An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future

Despite the developments both in hard and soft law policies in the European Union in relation to mental health and psychosocial risks in the workplace, a review of these policies at EU level has not been conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps to be addressed in the future. Keeping in...

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Main Authors: Leka, Stavroula, Jain, Aditya Kailash, Iavicoli, Sergio, Di Tecco, Cristina
Format: Article
Published: Hindawi 2015
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31860/
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author Leka, Stavroula
Jain, Aditya Kailash
Iavicoli, Sergio
Di Tecco, Cristina
author_facet Leka, Stavroula
Jain, Aditya Kailash
Iavicoli, Sergio
Di Tecco, Cristina
author_sort Leka, Stavroula
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Despite the developments both in hard and soft law policies in the European Union in relation to mental health and psychosocial risks in the workplace, a review of these policies at EU level has not been conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps to be addressed in the future. Keeping in mind that the aim should be to engage employers in good practice, ideally such policies should include key definitions and elements of the psychosocial risk management process, covering risk factors, mental health outcomes, risk assessment and preventive actions, or interventions. The current paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing hard and soft law policies on mental health in the workplace and psychosocial risks applicable at EU level and conducting a gap analysis according to a set of dimensions identified in models of good practice in this area. Our review of ninety-four policies in total revealed several gaps, especially in relation to binding in comparison to nonbinding policies. These are discussed in light of the context of policy-making in the EU, and recommendations are offered for future actions in this area.
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spelling nottingham-318602020-05-04T20:11:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31860/ An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future Leka, Stavroula Jain, Aditya Kailash Iavicoli, Sergio Di Tecco, Cristina Despite the developments both in hard and soft law policies in the European Union in relation to mental health and psychosocial risks in the workplace, a review of these policies at EU level has not been conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps to be addressed in the future. Keeping in mind that the aim should be to engage employers in good practice, ideally such policies should include key definitions and elements of the psychosocial risk management process, covering risk factors, mental health outcomes, risk assessment and preventive actions, or interventions. The current paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing hard and soft law policies on mental health in the workplace and psychosocial risks applicable at EU level and conducting a gap analysis according to a set of dimensions identified in models of good practice in this area. Our review of ninety-four policies in total revealed several gaps, especially in relation to binding in comparison to nonbinding policies. These are discussed in light of the context of policy-making in the EU, and recommendations are offered for future actions in this area. Hindawi 2015 Article PeerReviewed Leka, Stavroula, Jain, Aditya Kailash, Iavicoli, Sergio and Di Tecco, Cristina (2015) An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future. BioMed Research International, 2015 (213089). pp. 1-18. ISSN 2314-6141 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2015/213089/ doi:10.1155/2015/213089 doi:10.1155/2015/213089
spellingShingle Leka, Stavroula
Jain, Aditya Kailash
Iavicoli, Sergio
Di Tecco, Cristina
An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title_full An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title_fullStr An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title_full_unstemmed An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title_short An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: achievements, challenges, and the future
title_sort evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the european union: achievements, challenges, and the future
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31860/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31860/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31860/