Stress at work: countering Europe’s new pandemic

Occupational stress has become endemic. It damages workers, their families, businesses and economies.

Around half of European workers report exposure to psychosocial risks (PSR) in their workplaces—that’s up from 25 per cent in 2007—contributing to some 50 per cent of all lost working days. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Parliament, the Eurocadres federation and other trade union and health-related organisations insist that the European Commission should act swiftly by drafting an EU directive to counter PSR.

The increase in work-related stress can be traced to new technologies changing the pace of work, the pandemic and the significant rise in home and teleworking creating isolation and affecting people’s ability to disconnect, work overload and time pressures, lack of participation in decision-making, poor management of change, growing job insecurity, discrimination and abuse.   

In a Flash Eurobarometer survey in 2022, The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EU-OSHA) found that 46 per cent of respondents were subject to severe time pressure or overload of work. About a quarter (26 per cent) referred to poor communication or co-operation within their organisation and 18 per cent to a lack of autonomy or influence over the pace of work or work processes. Violence or verbal abuse from customers or patients affected 16 per cent of respondents and 7 per cent reported harassment or bullying at work. In its latest report published this year, the EU-OSHA also highlighted the link between workplace stress and heart disease.

Stress and depression can destroy livelihoods and even lead to suicide. And women are even more exposed to psychosocial risks than men—a gender dimension in the assessment, prevention and treatment of this disease is thus essential.

No legislation

Currently, there is no legislation covering PSR at EU level. The framework directive on health and safety (89/391/EEC) places on employers ‘a duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work’. But with no specific reference to work-related stress, it does not address the assessment and management of PSR.

Non-binding instruments, such as the social partners’ Framework Agreement on Work-Related Stress (2004), have limited impact on national legislation, which varies significantly among member states. Consequently, workers in different countries do not enjoy consistent minimum protection.

The EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work, launched in 2021, also lacks ambition in tackling PSR and musculoskeletal disorders. It presents mental health as an issue for individuals and fails to address the role of work organisation. The initiatives mentioned (such as Horizon 2020 projects) focus on individual interventions and healing, rather than collective action and prevention.

Mere guidance on the risks is, alas, highly unlikely to offer workers adequate protection. Individual remedies are only one element in mitigating PSR and do not cover the many risks related to work and employment conditions. The European Trade Union Institute has collected a huge amount of evidence in this field.

The strategic framework urged the social partners to take action and update existing agreements relating to PSR, but this had already been addressed through a joint fact-finding seminar during the European social partners’ past autonomous work programme. The 2004 framework agreement has been on the books for almost 20 years, but awareness-raising activities, guidance and exchange of best practice have had limited impact, demonstrating the clear need for European legislation. EU-OSHA research shows legal obligation is the main motivation for employers to address health-and-safety issues (for 89 per cent in 2019, up from 85 per cent in 2014).

Urging a directive

In 2019, Eurocadres, with the support of the ETUC, launched the ‘End Stress’ campaign to demand legislation at EU level to address the ‘stress epidemic’ sweeping Europe. A year ago, with its report A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020, the European Parliament echoed the call.

Specifically, the parliament urged the commission:

to propose, in consultation with the social partners, a directive on psychosocial risks and well-being at work aimed at the efficient prevention of psychosocial risks in the workplace, such as anxiety, depression, burnout and stress, including risks caused by structural problems such as work organisation (ie poor management, poor work design or not properly matching workers’ knowledge and abilities with the assigned tasks).

EU legislation should incorporate five vital elements:

• Workers and trade unions must participate in developing, implementing and monitoring measures to prevent work-related PSR. Health-and-safety committees should be strengthened or established where they do not yet exist.
• Employers must be under a clear obligation to assess, mitigate and work to eliminate psychosocial risk factors and put in place preventive measures, paying special attention to vulnerable workers such as those with disabilities.
• Employers should be required to set targets and objectives to reduce work-related stress, in dialogue with employees’ representatives, and results should be evaluated at company, national and European level. Indicators must be developed to allow employees and employers to evaluate improved working conditions and the successful implementation of social targets in the workplace. 
• All workers must have access to training, with trade unions playing a key role in designing and implementing training and best practices. Managerial staff should receive specialised training to equip them to tackle work-related PSR.
• The directive should protect workers who raise concerns about psychosocial risks in the workplace. Labour inspectorates need further funding and training to carry out their role of safeguarding employees. 

Misunderstood, stigmatised

The growing number of working days lost through PSR has an economic as well as social cost. In Belgium alone, in 2020 insurers spent €1.6 billion on depression and burn-out cases.

Yet, as with many other issues surrounding mental health, stress and depression are often misunderstood or even stigmatised. A recent survey in the United States found many workers were afraid to talk to their employers about their mental health. When viewed as an organisational rather than an individual issue, PSR and stress can and should however be prevented or managed, just like any other workplace health-and-safety risk.

According to the World Health Organization, depression is already the leading cause of ill-health globally and a major contributor to the overall burden of disease, requiring urgent action. The European Union should offer an example to the rest of the world and take urgent steps to protect workers from PSR.