MEPs seek binding EU rules on workplace stress, burnout and harassment

The European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has called on the European Commission to draft legislation establishing minimum EU requirements to prevent, eliminate or reduce work-related psychosocial risks and stress.

MEPs agreed on a series of recommendations covering risks that can contribute to workplace stress, burnout and mental and physical disorders. The proposed legislation should be preceded by an impact assessment, including a review of existing EU legislation.

The International Labour Organisation estimates that more than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to psychosocial risks. Such risks can also contribute to occupational diseases.

MEPs are seeking binding obligations for employers to protect workers’ mental and physical health and provide safe and dignified working conditions. They also want the European Commission and EU member states to explicitly recognize that work-related psychosocial risks can give rise to occupational diseases.

The request for a legislative initiative was adopted by 41 votes to 12, with four abstentions.

Focus on violence, harassment and workplace monitoring

The recommendations call on employers to establish policies defining and prohibiting violence, harassment, bullying and discriminatory behavior that undermines workers’ dignity or physical and mental health.

MEPs also want early-detection mechanisms and risk-based prevention protocols addressing violence by third parties, as well as timely support for workers exposed to psychosocial risks.

Employers should conduct regular psychosocial risk assessments covering factors such as excessive workloads and high work intensity, followed by action plans containing concrete measures.

Significant restructuring or reorganization, including changes involving teleworking, automated decision-making or automated monitoring systems, should undergo a prior psychosocial risk assessment in cooperation with workers and their representatives.

MEPs further say algorithmic systems should not impose excessive workloads or monitoring on employees and that human oversight must always be maintained. They also reiterated workers’ right to disconnect from work.

Support for returning to work

Workers who have been absent because of work-related psychosocial risks should have the right to a supported and sustainable return to employment, according to the recommendations.

Employers should establish individual return-to-work plans covering possible adjustments to working hours, work organization, duties and workloads.

The recommendations also state that when a worker establishes that an injury or damage to health resulted from exposure to work-related psychosocial risk factors, it should be presumed to be work-related unless the employer demonstrates that it was not linked to working conditions.

Rapporteur Estelle Ceulemans, a Belgian Socialists and Democrats lawmaker, said the report represented a step toward addressing burnout, depression, stress and harassment, which she said were becoming more prevalent across Europe and were being exacerbated by digital technologies and artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Ceulemans said tackling these structural problems was both an occupational health obligation and an economic issue, citing an estimated annual cost of €100 billion for work-related depression in the EU.

Next steps

The European Parliament is expected to vote on the legislative initiative during its October 2026 plenary session.

If approved, the European Commission would have three months to respond, either outlining the steps it plans to take or explaining why it would not propose legislation along the lines requested by Parliament.