The workplace is where working people spend a large part of their day. In October last year Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested that the young in our country should be prepared to work 70 hours a week, which is more than 11 and a half hour a day! According to a 2023 International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, Indians are 7th on the list of countries globally that work the most. Industry research also shows that 76 per cent of Indian workers report a stressful work environment and 49 per cent reported that their stress was affecting their productivity at work. Another 2023 survey conducted among 30,000 employees in 30 countries around the world found that Indian employees reported the highest level of workplace exhaustion at 62%, followed by Japan at 61%. This data is only indicative of the severe mental health crisis that we face today which is accentuated by our working conditions.
Risks to mental health in the workplace, include skill mismatch, excessive workload or work pace, understaffing, long, unsocial, or inflexible hours, unsafe or poor physical working conditions and violence, harassment, or bullying. The social stigma, discrimination and exclusion that continues to be attached to mental illness, leads to non-reporting and under-reporting of cases which remains a key hurdle in identifying and addressing the epidemic that is spreading across employments.
Indian workplace safety laws do not even consider stress as a trigger for other chronic physical illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and gastric diseases. Most employers in the country do not consider mental health to be a workplace hazard leading to increased stigma, loss of jobs and inability to find new employment. More than 1 in 4 people in India have high blood pressure, and cumulatively, more than 90% of adults live with uncontrolled blood pressure which is either undiagnosed, untreated, or treated. Gastric diseases such as gastric ulcer and ulcerative colitis are also highly stress-induced. Japan and China, both famous for their long working hours – have a specific word for death by overwork – karoshi and guolaosi respectively.
Even if there are no specific laws in India that deal with workplace stress, trade unions can play an important role in addressing mental health issues at workplace.
In 2019, the ILO passed the convention on Violence and Harassment (C190) and in 2022, the WHO issued a guideline on mental health at work. According to the ILO convention, governments need to work with employers’ and workers’ organizations to develop new, or review and revise existing, employment and OSH laws, policies and guidance to include provisions on mental health in parity with those on physical health. This implies ensuring that the definition of occupational health always covers both physical and mental health, as well as including mental disorders in the national lists of occupational diseases, in line with the ILO List of Occupational Diseases (2010). Further, it requires member countries to have a strong legal framework supported by adequate compliance mechanisms, including through the investigation and enforcement carried out by trained labour inspectors.
Unions can assess the risks at work that lead to mental stress, negotiate reorganization of work to address the existing risks at work. For example, in the limited world of organized workplaces in the universe of employments in our country today, only 20-30% of workers are regular workers while the remaining are workers on irregular contracts at significantly lower wages. This inequality is created by employers to pitch one group of workers against the other. This not just creates a huge gap between the two sections of workers, but also increases the mental stress on each group of workers who have to compete for survival every day. Over 80% of the country’s workforce works in the informal economy where there is no regulatory protection for health and safety. Such workers face increased threats to their mental and physical health due to lack of structural support. Informal workers often work in unsafe working environments, work long hours, have little or no access to social or financial protections, and face discrimination – all of which may further affect mental health and limit access to mental health care.
Some examples of mental health risks at work and possible trade union intervention in mitigating the risks.
| Aspect of Work | Potential Risk | Trade Union Demand |
| Task design | Monotonous work | Task Rotation Participatory job designing |
| Workload and Pace | Short Deadlines Heavy workload | Limits on working hours or number of shifts Achievable work targets Safe staffing level |
| Work Schedule | Long working hours Shift working | Participatory work scheduling Planned breaks Welfare facilities and support during unusual hours |
| Work Control | Lack of control over work design Surveillance | Participatory approach to job design, work organization and decision-making Continuous communication |
| Organisational Culture | Poor Communication Culture that enables discrimination, abuse | Consultation with workers on organizational frameworks for dealing with unfair treatment, offensive behaviour and abuse Support for affected workers, including access to workers’ representatives |
Trade unions can also create awareness on mental health-related issues at work, including addressing stigmas attached to it. Improving workers’ understanding about mental health at work can empower them to value their own well-being and recognize when to seek help. Building awareness is critical to reducing stigma and creating a safe and healthy working environment that respects diversity and protects against bullying, harassment or exclusion.
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