- People with MS are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed or to retire early.
- MS Australia-supported researchers analysed Australian data about factors that influence workplace participation.
- People with MS who feel safe to disclose their diagnoses at work report more confidence about performing their jobs and that fatigue has less impact on their work; and they are more likely to stay in the workforce.
Employment can play a positive role in people’s quality of life
For many people, meaningful work is an important contributor to quality of life. But people with MS experience more unemployment and underemployment than the general population. Not having a job, having too little work, or leaving the workforce early can affect a person’s quality of life, financial circumstances, and family and social life.
People with MS often leave their jobs before they experience significant physical disability. Â There are also psychological barriers for people with MS when it comes to participating in paid work, such as reduced psychological safety and confidence in being able to perform their job (work self-efficacy). People feel psychologically safe when they feel safe taking risks within a group and that they will not be punished or humiliated for voicing ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.
Having a psychologically safe workplace can improve workplace confidence and reduce employees’ intentions of leaving the workforce.
Fatigue is partially determined by psychological factors and is one of the most common reasons people with MS say they plan to leave the workforce.
But we don’t know how psychological safety, confidence in work performance and fatigue work together to influence people’s plans leave the workforce.
What did the researchers do?
Using the Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS), MS Australia-supported researchers analysed survey responses about work from 372 AMSLS members over a four-year period. Participating members were in paid employment at the start of the four years:
- At Year 1 (baseline), AMSLS members answered a seven-item scale that measured psychological safety. For this research, psychological safety was defined as how safe a person with MS felt about disclosing their diagnosis at their workplace and seeking accommodations for their MS, without fear of being punished or shamed.
- At Year 2, AMSLS members answered an eight-item scale that measured confidence in work performance.
- At Year 4, AMSLS members answered a three-item scale on how they feel fatigue impacted their work performance.
At Year 4, AMSLS members were also asked how likely they were to leave employment in the next 12 months.
What did the researchers find?
Published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, researchers found that people with MS who felt psychologically safe at work at baseline were less likely to be planning to leave employment in Year 4. Both confidence at Year 2 and the perceived impact of fatigue on work performance at Year 4 helped explain the relationship between psychological safety and plans to leave employment.
People with greater psychological safety experienced greater workplace confidence and felt that fatigue had less impact on their work performance. There was a step-by-step relationship across these factors, where psychological safety at work first improved people’s confidence, which then reduced the perceived impact of fatigue on their work performance.
What does this mean for people with MS?
People with MS don’t only leave employment because of physical illness. There are psychological and social reasons as well.
When people with MS experience trust, safety and inclusion in their workplace, they have less fear and anxiety about disclosing their MS or asking for support and accommodations. They spend less time and energy trying to protect themselves from discrimination and stigma and have more to devote to their work. They experience greater confidence in their ability to do their job and are less likely to feel that fatigue impacts on their work. This in turn reduces the chances of them planning to leave the workforce early.
Feeling safe at work and feeling confident in carrying out one’s job are factors that workplaces can change. Workplaces that effectively target and improve their employees’ feelings of trust, safety, inclusion and confidence to do their jobs, contribute to employee retention.
MS is often diagnosed when people are in their working years. For people with MS, staying in work can make a real difference to quality of life, financial security and social connection.
Find MS Australia’s employee and workplace resources here.
