Psychosocial risks

The Netherlands' 1996 Working Time Act granted hospitals until 1 January 1999 to meet its requirements. In summer 1999, the health and safety inspectorate drew up an official report on nine hospitals that had still not properly arranged their schedules in line with the Act. The long working weeks of

In late May 1999, the Dutch Minister of Health and State Secretary for Social Affairs adopted a standpoint on the issue of privatised healthcare and possible priority treatment for employees. Politicians have thus given the green light for offering employees specialised care on a commercial basis

On 30 March 1999, the bipartite National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/National Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR), bringing together representatives of trade unions and employers' organisations, approved a new intersectoral collective agreement on combating stress at work. The proposal follows up

A further influx of people registered as disabled under the Dutch Occupational Disabilities Insurance Act (WAO) has brought the total to more than 900,000. This, coupled with the government's plans to stem the flow by implementing more stringent assessment procedures, has unleashed a heated

In autumn 1998, following several research reports indicating increased stress and a higher pace of work during the 1990s, Finnish trade unions have been focusing attention on employees' ability to cope. Employers deny that stress symptoms have increased solely due to more demanding work. In their

In June 1998, churches in the Netherlands began a campaign against the "24-hour economy", claiming that this phenomenon damages the well-being of society. They have asked the Government not to wait, but to take immediate action. The initiative received both support and criticism. However, research

A number of recent reports have highlighted the persistence of horizontal and vertical job segregation along gender lines. Men continue to occupy the majority of managerial positions while women can largely be found in clerical, caring and menial industrial jobs. Women are also far more likely to

The Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer, AK) of the province of Upper Austria has recently commissioned a survey on job satisfaction and job stress. Two institutes, SORA and IFES, cooperated in carrying out the research, with the latter doing the actual survey and the former responsible for conceptual