Burnout at work: MEPs call for stronger EU protections

MEPs called for EU-wide rules to tackle work-related stress, depression and anxiety, which affect almost one in three workers. Far-right groups opposed the text, arguing that it would place excessive obligations on businesses. The European Parliament called on Tuesday for stronger EU measures to address burnout, stress and other work-related conditions, as these challenges have become increasingly common among European workers amid the rapid digitalisation and adoption of AI in the workplace. MEPs want new rules to recognise that psychosocial risks, including harassment, excessive workloads and unpredictable working hours as potential causes of occupational diseases, including mental health disorders. “Illnesses linked to psychosocial risks, such as burnout, must be recognised as occupational diseases,” Belgian Socialist MEP Estelle Ceulemans, the report’s rapporteur, told Euronews. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), 29% of EU workers experienced stress, depression or anxiety caused or made worse by their work in 2025. The figure rose to 32% among workers aged 25 to 39, as young people are disproportionately affected by those conditions, due to their intensive use of digital technologies and the often-precarious nature of their jobs. MEPs urged the Commission to introduce EU-wide rules to protect workers, as existing provisions vary significantly across member states and do not always provide sufficient protection. The resolution calls for binding obligations on employers, stronger labour inspections and a right to disconnect outside working hours. It also proposes shifting the burden of proof in occupational disease cases. If a worker can provide evidence of exposure to work-related psychosocial risks and health problems consistent with that exposure, the employer would then be required to prove that the condition was not caused by those workplace risks. The Parliament’s text also calls for telework to be voluntary. While remote working can improve flexibility and work-life balance, MEPs warn that it can also blur the boundaries between work and private life, particularly when imposed by employers. The approach was considered too far-reaching by far-right groups, which voted against the resolution. “We must strike a balance between decent working conditions and the right of employers to manage and organise their business,” Spanish MEP Margarita de la Pisa Carrión of Patriots for Europe (PfE) wrote in a note on the resolution. The next step is now up to the European Commission, which has been asked to come forward with legislation on psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work. In the past, the Commission has regulated the minimum daily and weekly rest periods required to safeguard workers’ health and safety.