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Because of compositional effects (more highly educated unemployed) and differences in the vulnerability towards the health consequences of unemployment (i.e. disappointment paradox hypothesis and/or status inconsistency for highly educated unemployed), it is argued that indicators of educational attainment need to be included when investigating the social norm of unemployment. Data from the 2001 census linked to register data from 2001-2011 are used, selecting all Belgian employed and unemployed between 30 and 59-year-old at time of the census. Poisson multilevel modelling was used to account for clustering of respondents within sub-districts. For individuals with low education levels, the relative difference in mortality rate ratios between the unemployed and employed is smallest in those regions where aggregate unemployment levels are high. For highly educated, this social norm effect was not found. This study suggest that the social norm effect is stronger for workers with low education levels, while highly educated workers suffer from disappointment and status inconsistency.

Resources related to a good work-life balance may play an important role for the mental health of workers with involuntary working hours. This study investigates whether involuntary part-time (i.e., working part-time, but preferring full-time work) and involuntary full-time work (i.e., working full-time, but preferring part-time work) are associated with a deterioration of mental health and whether family- and work-related resources buffer this association. Data were obtained from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) with baseline information on involuntary working hours and resources. This information was linked to changes in mental health two years later. We found impaired mental health for involuntary full-time male workers and increased mental health for regular part-time female workers. The mental health of involuntary full-time male workers is more vulnerable, compared to regular full-time workers, when having high non-standard work hours and when being a partner (with or without children). Involuntary part-time work is detrimental to men’s mental health when doing a high amount of household work. This study is one of the first to emphasize the mental health consequences of involuntary full-time work. Avoiding role and time conflicts between family and work roles are important for the mental health of men too.

Background The objective of this study is to examine social inequalities in employee mental well-being, using relational social class indicators. Relational social class indicators are based on theoretical insights about the mechanisms generating social (health) inequalities. Additionally, it is examined whether the psychosocial work environment and employment quality act as intermediary determinants of social class inequalities in mental well-being, simultaneously testing the mediation (differential exposure) and moderation (differential vulnerability) hypotheses. Methods Data from the European Social Survey Round 2 (2004/5) and Round 5 (2010) were analysed. Mental well-being was assessed by the WHO Well-being Index. The measure for social class was inspired by E.O. Wright’s class scheme. Three-level linear multilevel modelling was used to account for clustering of employees within research years and countries. Results We found social class inequalities in mental well-being in the European working population for both men and women. Compared to unskilled workers, managers reported the best mental well-being, while supervisors held an intermediary position. As regards the mediation hypothesis, an unfavourable psychosocial work environment and low-quality employment conditions mediated the relation between social class and poor mental well-being in both men and women. However, low quality of employment relations only mediated the “social class-mental well-being” association in the male sample. As regards the moderation hypothesis, modification effects were seen for the psychosocial work environment and employment conditions in both men and women. Conclusion Relational indicators of social class are related to mental well-being in European employees. Relational accounts of social class are complementary to stratification indicators in social epidemiology. From a policy perspective, better employee mental well-being and less social class inequality could be achieved through initiatives addressing the unequal social relations generated by structural positions in the labour process.

Background: Most employees will experience serious illness, caregiving, dying and loss (End-of-Life (EoL) experiences) at multiple points throughout their working lives. These experiences impact affected employees but also their colleagues in terms of health and wellbeing, and the workplace as a whole in terms of workplace safety, productivity and labour relations. The impact of EoL experiences on employees means that workplaces are called to play a more active role in providing support for EoL experiences. Aim: To describe how the EU-CoWork (2024–2028) project addresses its main aims to (1) create Compassionate Workplace cultures, practices and policies and improve health and wellbeing for employees dealing with EoL experiences in different national work contexts in Europe; (2) describe and evaluate the process of co-creation and implementation of Compassionate Workplace Programs (CWPs) and how these influence the programs’ outcomes. Design: EU-CoWork employs a facilitated and co-creative Developmental Evaluation approach to the development of 12 tailored CWPs across four European countries (Belgium, Austria, Sweden and Greece). Methods: To evaluate the outcomes and processes leading to these outcomes, a mixed-methods Realist Evaluation methodology is applied, formulating and testing Context-Mechanism-Outcomes configurations and combining longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data collections. Results: EU-CoWork will generate evidence to support an expanded model of occupational health and safety risk factors sensitive to the specific challenges related to employees’ EoL experiences. In doing so, several challenges will have to be navigated: involving employees with EoL experiences while avoiding overburdening them, avoiding tokenistic engagement, managing power differentials, balancing the need for scientific rigour with the flexibility required in co-creation, reconciling different epistemologies and disciplinary traditions and organisational resistance to change. Conclusion: There are potential long-lasting broader societal impacts through the stimulation of open discourse on EoL topics, the reconciliation of work and care, and changes in gendered work and care patterns.

In China, debates on achieving work-family balance have intensified with the rise of the dual-earner model. Balancing paid and unpaid work is stressful for dual-earner couples resulting in poor mental well-being outcomes for both partners. While prior mental well-being research mainly focused on individual associations, our study investigates associations of paid and unpaid workloads on spousal mental well-being within married dyads. Moreover, given that family support is an important resource in accordance with Chinese cultural and social norms, we investigate the mitigating role of family support within this dyadic relationship. Using coupled data from the Chinese Family Panel Study (CFPS) Wave 5, we employed Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to explore crossover mechanisms of multiple workloads (total, paid, and unpaid) and spousal mental well-being. Mental well-being was evaluated by utilizing a scale for depressive symptoms and for subjective well-being. We found that both genders’ higher levels of depression were border-significantly related to their own total workload (i.e. the sum of paid and unpaid labour), yet spousal associations were unobserved. For women, paid workload is negatively associated with subjective well-being while controlling for unpaid workload. The moderation models revealed, for men, that family support received from their wives’ family attenuates the positive association between workloads and depression. Our study advances our knowledge of the gender dynamics influencing work-family balance and strengthens the rationale for the adoption of family-friendly workplace regulations in China.

Digitalization, green transitions, and demographic change are transforming societies and economies across Europe. These shifts are giving rise to new forms of work (eg, hybrid work, gig economy jobs) and reshaping management and work organization practices (eg, through algorithmic decision-making or digital monitoring of worker performance). While such developments offer important opportunities to improve sustainability, flexibility, and efficiency, they also present challenges for ensuring healthy and equitable working conditions—especially if workplace policies and practices do not keep pace with these transformations (1). Work-related illnesses and injuries already place a substantial burden on employers and the broader economy, with costs estimated to exceed 3.3% of the European Union (EU) gross domestic product annually (2). It is well established that the work environment plays a crucial role in shaping both physical and mental health. Poorly designed or managed workplaces are associated with increased risks of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), stress, burnout, and long-term sickness absence (3). In contrast, supportive work environments—characterized by ergonomic design, good environmental quality, and worker autonomy—have been shown to improve well-being, productivity, and job satisfaction (4). Rapid advances in digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), further amplify both opportunities and risks in the modern workplace. AI can help enhance safety, reduce physical demands, and streamline tasks, but also raises concerns about autonomy, fairness, transparency, and mental well-being (5). Understanding how these technologies reshape power dynamics, management practices, and psychosocial work environments is essential to ensuring responsible, inclusive, and health-promoting digital transitions. Amid these transitions (6), MSD continue to be among the most common work-related health issues (7), while stress, depression, and anxiety are frequently cited by workers and managers as critical mental health concerns (8). The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated these changes, introducing additional mental health challenges and intensifying pre-existing physical risk factors (9). For instance, the increase in computer use, shift to non-traditional workspaces (eg, home offices), and reduced physical activity among office workers often result in prolonged static postures and repetitive movements, factors that elevate the risk of negative health outcomes (10). These post-pandemic trends are also linked to a rise in mental health issues such as stress, burnout, and social isolation (11). In response to these challenges, the EU has launched several strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring safe, healthy, and inclusive working conditions. The EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021–2027 calls for adapting occupational safety and health (OSH) practices to the realities of digitalization, demographic shifts, and new forms of work (12). Complementing this, the European Commission’s 2023 Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health (13) sets mental health on equal footing with physical health, announcing 20 flagship actions backed by over €1.2 billion in funding. Among these are initiatives that specifically target psychosocial risks at work, including the development of an EU-level initiative on managing psychosocial risks (14) and the organization of EU-wide workplace campaigns to raise awareness and promote preventive action (15). These efforts align with the European Pillar of Social Rights (16), reinforcing the EU’s commitment to fair working conditions, universal access to healthcare, and robust social protections. In this context, WISEWORK-C (Workplace Innovation for Sustainable Well-being Cluster) (www.wisework-c.eu) is a recently established cluster composed of five independent projects funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe under the call “HORIZON-HLTH-2023-ENVHLTH-02-02: Evidence-based interventions for the promotion of mental and physical health in changing working environments (post-pandemic workplaces)”. The cluster’s primary aim is to enhance collaboration and jointly promote the benefits of addressing mental and physical health in the workplace and develop and evaluate a range of evidence-based interventions. Using scientific findings, the cluster seeks to inform and influence policy and decision-makers to take greater action, ultimately leading to more sustainable, health-promoting workplaces. To achieve these goals, WISEWORK-C brings together five Horizon Europe projects (see table 1) with unique interdisciplinary approaches: (i) EU-CoWork. EU-CoWork’s ambition is to develop an evidence basis for and subsequently develop, test and evaluate tailored `compassionate workplace programs` (17) in Europe to leverage the positive impacts and existing assets of workplaces and mitigate the negative impacts and challenges of the new ways of working for the mental and physical health and well-being of employees faced with end-of-life experiences (such as loss, grief, dying, death, serious illness and care giving) and their colleagues (18). The project is a collaboration between five countries (Austria, Belgium, Greece, the UK, and Sweden) and entails a cross-national mixed-methods intervention study with an embedded process and impact evaluation. It applies an international co-creative and developmental evaluation of tailored compassionate workplace programs, and mixed-methods process and impact evaluation combining a timed series of quantitative cross-sectional panel surveys, qualitative interviews and fieldwork, and policy document analysis. Tailored compassionate workplace programs will be developed in 12 digitalized and/or green workplaces across four European countries. (ii) INTERCAMBIO. There has been insufficient attention to the impacts of climate change and the green transition on occupational health and safety (19). The INTERCAMBIO project aims to promote the health of workers in work environments impacted by climate change, implementation of new sustainable work practices, and the green transition (20). The project is a collaboration between 14 partners in eight countries (Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK). INTERCAMBIO addresses mental and physical health of workers through specific workplace interventions in five relevant industries including outdoor construction, healthcare, public transit, wind turbine manufacturing, and waste management/recycling using mixed-methods. In addition, INTERCAMBIO is also performing observational research to evaluate both short- and long-term impacts of occupational heat, cold, and solar UV radiation exposures in relation to mental and physical health effects, including in biomarker-based studies, as well as in large-scale cohort studies using innovative exposure assessment approaches. INTERCAMBIO is coordinating a diverse stakeholder community and developing a new health research agenda in interaction with other (European) initiations. INTERCAMBIO seeks to contribute to supporting decent green jobs. (iii) PROSPERH. The PROSPERH (Promoting Positive Mental and Physical Health at Work in a Changing Environment) research project underscores the urgency of prioritizing holistic workplace well-being. With the evolving nature of work—marked by remote and hybrid arrangements, technological advancements, and increasing job demands—it is imperative to integrate strategies that enhance both mental and physical health in professional settings. PROSPERH enhances workplace health by providing evidence-based digital interventions, targeted at the individual, peer and organizational levels, that help prevent and manage work-related physical and mental health conditions and prepare workplaces for evolving environments. Employers will benefit from improved health promotion strategies, while policy-makers will gain valuable insights for shaping effective interventions that foster healthier behaviors and workspaces. The PROSPERH intervention is being delivered via the PROSPERH portal and application in 11 countries (Albania, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Turkey), targeting the construction and healthcare sectors and workers in telework and ICT-based mobile work settings. (iv) SONATA. The SONATA project aims to augment currently existing and develop novel architectural adaptation technologies, including smart building systems that optimize indoor environmental quality and comfort (21) and robotically moveable acoustic walls and ceiling panels that reconfigure space (22). The project is assessing the medical, situational, and social impacts of these technologies across three shared workplace contexts: an open-plan office, a hybrid co-working space, and a set of home offices, in four different countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. Accordingly, it will also establish a set of empirically grounded recommendations on how to (a) measure, compare, and optimize the health and well-being benefits of architectural adaptation technologies; (b) establish the ‘orchestration’ of multiple adaptive technologies in order to augment their joint benefit; and (c) prescribe the equitable distribution of these benefits among co-workers that share the same office. Ultimately, the SONATA research envisions a shared office workplace that is able to adapt to the ever-changing needs and preferences of individual workers, instead of expecting that these workers should constantly adapt to the rather generalized conditions of their workplace. (v) WAge. WAge focuses on how physical and psychosocial workplace factors interact to influence health, well-being, and work sustainability across age groups. As working lives grow longer and workforce demographics shift (23), the project aims to suppo

Introduction There is the tendency in occupational health research of approximating the `changed world of work´ with a sole focus on the intrinsic characteristics of the work task, encompassing the job content and working conditions. This is insufficient to explain the mental health risks associated with contemporary paid work as not only the nature of work tasks have changed but also the terms and conditions of employment. The main aim of the present study is to investigate whether a set of indicators referring to quality of the employment arrangement is associated with the well-being of people in salaried employment. Associations between the quality of contemporary employment arrangements and mental well-being in salaried workers are investigated through a multidimensional set of indicators for employment quality (contract type; income; irregular and/or unsocial working hours; employment status; training; participation; and representation). The second and third aim are to investigate whether the relation between employment quality and mental well-being is different for employed men and women and across different welfare regimes. Methods Cross-sectional data of salaried workers aged 15-65 from 21 EU-member states (n =11,940) were obtained from the 2010 European Social Survey. Linear regression analyses were performed. Results For both men and women, and irrespective of welfare regime, several sub-dimensions of low employment quality are significantly related with poor mental well-being. Most of the significant relations persist after controlling for intrinsic job characteristics. An insufficient household income and irregular and/or unsocial working hours are the strongest predictors of poor mental well-being. A differential vulnerability of employed men and women to the sub-dimensions of employment quality is found in Traditional family and Southern European welfare regimes. Conclusions There are significant relations between indicators of low employment quality and poor mental well-being, also when intrinsic characteristics of the work task are controlled. Gender differences are least pronounced in Earner-carer countries.

Research on the career expectations of employees and the potential (mis)match with their lived reality is abundant, yet the research field has paid less attention to the expectation–reality gap of the self-employed. Self-employed people’s attitudes towards work are, however, important for determining business success and persistence. Therefore, research is needed to examine their expectations as well as how self-employed people’s expectations materialize in their experiences. By analyzing in-depth interviews with 19 self-employed workers without employees in Belgium, both desired and undesired career expectations were revealed. After becoming self-employed, these expectations sometimes materialized in reality, in both a positive (e.g., independence and doing what you love) and a negative (e.g., risk and insecurity) sense. Our results also imply that expectation–reality gaps going in two directions exist. We identified positive expectations being met by less-positive experiences (e.g., loneliness, increased responsibility, being unable to do what you like, overestimated financial success, and unavailable or expensive formal support), as well as negative expectations being met by better experiences (e.g., social support between self-employed colleagues). The study signals that the social environment of the solo self-employed (SSE) merits policy attention. Efforts need to be made to create self-employed networks, where professional and social ties can be formed.

Against the background of increased labor market flexibilization, health issues amongst employees have become a pressing social concern in Korea. Yet, little is known about the diversity in employment experiences and the associated health implications amongst employees. To accurately gauge labor market segmentation, whilst simultaneously accounting for health-risk factors, we employ the multidimensional Employment Quality (EQ) concept in a typological manner. This method differentiates various employment segments, with the Standard Employment Relationship (SER) serving as a benchmark. Using the 2017 Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS), we employ Latent Class Cluster Analysis on a sample of the salaried workforce (N = 25.376) to construct a typology of EQ. Via logistic regression, we link the EQ typology to poor mental well-being and poor self-rated general health. As a result, we find six distinct types of EQ arrangements in Korea: SER-like, Instrumental, SER Intensive, Instrumental Intensive, Precarious Intensive, and Precarious Unsustainable. We find that deviations from the SER-like segment are associated with poorer health and well-being outcomes, even when accounting for confounding factors, with precarious EQ segments showing the most pronounced adverse health and well-being associations. This study furthers our understandings of health disparities within the salaried workforce. Our findings underscore the need for targeted reforms of workplace- and employment-related health policies to foster a healthier working population in Korea.

Youth unemployment is a problem that undermines young people’s health and well-being and is also a concern for their immediate communities and society. Human values predict health-related behaviour; however, this relation is very little studied and not examined earlier among NEET (not in employment, education or training) young people. This study aimed to explore the association between four higher-order human values (conservation, openness to change, self-enhancement, self-transcendence), self-rated health (SRH) and subjective well-being (SW) among NEET young men and women (n = 3842) across European regions. Pooled European Social Survey data from 2010–2018 were used. First, we run linear regression analysis stratified by European socio-cultural regions and gender. Then, multilevel analyses by gender with interactions were performed. The results show expected variation in value profiles across genders and regions and corresponding differences in SRH and SW. Significant associations between values and SRH and SW were found among both genders and across the regions; however, the results did not entirely confirm the expectations about the “healthiness” of specific values. More likely, prevailing values in societies, such as the social norm to work, might shape these associations. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors affecting NEETs’ health and well-being.