Ricerc@Sapienza

BACKGROUND: The quality of the places where workers take their breaks may affect the completeness of recovery in the
time available. Little is known about how characteristics of a company canteen buffer the relationship between job demands
and fatigue.
OBJECTIVE: We addressed the possibility that the company canteen buffers the relationship between job demands and
fatigue to the extent that workers perceive it to hold restorative quality. Further, we considered how the restorative quality
of the canteen signals the provision of organizational support, another job resource thought to buffer the demands-fatigue
relationship.
METHODS: A questionnaire was completed by 141 male blue collars workers during their lunch break in the factory canteen
of an Italian industrial organization.
RESULTS: Canteen restorative quality correlated positively with organizational support. In multivariate regression analyses,
the demands-fatigue association was weaker among workers who saw greater restorative quality in the canteen. This buffering
effect was accounted for by a buffering effect of organizational support.
CONCLUSIONS: When settings for rest in the workplace have higher restorative quality, they may better function as job
resources in two respects: serving the immediate needs of workers for recovery from job demands, and signaling the interest
of the organization in their well-being.