Stress at work "translates" into costs - Mental health consequences cost the EU over 100 billion euros per year
The cost of work-related stress in the European Union is more than 100 billion euros per year, according to a study published by the European Trade Union Institute.
The institute identified five psychosocial factors that can cause mental illness. These include work-related stress, long working hours, job insecurity, an imbalance between effort and reward, and bullying. These risks can have tragic consequences, according to available data dating back to 2015.
"About 6,000 deaths from coronary heart disease were due to exposure to psychosocial risks and more than 5,000 deaths were due to suicides caused by depression," the researchers explain.
In the same year, more than 400,000 years of life were lost to cardiovascular disease and depression, according to the report. "These are preventable deaths," the authors point out. According to the institute, 8% of cardiovascular disease and 23% of depression cases are due to these risks.
Employers pay for depression
The report is the first to quantify the economic cost not only of depression, but also of cardiovascular disease, in particular coronary heart disease and stroke, linked to psychosocial work factors, the institute says.
In this table, France, Belgium, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands are the five most affected countries in terms of cost per 100,000 workers. This financial burden is shared by employer and employee, but sometimes asymmetrically.
"For both diseases, we found that the heaviest burden fell on employees, but also on employers. In particular, in terms of the cost of depression, we can estimate that more than 80% of the total cost of depression was related to psychosocial risks at work. This cost was paid by employers due to reduced productivity, caused by illness and absences," the researchers explain.
The report also mentions times when employees go to work but perform less well for health reasons, especially due to mental health.
Based on this data, the European Trade Union Institute calls on the European Commission to present a text to strengthen the prevention of this risk. According to the institute, this directive on mental health should also provide guidance for employers and involve employees in the process.
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