EU: MEPs call for measures to prevent ‘technostress’* and ‘over-connection’

On 05 July, a majority of the EU parliament adopted a resolution ‘urging’ measures from the EU Commission to tackle the issue of mental health in the digital workplace. The MEPs once again called on the EU Commission to adopt a Directive establishing a framework for the right to disconnect at the European level, and which should become possible by the forthcoming agreement of the social partners on the subject (c.f. article No.13117). The EU parliamentarians have also called for the definition of standards for working conditions when working remotely, in order to guarantee the voluntary nature of the work, employee work-life balance, and the maintenance of equal workloads. Similarly the MEPs support the propagation of wide-ranging national mental health plans, as they believe the Covid-19 pandemic has led to over-connection and greater work intensity levels. They call for the establishment of “corporate mental health risk prevention plans”, access to mental health support services, and for companies to be able to facilitate employees’ re-integration into work and the prevention of further worker relapse. They also call for burnout, anxiety, and stress to be added to the list of occupational diseases as recognized by the 2003 Recommendation. MEPs also encourage backing for the establishment by the EU Commission and EU Member States (c.f. article No.12667) of specific mental health oriented digital applications, and they envisage the creation of a common EU platform. Finally, the text invites the EU Commission to work on a legislative proposal addressing AI at work to “protect the rights and well-being of workers”.*Technostress: stress linked to work-related technology use.