ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a number of relatively new issues in relation to stress and changing workplace practices. First, while stress was recognized as an important phenomenon, the causes and consequences of stress have to some extent been ignored by business and government. Second, more recent economic and workplace changes appear to be associated with increased stress in the workplace, yet there is relatively little research that identifies the effects of workplace change on stress. Third, Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey study, as a national Australian sample, provides important evidence of the strength of workplace change as a factor increasing stress, beyond the traditional stress factors. The chapter investigates the hypothesis that certain types of recent work-practice change are strong predictors of increased stress at work, beyond the effects of traditional stressors. The findings on the effects of changes in negative workplace practices are important in the field of stress at work, given the paucity of research in this area.
