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The Healthy Workplaces Campaign (HWC) 2023-25 'Safe and healthy work in the digital age', is currently spotlighting the priority area of remote and hybrid work which, while offering benefits like increased productivity and improved work-life balance, also brings certain physical and psychosocial risks. In fact, a recent EU-OSHA discussion paper ‘Exploring the gender dimension of telework: implications for occupational safety and health’ shows that teleworkers are not immune to workplace violence, with 8% experiencing verbal abuse and 5% facing harassment. The data shows that female teleworkers are 1.5 times more likely to encounter violence or abuse (9% of women vs. 6% of men) and twice as likely to face harassment (6% of women vs. 3% of men). In traditional office settings, these gender disparities are even more pronounced, with rates of violence and abuse for women nearly double those for men.

UNI Europa, a longstanding supporter of the campaign, has been actively addressing workplace violence, including issues specific to telework. Supported by the European Commission, UNI Europa led a two-year cross-sector social dialogue project that culminated in 2023 with the signing of the EU-wide guidelines. These guidelines aim to eliminate violence and harassment in the workplace, covering domestic violence, third-party violence from public, customer or client interactions, and psychosocial risks linked to teleworking. The guidelines mark the first EU cross-sectoral agreement of its kind and reflect a significant commitment to improving worker safety in diverse work environments.

Aligning with the campaign's research, the document indeed highlights that psychosocial risks are the most prevalent health threats associated with telework, potentially leading to stress, burnout, harassment, and third-party violence. Women are particularly affected, as teleworking can exacerbate existing gender inequalities. In terms of actions, the guidelines note that occupational health and workplace health promotion initiatives play a crucial role in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of both women and men at work, while also mitigating the effects of gender-based violence. In this context, social partners emphasise the importance of conducting targeted risk assessments that focus on mental health impacts and psychosocial risks in Remote work is any type of working arrangement to work from home or – more generally – away from the employer’s premises or in a fixed location. In this context the focus is on remote work enabled by digital technologies (e.g. personal computers, smartphones, laptops, software packages and the internet). environments.

Learn more about the guidelines on the UNI Europa website, and explore the opportunities and risks associated with hybrid and Remote work is any type of working arrangement to work from home or – more generally – away from the employer’s premises or in a fixed location. In this context the focus is on remote work enabled by digital technologies (e.g. personal computers, smartphones, laptops, software packages and the internet). in the dedicated section of the Healthy Workplaces Campaign website.