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DRAFT REPORT (2026/2023(INL))

With recommendations to the Commission on psychosocial risk, stress and mental health at work

EMPL-PR-784330

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs · Rapporteur: Estelle Ceulemans

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

This is a draft report by Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee asking the Commission to propose a directive on work-related psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work. It calls for binding EU minimum requirements: mandatory yearly psychosocial risk assessments, annual action plans, employer prevention duties, worker rights to support, reporting, disconnection and participation. It also asks for recognition of psychosocial risks as occupational diseases, a shift in the burden of proof, stronger labour inspections and sanctions, and monitoring by Eurofound and EU-OSHA. An annex sets out the text of the directive the Commission is asked to submit by the end of 2026, with member states transposing it within two years.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament ask the Commission to submit a directive on work-related psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work by the end of 2026, with binding minimum requirements set out in the annex.

Key points

  1. Parliament stresses the urgent need to strengthen the EU legislative framework on prevention, identification and management of work-related psychosocial risks.
  2. It calls on the Commission and member states to recognise work-related psychosocial risks as causing occupational diseases and accidents, and to review the European schedule of occupational diseases.
  3. It calls for reversal or alleviation of the burden of proof where a worker's health is impaired by exposure to work-related psychosocial risks.
  4. Member states should make psychosocial risk assessments mandatory, systematic, participatory and documented, with a gender-sensitive and intersectional perspective.
  5. Workers and their representatives must be informed and consulted at all stages, with dedicated bodies or strengthened health and safety committees given rights to expertise.
  6. Social partners and collective bargaining have an important role, and member states should ensure mandatory continuous training for employers, managers, workers and representatives.
  7. Clear, confidential, independent and accessible procedures must address harassment, violence and discrimination, protecting against retaliation.
  8. The Commission and member states should strengthen labour inspectorates with minimum EU-wide standards, specialised training, harmonised tools and adequate resources.
  9. Member states should include primary and secondary prevention in national strategies, improve data collection, and develop return-to-work policies and reintegration programmes.
  10. The Commission should propose a legally binding definition of work-related psychosocial risks and minimum standards for recognition, prevention and compensation.
  11. The Commission is asked to submit by the end of 2026 a proposal for a directive on work-related psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work, with costs covered by existing budget allocations.
  12. The annexed directive text sets employer duties, yearly risk assessments, annual action plans, worker rights, protective services, inspections, a shifted burden of proof, sanctions and transposition within two years.

Who is affected

  • Employers in all public and private sectors, who must prevent psychosocial risks, assess them yearly and adopt annual action plans.
  • Workers, who gain rights to a psychologically safe environment, support, reporting, disconnection and participation.
  • Member states, which must provide inspections, sanctions, data and transposition within two years.
  • Social partners and workers' representatives, involved in assessments, action plans and implementation.

Figures and deadlines

  • Exposure to high work intensity rose from 27 % in 2015 to 40 % in 2021.
  • One in three employees works at high work intensity, to tight deadlines or during free time.
  • Work-related psychosocial risks account for approximately 60% of lost working days in the EU.
  • 29 % of workers report being not very well or not at all informed about prevention of work-related stress.
  • The Commission is asked to submit the proposal by the end of 2026.
  • Member states must transpose the directive within two years of its entry into force.

Legal basis: Article 153(2), point (b), and Article 153(1), point (a), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.