Hans-Jürgen Urban, managing board member: “Working conditions are a key factor for employees’ ability to work and their health. Stress, busy work, strain and alienating work are increasingly becoming a danger for employees and companies. Health protection is an employer’s obligation and ultimately also a location advantage.
Good working conditions increasingly determine attractiveness and ability to work. Companies must finally take the consequences of psychological stress and long downtimes seriously. The number of days unable to work due to mental illnesses has increased by almost half since 2014. This is an alarm signal. Employers must finally live up to their responsibility for the mental health of their employees. Instead of new bureaucratic hurdles for reporting sickness, more prevention is needed through binding rules from politicians such as anti-stress regulations.
Only 40 percent of affected employees have the chance of being reintegrated back into work after their illness. It is incomprehensible how driveless the traffic light coalition is in pursuing a promised law. We finally need comprehensive, effective company integration management with individual legal rights for employees after long and repeated illness. Otherwise there is a risk of a sick vicious circle.”