News

Did you know that…

…57% of Europeans say that working conditions in their country have deteriorated?

…Excessive working hours are the most common reason European workers give for being dissatisfied with their jobs (48%)?

…Exposure to stress is considered to be one of the main workplace health and safety risks by workers in Europe (53%)?

….More than one in four workers in Europe has experienced a bone, joint or muscle problem stress; depression or anxiety within the past 12 months (caused by work) (27%)?

 …Stress, depression or anxiety are the most mentioned work-related health problems in the majority of EU Member States?

These results from the Eurobarometer survey on working conditions in the European Member States confirm the experience of trade unions across Europe. An increasing number of workers suffers from psycho-social risks like stress, anxiety or burnout. This is especially acute among professionals and managers (P&Ms) who experience increased workloads and pressure that leads to borderless work. Borderless work is made worse through the use of new technologies, inappropriate work organisation, and constant availability of workers.

Although the European Commission recognizes, albeit hesitantly, the danger of psycho-social risks in the workplace, the new EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020 only focusses on the sharing of good practice, the dissemination of scientific findings, and the establishments of networks. Worryingly, the Commission does not even mention the topic of work-life management in the Framework and there is no action plan to reduce psycho-social risks at the workplace. UNI Europa P&M has already raised its concern about the Commission’s lack of ambition and EU decision-makers have to understand  the need for more robust measures and regulation on psycho-social risks at the European level. Some Member States have made some progress in this respect and have updated their legislation on psycho-social risks.

In Belgium, for instance, new legislation came into force in September 2014. It extended the scope of application to all psycho-social risks that could affect the health and safety of workers. This includes anxiety, depression, stress and burnout. Also, harmful collective consequences have been defined as being risks to employers and employees, e.g. deterioration in the working atmosphere, absenteeism and presenteeism, and a drop in the quality of work, etc.). In Germany, the employment ministry has commissioned a report to identify criteria for drafting a future anti-stress law. Politicians have begun to understand the relationship between constant availability of employees and the increase of mental health problems.

However, raising awareness about psycho-social risks at work, and in particular the importance of work-life management, must start at the local level. Trade unions play an important role in this. UNI Europa P&M calls upon all affiliates to support our third annual Work-life Management Fortnight which runs from 7-20 October 2014. You can join our action by putting the issue of work-life management on your union and members’ agenda. You can encourage your members to talk about what needs to be done to improve work-life management especially for professionals and managers; raise your members’ awareness about the impact of stress, excessive working hours and the need for better work-life management.

To help you do this we have produced a very practical toolkit and materials in eight different languages. These campaign materials and information are available on the special website http://www.uniworklifemanagement.org/. Depending on your union’s priorities, the situation in your country and the needs of your members, you can of course choose which aspect of work-life management you would like to highlight during the campaign. To give you some ideas, here are some suggestions:

- burnout prevention and legislation
- the right to disconnect and the impact of new technologies
- specific aspects / risks for P&M workers
- working time and work organisation
- focus on older P&M workers or those with caring responsibilities
- work-life management as a topic for collective bargaining

We also invite affiliates to contact the Members of the European Parliament. Given the lack of real European legislation on work-life management, it is important that we raise awareness among the members of the employment and public health committees in the European Parliament. We have prepared a template letter (see below) that you can use to contact your local MEPs (you can find members of the employment committee here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/empl/home.html and members of the public health committee: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/envi/home.html).

Please support the campaign on work life management and share your campaign materials with us: leaflets, articles, videos, posters etc!

For more information, please contact:

Birte Dedden, UNI Europa P&M (birte.dedden@uniglobalunion.org)

Pav Akhtar, UNI Global P&M (pav.akhtar@uniglobalunion.org)

Website: http://www.uniworklifemanagement.org/

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Twitter: @UNI_PM