Direct and indirect effects of organizational justice on work ability

Background Organizational justice (OJ), involving transparent workplace procedures and treating staff memberswith respect, has been of growing concern in recent epidemiological research as a determinant ofhealth-related outcomes.Aims To examine the factorial validity of the German version of Moorman's Organizational JusticeQuestionnaire (OJQ), to investigate the direct cross-sectional effect of OJ on self-rated work abilityand to analyse if there is an additional indirect effect of OJ on work ability mediated by effort-rewardimbalance.Methods An analysis of cross-sectional data from the Second German Sociomedical Panel of Employees,involving white-collar workers employed at least half time. We performed confirmatory factor analysesto test the factorial validity of the OJQ and analysed the direct and indirect associations of OJ andself-rated work ability by path model analysis.Results Of the 1217 participants (47% female mean age: 51) 36% had poor work ability. Factor analysesconfirmed the two-factor structure of the German OJQ. Work ability was explained directly by OJ(β = 0.30) and effort-reward imbalance (β = -0.27). Additionally, we identified an indirect effect ofOJ that was mediated by effort-reward imbalance (β = 0.14). The total effect of OJ on work abilitywas remarkably strong (β = 0.44). Associations remained unchanged after adjustment for sociodemographicparameters.Conclusions This study showed the importance of considering additional indirect pathways when examining theimpact of OJ on the work ability of employees.