities. This discussion aims to examine whether and how both positive and negative 'stay factors' such as employer interventions to help manage health issues and the closure of early retirement routes play out (respectively) in German and Japanese workplaces. Overall, this discussion seeks to contribute to the literature on workplace accommodation, specifically for public sector employees. It uses a qualitative lens, contextualising actual decisions over the provision of accommodations and corresponding lines of argument. The discussion also contributes to comparative HRM research generally as well as to processes of age management specifically. …