Abstract

With increasing age of statutory retirement, working careers are prolonged. Many older workers will face chronic disease during the latter stages of their working career, which may influence their work performance as well as their ability to remain employed. A health impact assessment based on a cause-elimination approach is conducted to estimate the potential improvement in working life expectancy by complete elimination of the negative impact of health on labour force participation. Depending on educational level, ill health may contribute to up to two working years lost during the work life course. Subsequently, based on a longitudinal cohort among over 8000 workers 45–65 years, it is investigated how working conditions influence the ability of workers with health problems to remain in paid employment during the 3 year follow-up. Psychosocial work-related factors modified the influence of health problems on disability benefits. Higher autonomy, higher support and low psychosocial job demands reduced the risk of disability benefits by 82%, 49%, and 11% respectively. Promoting an optimal work environment will contribute substantially to sustainable employment.