Joint report on implementation of work-related stress agreement

On 15 December 2008, the European social partners presented their joint report on the implementation of the autonomous framework agreement on work-related stress, adopted at EU level in 2004. According to the joint implementation report, the autonomous framework agreement has contributed to improving the cooperation between workers and employers in efforts seeking to identify, prevent and manage stress.

Background

On 8 October 2004, the European social partners signed an autonomous framework agreement on work-related stress (78Kb PDF). As work-related stress is among the four most reported work-related health problems in the European Union, the objective of the agreement is to provide employers and workers with a framework to identify, prevent and manage problems in this regard (EU0410206F). In particular, the framework agreement proposes methods to devise mutually acceptable solutions to deal with stress – especially at company level.

High levels of work-related stress

Work-related stress can be caused by different factors – such as work content, working conditions and environment, poor communication and work organisation, including workload, low control over work pace and long working hours. In the 2005 [European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS)](/search/node/ewco OR surveys OR index?oldIndex), work-related stress was found to be the third most common work-related health problem across the EU, with some 22% of workers reporting that their health was affected by stress. The most common stress outcomes are mental and physical ill-health, sick leave, high staff turnover and occupational accidents (EU0502NU02). This also means that the costs of work-related stress appear to be high.

Dissemination activities

At the end of 2008, the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP), BusinessEurope, the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) presented their joint implementation report (889Kb PDF). The aim of the report is to highlight how the European framework agreement on work-related stress is being put into effect. By June 2008, joint national implementation reports had been received from 21 EU Member States and European Economic Area (EEA) countries.

As the agreement on work-related stress fits into a larger framework of existing national and EU legislation, such as Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work, the implementing measures sought to fine-tune these existing regulations in line with the European agreement. Furthermore, the implementation has focused on raising awareness of the European framework agreement at national, sectoral and company levels, as well as on elaborating and providing practical measures and tools to help employers, workers and their representatives to tackle work-related stress in the workplace. These activities were carried out either jointly or separately by the social partners. National dissemination processes were based on information tools as well as on action-oriented measures such as seminars and conferences, round-table discussions and awareness-raising campaigns targeting various audiences.

Variety of approaches adopted

The implementation report shows that the social partners in the various Member States adopted different approaches to activities in the field of work-related stress. Every Member State has used its own methods and instruments to implement the European agreement. Such measures include:

• social partner (framework) agreements – for example, joint guidelines in Sweden;

• national, sectoral or company collective agreements – for example, agreements in Belgium or France;

• national legislation – for example, legislation in the Czech Republic and Latvia;

• tripartite cooperation with the public authorities – for example, the joint promotion of management standards for work-related stress in the United Kingdom (UK);

• complementary activities – for example, tools for the measurement of stress or training measures.

Several cases are already evident where companies have been motivated by the framework agreement to formulate practical measures for the prevention and reduction of stress levels at work. At Daimler AG in Germany, for instance, an agreement provides for the assessment of work-related mental stress. In this context, a new assessment tool for measuring stress was developed and is now being deployed. In other cases – for example, at Debeka Versicherungen – agreements have been reached to introduce new forms of employee involvement, work-life balance programmes and in-house training courses.

In order to improve the quality of implementation, the European social partners decided to submit a yearly table summarising the ongoing implementation of the agreement to the Social Dialogue Committee for the first three years after its signature (available at the Employers’ Resource Centre and the ETUC European Resource Centre).

Commentary

The joint implementation report shows that the autonomous framework agreement is of real added value, as it has raised awareness about the importance of dealing with problems of work-related stress when they occur in the workplace. It has acted as a catalyst for action by the social partners across Europe and, thus, contributed to tackling work-related stress as one of the most serious occupational health problems in the EU. With regard to future steps, the European social partners will have to define how an assessment of the practical impact of the agreement can be jointly undertaken.

Volker Telljohann, IRES Emilia-Romagna, Bologna