This research aims to investigate the organisational factors that influence the motivation to work and their consequences on health perception and satisfaction with life for teachers in private Higher Education institutions. The study has emerged as a result of the need to understand the teaching profession in Brazil since the implementation of the Higher Education reform, which began in the 2000s and is characterised by a predominantly private expansion. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted with 148 teachers who answered a survey questionnaire. The results demonstrate that perceived organisational support and the relationship with the leader influence teachers' autonomous motivation. In addition, autonomous motivation was observed to partially mediate perceived organisational support, health perception and satisfaction with life; the findings also indicate mediation between the leader-follower relationship (LMX) with their health perception and general satisfaction with life.