On 9 October 2019, the eve of World Mental Health Day, the European Mental Health Alliance organised an event about the future of work and mental health. The seminar, hosted by ICF, aimed at discussing how changes in the world of work can impact mental health and well-being of workers, and what can be done to adequately address these changes.

Ms Claudia Marinetti, Director of Mental Health Europe, moderated the event, which was attended by over 50 participants with representatives from the European Commission, OECD, business, academia, practitioners, social partners, civil society and advocacy organisations.

The report briefly summarises the discussions of each panel and highlights the main recommendations that resulted from them.

Please find the report here.

On the eve of the World Mental Health Day, the European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment & Work is organising a seminar “The future of work and mental health – Ensuring quality employment in an ever-changing context”.

The seminar will aim to discuss how changes in the world of work impact mental health and well-being and what can be done to adequately address these changes. The event will be relevant for EU and (sub-)national policy-makers, businesses, academia, social partners, civil society and advocacy organisations. The seminar will provide an opportunity for participants to exchange and learn more from each other.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required.

Register here

The EUMH Alliance’s response to the adoption of Council Conclusions on Young People and the Future of Work

Brussels, 24^th May 2019

The European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment & Work (EUMH Alliance) – an informal coalition of European organisations promoting mental health and well-being in the workplace – acknowledges the adoption of the Council conclusions on Young People and the Future of Work and highlights the need to include young people’s mental health in all debates on the Future of Work in the European Union (EU). Addressing youth and in-work poverty and work-life balance should be a must, not an option.

The meeting of EU ministers responsible for education, culture, youth, media, communication and sport took place in Brussels on 22-23 May 2019 and concluded with an adoption of the Council conclusions on Young People and the Future of Work[i]. The EUMH Alliance – Employment and Work welcomes the focus put on the young generation’s future of work. At the same time, in a world where costs related to occupational mental health challenges are substantial[ii] and constantly increasing[iii], the EUMH Alliance calls for the discussions around the Future of Work to address potential negative effects of the new forms of employment on mental health of young workers.

Changes in societies, including technological advances, demographic shifts and the new developments in how the work is organised, encourage the promotion of positive mental health and well-being.  To benefit from such transformations, all young Europeans, especially those with fewer opportunities, must have equal access to resources such as quality education and training, inclusive and preventative to support their good mental health, skills and resilience. For example, flexibility and better time control at work achieved through non-traditional working arrangements (home working, short-term) may allow better work-life balance and decrease stress associated with commuting. However, they may also pose major threats to workers’ mental health and well-being. Our latest podcast highlights the impact of the gig and platform economy (freelancers, digital developers or independent contractors such as Uber or take-away food sites) on young people’s mental health.

In the unregulated labour market, some Future of Work scenarios may suggest that workers in precarious and low-paid jobs, particularly those with low levels of skills and autonomy, could be easily left behind in terms of health and well-being, access to adequate social or legal protection from in-work poverty and discrimination. Indeed, fair remuneration and addressing rapidly increasing in-work poverty rates needs to be at the centre of debates. More efforts are needed to ensure better quality working conditions, including a more predictable income flow and income security. Such employment models should not deteriorate the young workforce’s occupational health and well-being.

There is also an urgent need to review and adapt current Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) strategies so that they pro-actively protect and preserve mental health and well-being of young people in line with the ‘Future of Work’ developments. If we want to ensure solid foundations of cognitive and digital skills– as the Council Conclusions propose – promoting mental health resilience and investing in digital and health literacy of young people is vital.

We, the EUMH Alliance – Employment and Work:

• Welcome the explicit emphasis given to policies promoting employment and its role in improving the young people’s quality of life.These policies can have a meaningful impact on the social and physical environment of young people.
• Support the Council Conclusion’s recommendation to promote a cross-sectoral policy approach when addressing youth employment, social inclusion and mental health outcomes, both at national and European levels and in the framework of cooperation between Member States.
• Recommend using all relevant EU instruments with regard to the trends affecting the nature of work, ensuring implementation of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), ‘socialising’ the European Semester and deploying the next EU long-term budget (by means of the ESF+, HorizonEurope, InvestEU, Cohesion Policy Investments or DigitalEurope).
• Urge the EU and Member States to ensure better implementation and enforcement of the OSH Framework Directive on young workers’ realities while further addressing mental health and psychosocial risks in their OSH strategies, including in the context of changing world of work.

 The EUMH Alliance will continue to actively facilitate constructive dialogue between its members and beyond to improve mental health equity, access to health and social protection and prevention measures of working environments and arrangements for all workers. Addressing youth and in-work poverty and work-life balance are a must, not an option.

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The European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment & Work (EUMH Alliance) is an informal coalition of European organisations, the main aims of which are to promote mental health and well-being in the workplace, to advocate for equal access to the labour market for all people experiencing mental ill health and to stimulate policy developments at EU level in these domains. Our membership consists of:

• European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP)
• International Association of Mutual Benefit Societies (AIM)
• GGZ Nederland (Dutch Association of Mental Health and Addiction Care)
• Mental Health Europe (MHE)
• EuroHealthNet
• European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR)
• Eurocadres
• European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

 

[i] Council conclusions on Young People and the Future of Work (2019). https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-8754-2019-INIT/en/pdf

[ii] EU/OECD (2018). Health at a Glance: Europe 2018. State of health in the EU cycle. https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/state/docs/2018_healthatglance_rep_en.pdf (accessed on 23 April 2019)

[iii] EU-OSHA (2017). Estimating the cost of work-related accidents and ill-health: An analysis of European data sources. https://osha.europa.eu/en/tools-and-publications/publications/estimating-cost-work-related-accidents-and-ill-health-analysis/view (accessed on 23 April 2019)

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 28^th April 2019

On World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment and Work (EUMH Alliance) highlights the importance of including mental health as part of a timely debate on the Future of Work in the EU. In a world where costs related to occupational mental health challenges are substantial[i] and constantly increasing[ii], discussions around the Future of Work will need to address potential negative effects of new forms of employment on mental health. In this context, the EU Framework Directive on occupational safety and health (OSH) should better ensure workers’ safety and health in every aspect related to changing realities of work, including mental wellbeing.

Changes in societies such as digital technology, demographic shifts, and changes in the way work is organised can encourage the promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing.  For example, flexibility and higher degrees of time control at work associated with non-traditional working arrangements (home working, short-term) may allow better work-life balance and decrease stress associated with commuting. However, they may also pose major threats to workers’ mental health and well-being. Our latest podcast demonstrates the impact of the gig and platform economy (freelancers, independent contractors, e.g. Uber or take-away food sites, digital developers) on young people’s mental health.

Such models of work often entail poor financial security and unstable job continuity. Furthermore, gig economy jobs are often characterised by a lack of social contact and poor management practices. More effort needs to be done to ensure better quality working conditions, including a more predictable income flow, to ensure these employment models do not bring about a worse situation for the workforce as regards occupational mental health and wellbeing.

“It is essential for all companies and employers to take action to address stress and prevent burnout at work to ensure a bright future of work for all”, stated Laura Jones, Secretary General of EPR. “Such actions benefit all the workforce, not just those with mental health issues” she added. “Policy makers must also consider how to address the mental health challenges that workers in the gig and platform economies may experience“.

There is an urgent need for current OSH strategies to be reviewed to adapt to these developments and pro-actively protect and preserve the mental health of millions of workers. In an unregulated labour market which Future of Work scenarios may suggest, workers in precarious and low-paid jobs, particularly those with low levels of skills and autonomy, could easily end up being left behind in terms of health and wellbeing. Importantly, fair remuneration and addressing rapidly increasing in-work poverty rates will need to be in the center of debates on the future world of work.

“Good mental health and wellbeing at work is fundamental to ensure quality of life for every worker – and their family – as well as positive economic outcomes for society as a whole. It is also imperative to look at the Future of Work in the EU agenda through a health equity lens. Occupational mental health promotion and prevention are an important and a smart way to invest our resources, and major EU-driven processes, such as the European Semester and the next EU funding programmes should acknowledge this”, says Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet’s Director.

The EUMH Alliance urges the EU and Member States to ensure better implementation and enforcement of the OSH Framework Directive, while further addressing mental health and psychosocial risks in their OSH strategies. The Alliance will continue to actively facilitate constructive dialogue between its members and beyond to ensure safe, secure, and predictable working environments for all workers. Addressing in-work poverty and work-life balance are a must, not an option. The decisions taken today shape the labour realities of tomorrow and, subsequently, the potential benefits for the health and wellbeing of European citizens.

//ENDS

The European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment & Work (EUMH Alliance) is an informal coalition of European organisations, the main aims of which are to promote mental health and well-being in the workplace, to advocate for equal access to the labour market for all people experiencing mental ill health and to stimulate policy developments at EU level in these domains. Our membership consists of:

European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP)

International Association of Mutual Benefit Societies (AIM)

GGZ Nederland (Dutch Association of Mental Health and Addiction Care)

Mental Health Europe (MHE)

EuroHealthNet

European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR)

Eurocadres

European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

[i] EU/OECD (2018). Health at a Glance: Europe 2018. State of health in the EU cycle. https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/state/docs/2018_healthatglance_rep_en.pdf (accessed on 23 April 2019)

[ii] EU-OSHA (2017). Estimating the cost of work-related accidents and ill-health: An analysis of European data sources. https://osha.europa.eu/en/tools-and-publications/publications/estimating-cost-work-related-accidents-and-ill-health-analysis/view (accessed on 23 April 2019)

Growing numbers of young people are working in temporary, flexible, and unstable jobs. In a new podcast, The European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment and Work explores what that means for young people’s mental health. It looks at how work and employment are changing, how new technology is shifting management styles, the job factors which support good mental health, and how to protect the mental health of those working in non-traditional employment.

The podcast features five experts discussing different aspects of employment and mental health. They explain that flexibility and higher degrees of control at work can be good for mental health. However, the lack of financial- and job security which accompanies non-traditional working arrangements is not. Lack of social contact, poor management practices, and a loss of many other factors that contribute to good quality employment characterise many gig economy jobs and may further contribute the to poor mental health of workers.

The podcast covers:

How the labour marked and work is changing for young people, and how that is connected to mental health with Shruti Singh, OECD

How the digitalisation of work is changing working practices with Molly Tran, Colorado School of Public Health

New and traditional working structures, and the factors which contribute to good mental health and wellbeing with Kevin Daniels, University of East Anglia.

Lessons to learn from the music industry – What musicians experiences of job insecurity can teach us about protecting the mental health of new gig economy workers with Sally-Anne Goss and George Musgrave, University of Westminster.

In July 2018, the EU Mental Health Alliance presented suggestions for reflection by the Commission on including the mental health dimension of employment, equal opportunities in the work place, and work life balance throughout the European Semester process.

The alliance recommendations are:

• Systematically include the mental health dimension in national, regional and local strategies on active support to employment, including employability and job retention;
• Recognise the positive impact of adequate work-life balance arrangements on mental health outcomes, society, and the economy at large in the Country Reports and Country-Specific Recommendations;
• Systematically include the mental health dimension in national, regional, and local strategies on secure and adaptable employment, including those linked to mental health burden of informal care, precarious and non-standard labour contracts;
• Integrate mental health in healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment, across life course (youth, working-age, older workers) and transition periods.

View the full document (.pdf)

 

 

Brussels, 28th April 2018 – On World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay), the EUMH Alliancehighlights that occupational Safety and Health should not be limited to physical health. The EU Framework Directive on occupational safety and health (OSH)ensures the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to work, however this is often understood as physical safety and health. Physical and mental health are equally important and should be integral parts of OSH strategies in Europe. The mental health of all workers – especially of the young population – matters in OSH strategies.

Workplaces are ideal places to promote positive mental health and wellbeing; we spend a lot of our time and lives at work and appropriate OSH strategies can play a crucial role in protecting and preserving the health of millions of workers. “Risk factors at work can impact both the physical and mental health of all workers, and it is time for businesses and organisations to address it in a more integrated way.” says Jan Berndsen, Mental Health Europe President.

This year’s SafeDay is dedicated to young workers, who are at higher risks of accidents at work and may be exposed to poor working conditions leading to the development of occupational illnesses while still young or later in life. In Europe today, stress is the second most frequently reported work-related health problem and a reality for many young workers.

Psychosocial risk factors for young workers may be aggravated due to insufficient skills and training, persistance of temporary contract and job insecurity, lack of awareness of their rights and their employer’s duties, lack of confidence to speak out, lack of recognition and protection that older workers may benefit from.

“Good mental health and wellbeing at work is fundamental to the quality of life of young people as well as positive economic outcomes for wider society. Prevention and early intervention measures are therefore vital, and prove a smart social return on investment.” stressed Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet.

The European Union and its Member States have recently committed to create a fairer and a more social Europe through the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights (Social Pillar) and in view of the European Commission’s reflection process on future of the Social Dimension of Europe. Similarly, target 8.8 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) on safe and secure working environments for all workers, and target 3.4 on promoting mental health and well-being lay the foundations for integrating mental health prevention and early intervention in OSH strategies.

The EUMH Alliance urges the EU and Member States to honour their commitments under the SDGs and the Social Pillar starting from ensuring that employers better implement the OSH Framework Directive and adequately include mental health in OSH strategies. Mental health promotion and wellbeing, safe, secure and predictable working environments for all workers, including the young ones, are crucial aspect for better societies and nurturing environments.

//ENDS

 

PRESS RELEASE

World Mental Health Day: Wellbeing in the workplace is an asset

Brussels, 12th October 2017 – Mental health at work should be considered as an asset rather than a risk, concluded experts at an event marking World Mental Health Day yesterday. The meeting highlighted that there is a clear need for enhanced dialogue between employees and organisations, better support to help managers implement existing guidelines, and a reduction in stigma around mental health in the workplace.

The event ‘Mental health in the workplace’ was organised by the European Alliance for Mental Health – Employment & Work, the European Committee of the Regions Interregional Group on Mental Health and Wellbeing and its Secretariat EUREGHA

Over one hundred participants attended a conference which, as emphasised in the opening by Nicoline Tamsma, EuroHealthNet’s President, encouraged open dialogue on how to promote mentally healthy workplaces between employees, employers, users of mental health services, and human resource specialists. “It is a matter of language: we need to detoxify the term mental health. Mental health is not mental ill health, we need to promote positive language around mental health at work and beyond” said Bob Grove, Mental Health Europe’s Senior Policy Advisor.

According to EU-OSHA, in the European Union alone, work-related ill-health and injury costs €476 billion every year, which could be saved with the right occupational safety and health strategies and used for promoting wellbeing and positive mental health. As Brenda O’Brien from EU-OSHA explained “the main reason for companies to address health and safety is to be compliant with the law, it is not about altruism”. Harmonisation of minimum occupational health and safety standards throughout Europe is needed, as well as a better understanding of why it is beneficial to invest in mental wellbeing at work. There remains a lack of understanding and implementation of existing legislation on mental health in the workplace, and participants recommended more and better guidelines on how to interpret existing requirements.

It became clear from the exchanges that mental health promotion and prevention in the workplace is mainly about organisational and structural changes, and most importantly about relationships and language. Stigma and self-stigma also have a huge role to play in promoting mental health-friendly workplaces. “For most people experiencing mental ill health, the stigma attached to it is even worse than the mental health problem itself” explained Anita Hubner, Mental Health Ambassador.

It is essential for organisations to invest in line managers’ capacity building by providing the tools on how to talk about mental health in the workplace and to adopt an integrated approach to physical and psychosocial risk factors when managing employee absence. As Professor Stephan Bevan from the Institute of Employment Studies put it “Do not over medicalise [employee] absence: the job content and relationship at work matter too!”

Discussions also emphasised the need to approach mental health at work through a public health perspective. This would benefit employees, employers, and society and would also raise awareness about the importance of risk assessment measures to mitigate against psychosocial risks at work.  “Mental health starts before work. We do not leave our mental health at the door when entering work in the morning” explained David McDaid from the London Schools of Economics.

Participants concluded that mental health promotion in the workplace should be wellbeing-focused and encourage employee participation in the process. Healthy workplaces are about mentally healthy relationships and coherent organisational structures.

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