Promoting high standards in working conditions, including in the area of health and well-being at work, is a key priority for the EU. Measures to improve safety and health at work seek to protect workers in their place of work and promote workers’ rights in this area. Other initiatives aim to tackle a rise in mental health issues, linked with the pandemic, changing work environments, climate change and the rising cost of living.
Eurofound has been analysing occupational health and safety since the 1990s and recognises that health issues are a central part of an organisation’s structure and development, for workers and employers alike. Analysis of survey data has been carried out to investigate the links between working conditions and health and safety. This is done in close consultation with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Eurofound has a cooperation agreement with EU-OSHA which sets out opportunities for joint activities in this area and for further forms of exchange.
Eurofound’s surveys and other research also aim to capture people’s perceptions of their quality of life and mental health.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is a prime source of information on job quality and its correlation with the health and well-being of different groups of workers. Building on the analysis from previous editions of the survey, EWCS 2024 continues to investigate the associations between working conditions and the physical and mental health of workers and absenteeism and presenteeism.
The situation faced by workers during the COVID-19 pandemic was captured by the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS), carried out in 2021. Based on an adapted EWCS questionnaire, the EWCTS 2021 investigated the specific challenges to the health and safety and well-being of workers during the pandemic. Access the data below.
The European Company Survey (ECS) examines the associations between workplace well-being and establishment performance, including absenteeism and its cost to the economy. It looks at practices to improve occupational health and safety and the influence of employee representatives.
Health and mental health are important components associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) covers subjective well-being, health and access to healthcare, and aspects of individual quality of life including work–life balance and care responsibilities. It investigates the links between having to work while also having care responsibilities and the resulting impact on well-being.
Eurofound’s unique e-survey, Living and Working in the EU, launched in 2020 at the outset of COVID-19, explores the impact of the changes that occurred during the course of the pandemic on people’s lives. It includes questions on people’s work situation, teleworking, experiences of working from home and the impact on work–life balance, as well as job quality, health and safety at work, mental health and access to healthcare services.
Research in 2025 looks at the prevalence of poor mental health for different population groups, driven by various dimensions such as social media use, changing work environments and climate change. The research identifies barriers in access to mental health services. It also investigates policy measures in mental health services, and actions taken outside these services (such as in schools or working environments), to prevent or address mental health problems.
Advances in information and communications technologies have opened the door to new ways of organising work. Telework and ICT-based mobile work (TICTM) has emerged in this transition, giving workers and employers the ability to adapt the time and location of work to their needs. Research analyses the employment and working conditions of workers with TICTM arrangements, focusing on how it affects their work–life balance, health, performance and job prospects, as well as the right to disconnect. This builds on earlier joint research by Eurofound and the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the effects of telework and ICT-mobile work on workers in the EU.
Research has explored issues around making work sustainable over the life course. To achieve this requires devising new solutions for working conditions and career paths that help workers to retain their physical and mental health, motivation and productivity over an extended working life. Eurofound’s report on working conditions and sustainable work maps the progress achieved since 2000 in improving working conditions, examines whether all workers have benefited equally from positive change, highlights the groups at risk of poor working conditions, and identifies emerging challenges for good job quality in the changing world of work.
Research carried out by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents also documents the national social dialogue debates centred around working life, health and safety at work and mental health in the EU, including as a result of COVID-19. This research includes a focus on policy areas related to adapting to the pandemic and the return to work, with particular emphasis on new health and safety arrangements at work and improved access to healthcare services.
Other studies have been carried out on keeping older workers in the labour market, violence and harassment at work, absence from work, use of alcohol and drugs at the workplace, work-related stress and psychosocial risks, and the employment situations of young people with health problems and disabilities and people with chronic diseases.
The EU’s Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021–2027 identifies important challenges and objectives for Member States in a changing world of work. It focuses on three key objectives: anticipating and managing change in the world of work brought about by the green, digital and demographic transitions; prevention of workplace accidents and illnesses; preparedness for any potential future health crises.
On the subject of mental health, the June 2023 European Commission Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health aims to put mental health on par with physical health and to ensure a new, cross-sectoral approach to mental health issues across many policy areas. EU action on mental health will focus on three guiding principles: adequate and effective prevention; access to high quality and affordable mental healthcare and treatment; and reintegration into society after recovery.
The European Pillar of Social Rights includes provisions on protection of workers’ health and safety at work, as well as adapting the working environment to enable longer participation in the labour market. The Pillar also establishes the right to access to good-quality healthcare, including social protection benefits and services.
The EU further contributes to improving working conditions through its occupational safety and health regulations and for instance the right to disconnect.
