*3.3. Survey Procedures*

The research methodology was developed using different surveys, which were designed taking a set of eleven international benchmarks into consideration, namely: (i) health and well-being at work: a survey of employees, 2014, UK, Department for Work and Pensions [54]; (ii) ACT Online Employee Health and Wellbeing Survey 2016, Australian Capital Territory Government [55]; (iii) British Heart Foundation 2012, employee survey [56]; (iv) British Heart Foundation 2017, staff health and wellbeing template survey [57]; (v) Rand Europe (2015), Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace— Britain's Healthiest Organization summary report [58]; (vi) South Australia Health, Government of South Australia staff needs assessment, staff health and wellbeing survey; (vii) Southern Cross Health Society and Business NZ, Wellness in the Workplace Survey 2017 [59]; (viii) State Government Victoria, Workplace Health & Wellbeing needs survey; (ix) East Midlands Public Health Observatory, Workplace Health Needs Assessment for Employers, February 2012 [60]; (x) Tool for Observing Worksite Environments (TOWE). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [1]; and (xi) Measure of QWL, as originally proposed in [61].

With the motivation of accomplishing the objectives, this study was analytical and correlational, because it sought to explore the variables and the relationships between them, and it was cross-sectional because the sample was collected in a single period. The purpose of the study was descriptive because it aimed to analyze the relationship between burnout and quality of work life among municipal workers subjected to higher levels of stress and emotional exhaustion, interacting with their occupational health in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic. Through a quantitative, objectivist, and, therefore, deductive approach, this research was supported by models built on results and previous research, with quantitative indicators collected through a survey.

The survey includes four sections: (i) health, (ii) well-being, (iii) QWL, and (iv) sample characterization (gender, age, marital status, role in the organization, type of employee contract, academic qualifications, size of the organization). In the first three sections, Likert scales were used (ranging from 1 to 7), in order to evaluate the level of agreement with a set of affirmations, which were used to assess the level of agreement with a set of sentences in each sub-section. These scales had been transformed into binary considering the variables under analysis. In the fourth section, levels of answers were used, considering values ranging from 1 to 4 equaling 0 and values 5, 6, and 7 equal to 1.

The study period included a declaration of national calamity twice and two subsequent stages of easing lockdown measures following the states of national emergency (between 19 March and 4 May 2020 and between 15 January and 15 March 2021). A questionnaire built in the Google platform was provided to participants via a link shared through direct e-mail to municipalities' contacts.
