Occupational Stress Theory

Several models of occupational stress have been formulated in an attempt to explain relationships between features of the working environment and employee wellbeing. One such model is the effort-reward imbalance model (ERI; Siegrist, 1996). In 1986, the ERI Model was introduced by Siegrist, Starke, Chandola, Godin, Marmot, Niedhammer and Peter (2004), (Biological and Psychological Factors in Cardiovascular Disease, Springer, Berlin, 1986, pp. 104–126; Social Science & Medicine 22 (1986) 247). The central tenet of the ERI Model is that an imbalance between (high) efforts and (low) rewards leads to (sustained) strain reactions. Besides efforts and rewards, overcommitment (i.e., a personality characteristic) is a crucial aspect of the model (Vegchel,

In this study, the model of effort-reward imbalance was been tested with job stress that experienced by the employees in the workplaces from the aspect of job security, mobility and salaries in the workplaces. Exploring the well-being of the employees in the workplaces is very important issues for the employer for look on it. The importance of the recognition, respect and fairness treatment to the wellbeing of the employees should be emphasised (Winter & Sarros, 2002). This is because, workplaces is significant part for the employees life that may affect his or her life working. On other hands, the employee’s well-being also is the part of the interest for employers who was invest the resources on the employees and trying to generate the productivity, profits and return of investments (Harter, Schmidt, & Keyes, 2003). In particulars, the researchers have reveal that the relationships between job satisfactions is related to employee’s performance (Thoresen, Bono, & Patton 2001). The higher the employees wellbeing the higher the cooperative in the workplaces, and become more productivity and high performance (Spectr’s, 1997). The ERI model was explained that, the high effort and low reward employees were experiencing the emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms and job dissatisfaction. In other words, when the employees have controlled the reward and effort it means that the efforts (psychological demands) were the powerful predictors for employee’s emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms. Besides that, the reward from the work is the predictors for the job dissatisfaction. Other than that, the ERI model component (overcommitment ) also explained the employees will have poor well-being when high effort to their occupation and at the same time experiencing low reward which mismatch to