In recent decades, the demographic composition of the teaching population has undergone significant changes. The aging of the teaching workforce is a widespread and critical phenomenon observed across North and Latin America, as well as in many European countries (European Commission, 2023; UNESCO, 2024). In response to these demographic shifts, there is a need to develop and implement target support strategies that address the distinct needs of teachers across all age groups, aimed at enhancing their physical and mental capacity to perform job tasks effectively and improving retention within the profession.

In efforts to extend healthy working lives, growing attention has been directed toward the construct of work ability (WA), defined as an individual’s ability or perception of their ability to meet job demands and complete required tasks (Ilmarinen et al., 1997). Objective WA is based on assessing the employee’s health and functional limitations (McGonagle et al., 2022). In contrast, perceived WA refers to the worker’s self-perception or subjective assessment of their physical and mendal capacity to continue working in their current job, considering the job characteristics and available resources (McGonagle et al., 2022).

Furthermore, research on perceived WA has predominantly focused on non-teaching professional populations, highlighting the need for more targeted studies on teachers’ WA. This paper focuses on teachers’ perceived work ability (PTWA), conceptualized as the subjective evaluation of their physical and mental capacity to meet job requirements and effectively navigate the diverse physical, cognitive, interpersonal, emotional, and organizational demands inherent in contemporary teaching roles (Hlado & Harvankova, 2024; McCarthy et al., 2024).

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Taris et al., 2017) asserts that every job encompasses various types and levels of job demands that can impede employee functioning while also highlighting the role of job resources that can support and enhance employee performance and well-being. Health impairment or energetic process posits that when job demands exceed individual capabilities and are accompanied by low levels of job resources, it can result in the depletion of mental and physical energy. This depletion, in turn, may contribute to developing health-related issues and adverse job-related outcomes, including reduced WA. The buffering hypothesis postulates that high levels of job resources can mitigate the adverse effects of job demands on job strain, including burnout and other outcomes.

The goal of this paper is to provide a more nuanced understanding of the antecedents of PTWA. The JD-R and WA research (Bakker et al., 2005; Cadiz et al., 2019; Hlado & Harvankova, 2024) have identified three key categories that play a significant role in the depletion of perceived WA: job demands, job resources, and burnout. Therefore, we investigate how job demands (quantitative, qualitative, and emotional), job resources (supervisor, coworker support, and autonomy), and teacher burnout interact to affect PTWA. In addition to replicating established predictors of perceived WA, we contribute to the literature by exploring an additional determinant—work-life conflict—which is not included in the JD-R model (Demerouti & Bakker, 2011) and remains underexplored. Thus, we empirically tests the underlying psychological processes captured in the JD-R model, which has been expanded to include a non-work domain. Our contribution lies in its holistic approach, investigating the effects of the model variables on PTWA and the complex interrelationships among them.

The sample comprises 841 primary and lower secondary teachers (86.1% female). Participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 76 years, with a mean age of 45.9 years (SD = 10.8). On average, the teachers had 19.3 years of experience in the teaching profession (SD = 12.04). Perceived teacher work ability was evaluated using the Teacher Work Ability Scale (TWAS; Hlaďo et al., [not published]). TWAS is a 21-item inventory. The TWAS items are measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (low) to 7 (high). The Cronbach’s α for the TWAS was .95. The results of the CFA showed a good fit (χ2 |177| = 796.9, p < .001, CFI = .951, TLI = .942, RMSEA = .065, SRMR = .042). Burnout was measured by the Czech version of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ; Ptáček et al., 2017). The SMBQ is a 14-item inventory consisting of three subscales that measure physical exhaustion, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion. The SMBQ items are measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale with response options ranging from 1 – never or almost never to 7 – always or almost always. Cronbach’s α of the total score was .93, and .92 for physical exhaustion, .88 for cognitive weariness, and .92 for emotional exhaustion subscales. A second-order CFA model with the presupposed three-factor structure showed a good fit (χ2 |73| = 274.5, p < .001, CFI = .977, TLI = .971, RMSEA = .057, SRMR = .036). Job resources, job demands, and work-related conflict were assessed using the Czech version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ-III; Burr et al., 2019), which is designed to assess various dimensions of the psychosocial factors at work. Job resources were measured by three different scales: social support from supervisor (α = .82), social support from colleagues (α = .77), and influence at work measuring autohomy at work (α = .75). Within job demands, three different dimensions of demands were distinguished and measured: quantitative (α = .77), cognitive (α = .75), and emotional (α = .76). The work-life conflict was measured using the work-life conflict scale (α = .82). We developed and estimated the full SEM model based on the proposed hypotheses. The structural model results yielded the following goodness-of-fit indices: χ2 |1656| = 4210.5, p < .001, CFI = .918, TLI = .912, RMSEA = .043, SRMR = .050.

The analysis identified quantitative job demands, supervisor and coworker support, and burnout as the most influential factors affecting PTWA. The results indicate that burnout is the strongest negative predictor of PTWA. Quantitative and emotional job demands indirectly reduce PTWA through burnout, whereas cognitive job demands unexpectedly show a negative association with burnout, suggesting that intellectual challenges in teaching profession may function as motivational rather than depleting factors. Among job resources, supervisor and coworker support directly enhance PTWA, while autonomy does not show a direct effect. Work-life conflict emerges as a key factor linking job demands to burnout, particularly for quantitative and emotional demands, but does not mediate the relationship between job demands and PTWA. Our findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions aimed at reducing burnout, particularly through strengthening social support and enhancing teachers’ control over their workload. Addressing quantitative and emotional job demands through administrative adjustments and professional development opportunities may contribute to sustaining teachers’ physical and mental capacity to meet job demands and remain in the profession. Overall, our findings provide insights into the promotion of teachers' functional health, which could be integrated into school management practices. This topic will be discussed in greater detail and with specific examples during the conference presentation.

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