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Page | Last updated: 07 May 2021

Policy recommendations to prevent and manage work-related stress

Examples of policy recommendations and other initiatives to prevent and manage work-related stress

Eliminate choicea

Framework Agreement on Violence and Harassment at Work 2007
  • Enterprises are encouraged to have a clear statement outlining that harassment and violence will not be tolerated, and develop formal procedures to be followed when cases arise which should be regularly monitored by employers.

Enable or guide choice by changing the defaulta

European pact for Mental Health and well-being 2008
  • Encourages employers to implement measures to promote mental well-being at work, specifically by reducing workplace stress. Actions recommended include: 
    • improving work organisation and leadership practices (for example reconciliation of work and family life), 
    • implement mental health and well-being programmes with risk assessment and prevention programmes including early intervention schemes. 
  • All relevant stakeholders should exchange information, share good practices and develop appropriate recommendations and action plans. 
Framework agreement on work-related stress 2004 
  • In 2004, the European Trade Union Confederation, the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe, the European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises as well as the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest signed the framework agreement on work-related stress.
  • It aims ‘to increase the awareness and the understanding of work-related stress. Furthermore, employers and workers are provided with a framework to identify and prevent problems of work-related stress.’
  • The description of work-related stress, the identification of problems of work-related stress, the responsibilities of employers and workers as well as the reduction and prevention of problems of work-related stress are included in the agreement. 
Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2267 : Stress at Work 2019
The Assembly calls on its Member States to:
  • put in place obligations for all employers to: 
    • adopt a comprehensive approach to stress assessment, management and prevention with an organisational and individual focus
    • implement specific protocols against bullying, harassment, gender-based discrimination and other inappropriate behaviour at work
    • ensure adequate protection against workplace stress for more vulnerable categories of workers (young people, immigrants, pregnant women and older workers)
  • encourage employers to adopt a stress-reducing organisation of work such as:
    • four-day weeks, with 28 to 32 hours per week
    • flexible work time options
    • greater autonomy
    • teleworking possibilities and job-sharing schemes
    • notably for working parents and carers
World Health Organization 2010 : “Healthy Workplace Model” 
  • provides a framework for employers, workers, policy-makers and practitioners for the development of healthy workplace initiatives adaptable to diverse countries, workplaces and cultures. The model lays special emphasis on work-related physical and psychosocial risks (so-called “workplace stressors”). The ways to influence the psychosocial work environment include:
  • Eliminate or modify the psychosocial hazards at the source
    • Reallocate work to reduce workload
    • Provide supervisors with training in communication and leadership skills
    • Enforce zero tolerance for workplace harassment and discrimination
  • Lessen impact of psychosocial hazards on workers
    • Allow flexibility to deal with work-life conflict situations
    • Provide supervisory and co-worker resources and emotional support
    • Allow flexibility in the location and timing of work
    • Provide timely, open and honest communication

Provide informationa

Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2267 : Stress at Work 2019
The Assembly calls on its Member States to:
  • consider carrying out national or sectorial awareness-raising campaigns on stress at work and on publicly available or online information resources, support and training tools.
Framework Agreement on Violence and Harassment at Work 2007
  • Raising awareness and understanding of workplace harassment and violence
  • Provide employers, workers and their representatives at all levels with an action-oriented framework. 
  • Provide managers and workers with appropriate training 
Framework Agreement on Work-related Stress 2004
  • Provide training to managers and workers to raise awareness and understanding of stress and how to deal with it.
  • Provide information to and consultation with workers and their representatives in accordance with EU and national legislation, collective agreements, and practices
Denmark 2005-2009: “Five Year Stress Campaign” 
  • to combat work‐related stress, organised by the Local Government Denmark and targeting the regions and municipalities. Many activities were conducted: four magazines on the topic were produced targeting different audiences, a conference on stress was organised, a handbook on how to identify, manage and prevent stress at the workplace was published and distributed, etc.
International Labour Organization 2012: “Stress prevention at work checkpoints manual”, reviews workplace stress issues. 
  • It includes checkpoints for identifying stressors in working life and mitigating their harmful effects
  • It can be used to organise training workshops for planning and implementing immediate workplace changes. 
  • A free mobile app linked to this manual is available, allowing the user to create interactive checklists of stress checkpoints to use in the workplace. 
  • A training package is also available, SOLVE , including a participant's workbook, a trainer’s guide, lesson plans and a CD-ROM with presentations and background material for the management and prevention at work (including stress and economic stress among others).
World Health Organization 2010 : “Healthy Workplace Model”  
  • Protect workers by raising awareness and providing training to workers regarding conflict prevention or harassment situations
United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive 2008
  • HSE's Management Standards represent a set of minimum conditions that, if met, can reduce the prevalence of stress. They support a step-by-step risk assessment approach, assessment of the current situation, promotion of active discussion and working in partnership with employees and their representatives, to help decide on practical improvements. Moreover, they help in simplifying risk assessment for work-related stress through the identification of main risk factors, helping employers focus on the underlying causes and their prevention. 
  • They cover six key areas of work design (demands, control, support, relationships, role and change) that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity and increased accident and sickness absence rates.
  • The users are are supported by a range of tools (e.g., assessment tool, implementation tool) that can be used to assess the risk for stress, promote participative intervention, and demonstrate good practice. 

Monitora

Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2267 : Stress at Work 2019

The Assembly calls on its Member States to:

  • evaluate existing domestic legal and policy measures for workplace stress prevention, management and reduction;
  • identify legislative and regulatory gaps (especially for vulnerable sectors);
  • expand the national list of occupational diseases in order to explicitly list stress-induced disorders, including occupational burnout
  • study the implications of robotisation and artificial intelligence (including the dimension of healthy work-life balance)
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-OSHA (2019) : “Third European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER 3)
  • It includes 45,000 establishments with 20 or more employees surveyed in 33 countries. It focuses largely on the management of psychosocial risks, such as work-related stress and harassment, to help inform new occupational safety and health policies and to ensure that risks in European workplaces are managed more effectively.
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, EU-OSHA/Eurofound (2014)3 “Psychosocial risks in Europe: Prevalence and strategies for prevention”
  • It is a joint report by the two European Agencies and presents comparative information on the prevalence of psychosocial risks among workers. It examines the associations between these risks and health and well-being, and it looks at the extent to which establishments take action to tackle psychosocial risks and describes interventions that can be adopted in companies.

aBased on the Nuffield intervention ladder as described in Public Health: ethical issues from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Nov2007