Work can protect mental health
Almost 60% of the world’s population has a job (1). All workers have the right to a safe and healthy environment at work. Decent work supports good mental health by providing:
- a livelihood;
- a sense of confidence, purpose, and accomplishment;
- an opportunity for positive relationships and inclusion in a community; Y
- a platform for structured routines, among many other benefits.
For people with mental health problems, decent work can contribute to recovery and inclusion, improve confidence and social functioning.
Safe and healthy work environments are not only a fundamental right, they are also more likely to minimize stress and conflict at work and improve staff retention, job performance and productivity. Conversely, a lack of effective structures and support at work, especially for those living with mental health problems, can affect a person’s ability to enjoy their work and do it well; it can undermine people’s attendance at work and even prevent people from getting a job in the first place.
Mental health risks at work
At work, mental health risks, also called psychosocial risks, can be related to job content or work hours, specifics of the workplace, or career development opportunities, among other things.
Mental health risks at work can include:
- underuse of skills or lack of qualification for the job;
- excessive workloads or pace of work, staffing shortages;
- long, antisocial, or inflexible hours;
- lack of control over job design or workload;
- unsafe or poor physical working conditions;
- organizational culture that allows negative behaviors;
- limited peer support or authoritative supervision;
- violence, harassment or intimidation;
- discrimination and exclusion;
- unclear job position;
- insufficient or excessive promotion;
- job insecurity, inadequate wages or poor investment in professional development; Y
- conflicting home/work demands.
More than half of the global workforce works in the informal economy (2), where there is no regulatory protection for health and safety. These workers often operate in unsafe work environments, work long hours, have little or no access to social or financial protections, and face discrimination, all of which can undermine mental health.
Although psychosocial risks can be found in all sectors, some workers are more likely to be exposed to them than others, due to what they do or where and how they work. Health, humanitarian or emergency workers often have jobs that carry a high risk of exposure to adverse events, which can negatively affect mental health.
Economic downturns or public health and humanitarian emergencies cause risks such as job loss, financial instability, reduced employment opportunities, or increased unemployment.
Work can be an environment that amplifies broader issues that negatively affect mental health, including discrimination and inequality based on factors such as race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social origin , migrant status, religion or age.
People with serious mental health problems are more likely to be excluded from employment and, when they do have a job, they are more likely to experience inequality at work. Being out of work also poses a risk to mental health. Unemployment, job and financial insecurity, and recent job loss are risk factors for suicide attempts.
Action for mental health at work
Government, employers, organizations representing workers and employers, and other stakeholders responsible for the health and safety of workers can help improve mental health at work by taking action to:
- prevent work-related mental health conditions by preventing mental health risks at work;
- protect and promote mental health at work;
- support workers with mental health challenges to participate and thrive at work; Y
- Create an environment conducive to change.
Actions to address mental health at work must be carried out with the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions.
Prevent work-related mental health conditions
Prevention of mental health conditions at work consists of managing psychosocial risks in the workplace. The WHO recommends that employers do this by implementing organizational interventions that directly target working conditions and environments. Organizational interventions are those that assess and then mitigate, modify or eliminate occupational mental health risks. Organizational interventions include, for example, providing flexible working arrangements or implementing frameworks to deal with violence and harassment at work.
Protect and promote mental health at work
Protecting and promoting mental health at work is about building capacities to recognize and act on mental health conditions at work, particularly for those responsible for supervising others, such as managers.
To protect mental health, the WHO recommends:
- mental health executive training, which helps managers recognize and respond to supervisees experiencing emotional distress; develops interpersonal skills such as open communication and active listening; and fosters a better understanding of how job stressors affect mental health and can be managed;
- training for workers in literacy and mental health awareness, a improve mental health awareness and reduce stigma against mental health conditions at work; Y
- interventions for people develop skills to manage stress and reduce mental health symptoms, including psychosocial interventions and opportunities for leisure-based physical activity.
Supporting people with mental health challenges to participate and thrive at work
People living with mental health problems have the right to participate fully and fairly at work. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides an international agreement to promote the rights of people with disabilities (including psychosocial disabilities), including at work. The WHO recommends three interventions to help people with mental health problems to gain, keep and participate in work:
- reasonable accommodations at work adapt work environments to the abilities, needs and preferences of a worker with a mental health condition. They may include giving workers flexible work schedules, extra time to complete tasks, modified assignments to reduce stress, time off for medical appointments, or regular support meetings with supervisors.
- return to work programs combine work-directed care (such as reasonable accommodations or gradual return to work) with ongoing clinical care to help workers meaningfully return to work after an absence associated with mental health conditions, while reducing mental health symptoms.
- Supported employment initiatives help people with serious mental health conditions get paid work and keep their time on the job by continuing to provide mental health and vocational support.
Create an environment conducive to change
Both governments and employers, in consultation with key stakeholders, can help improve mental health at work by creating an environment conducive to change. In practice this means strengthening:
- Leadership and commitment to mental health at work, for example by integrating mental health at work into relevant policies.
- Investment of sufficient funds and resources, for example, establishing specific budgets for actions to improve mental health at work and making mental health and employment services available to companies with fewer resources.
- Rights to participate at work, for example by aligning labor laws and regulations with international human rights instruments and implementing non-discrimination policies at work.
- Integration of mental health at work in all sectors, for example by integrating mental health into existing occupational safety and health systems.
- Stake of workers in decision-making, for example, by holding meaningful and timely consultations with workers, their representatives and people with lived experience of mental health conditions.
- Evidence on psychosocial risks and the effectiveness of interventions, for example by ensuring that all guidance and measures on mental health at work are based on the latest data.
- Compliance with laws, regulations and recommendations, for example by integrating mental health into the responsibilities of national labor inspectorates and other enforcement mechanisms.
WHO response
WHO is committed to improving mental health at work. the WHO global strategy on health, environment and climate change Y WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (2013–2030)
outline relevant principles, goals and implementation strategies to enable good mental health in the workplace. These include addressing the social determinants of mental health, such as living standards and working conditions; reduce stigma and discrimination; and increasing access to evidence-based care through the development of health services, including access to occupational health services. In 2022, WHO world report on mental health: transforming mental health for allhighlighted the workplace as a key example of an environment where transformative action on mental health is needed.
the WHO guidelines on mental health at work provide evidence-based recommendations to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions, and enable people living with mental health conditions to participate and thrive at work. The recommendations cover organizational interventions, training of managers and workers, individual interventions, return to work and obtaining employment. The accompanying policy brief of the WHO and the International Labor Organization, Mental Health at Work: Policy Brief provides a pragmatic framework for implementing the WHO recommendations. It specifically sets out what governments, employers, organizations representing employers and workers, and other stakeholders can do to improve mental health at work.
- World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2022. Geneva: International Labor Organization; 2022 (https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/trends2022/WCMS_834081/lang–en/index.htmaccessed 26 August 2022)
- Women and men in the informal economy: a statistical overview. Geneva: International Labor Organization; 2018 (https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang–en/index.htmaccessed 26 August 2022).
