EAOHP Policy Event

Psychosocial Risks and Mental Health at Work in the Future of Work: Promoting evidence-based policy making

The event will be attended by social partners, governments and other key stakeholders who will engage in discussion on the current state of the art and define priorities to be addressed through regulation and policymaking, to promote healthy psychosocial work environments and good mental health at work in the future of work.

World Mental Health Day – 9th and 10th October 2025
International Labour Organization, Geneva

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The need to manage employment and working conditions has become increasingly important, in recent decades, given the significant changes that have taken place in the world of work, including the nature of work and work organization, contractual arrangements and new forms of employment, use of new technology, and changes in workforce demographics.

These changes have been further exasperated by the shift away from traditional forms of occupations with a high exposure to physical risks, towards other occupations with exposure to psychosocial risks on the health, safety and well-being of workers, organizations and communities. Work-related psychosocial risks (PSR) and mental health at work have been identified as key priorities in the future of work.

In 2022, the principle of a safe and healthy working environment was added to the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This landmark decision means that all ILO Member States commit to respect and promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment, whether or not they have ratified relevant ILO Conventions (ILO, 2022). A number of policies and approaches have been developed and implemented by various stakeholders at the international, national, regional/sectoral and enterprise level to promote healthy working and employment conditions, including addressing PSR.

One of the main developments has been the implementation of specific legislation on PSR and mental health at work, in countries across the world. However, there is a varying picture in how well these regulations have been enforced and applied, and evaluation of their effectiveness remains challenging. Additionally, while there have been improvements in the assessment of PSR in organizations, there remain significant gaps in how these risks are managed/mitigated with most approaches focusing on providing support to workers affected by mental ill health rather than on prevention.

This event aims at sharing knowledge, experiences and good practices in regulation and policy initiatives. Sharing of experiences and lessons learned on how these initiatives have worked in practice will promote evidence-based policymaking:

  • Present specific legislation and policies related to psychosocial risk management and mental health at work across countries and discuss learnings from their implementation.
  • Consider the key indicators used to evaluate these policies and gaps that need to be addressed going forward.
  • Evaluate how various initiatives have worked out in practice and priorities to be addressed through engaging key stakeholders.
  • Discuss how various policies can be aligned to promote a preventative approach on PSR and mental health at work, including a specific focus on good practices that have been implemented in line with the UN Strategy for Mental Health at Work in various UN agencies. Future actions for the UN will also be discussed.

Event Schedule

Day 1: 9th October 2025

Psychosocial Risks and Mental Health at Work in the Future of Work: Promoting evidence-based policy making and practice in the UN

12:30 – 13:00
Registration
13:00 – 13:30
Opening Ceremony
  • Welcome (Stavroula Leka, President EAOHP)
  • Opening address (Martha Helena Lopez/Guy Ryder tbc)
13:30 – 14:30
Roundtable on UN 2.0 Vision: Cultivating an organizational culture that thrives on agility, creativity, learning, and adaptability – tenets of the psychosocial risk management process
  • Policy Experts
  • Key Stakeholders (e.g. UN HR Directors, UNSSCG, FICSA)
14:30 – 15:00
Coffee Break
15:00 – 16:30
Psychosocial Risk Management at the UN – Translating the UN 2.0 vision into action
  • UN Mental Health Strategy – Implications for policy and practice (UN Global Mental Health Lead)
  • UNHCR
  • UNICEF
  • ILO
16:30 – 17:30
Concluding remarks and way forward
17:30 onwards
Drinks reception

Day 2: 10th October 2025

Psychosocial Risks and Mental Health at Work in the Future of Work: Promoting evidence-based policy making

08:30 – 09:00
Registration
09:00 – 09:30
Opening Talks
  • Welcome (ILO TBC)
  • Opening address: Conceptualisation of work-related psychosocial risks: Moving forward in policy and practice (Stavroula Leka, President, EAOHP)
09:30 – 10:15
Keynote address

Working together to advance the management of psychosocial risks at work and promote workers’ health and wellbeing (Yolanda Diaz, Deputy President, Minister of Labour, Spain)

10:15 – 10:45
Coffee Break
10:45 – 12:30
Lessons learnt

Lessons from developing and implementing policies on psychosocial risk management and mental health at work across countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Italy
  • Portugal
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch
13:30 – 15:00
Policy stakeholder roundtable – Aligning policy approaches and building partnerships
  • Estelle Ceulemans, MEP and Member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
  • Eleonora Meleti, MEP, Greece
  • Nayla Glaise, EuroCadres President
  • ITUC
  • IOE
  • ISO
  • ICOH
15:00 – 15:30
Coffee Break
15:30 – 16:30
The Future of Policy Making on Work-Related Psychosocial Risks
  • ILO Global Commission (Future of Work & Psychosocial Risks)
  • OECD (on Digitalisation & Psychosocial Risks)
  • EU-OSHA (Climate change & Psychosocial Risks)
  • ETUI (Demographic changes and vulnerable groups)
16:30 – 17:00
Concluding remarks and close
  • Establishing the Global Network on Psychosocial Risks at Work
  • Way forward

9th and 10th October 2025

International Labour Organization

4 route des Morillons

CH-1211 Geneva

Switzerland

 

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