6. Working in a period of inflation: Additional stress, working conditions

6.1 Depression and burnout

In the RIZIV/INAMI classification, burnout and depression are included in the disease group for “psychological disorders”.

In 2020, the findings were as follows for employees and jobseekers:

- 36.87% of people with disabilities were disabled due to a disease in the group for “psychological disorders”.

- Among these people with disabilities for psychological disorders, 46.10% suffered from depression and 19.37% from burnout.

Between 2016 and 2020, the number of people on long-term disability due to burnout and depression increased by 38.72%: +41.50% for depression, +32.53% for burnout. While over this period the total number of disabled people increased by 20.70%

- Women were affected to a greater extent, representing more than 2/3 of cases with depression and burnout.

- The age group most affected was the 50-59 year olds.

Cases of burnout, caused mainly by poor working conditions, is costly for the community. RIZIV/INAMI estimates that in 2019, the cost of compensation insurance payouts for long-term work disability due to depression or burnout amounted to more than 1.5 billion euros. It is therefore essential to improve working conditions in order to prevent burnout. This is in the interests of the worker, the employer and the community.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND JOBSEEKERS ON DISABILITY BENEFITS DUE TO BURNOUT, BY GENDER

6.2 Disability

Between 2010 and 2020, the number of employees with disabilities increased by 71%. This was due, on the one hand, to population growth and, on the other, to the fact that diseases that used to be fatal, while they may no longer be fatal today, can still leave a disabling legacy. In 2020, this figure rose to more than 442,000 people with disabilities. In 2021, there was a slowdown in the growth of disabilities. The reasons for this slowdown have yet to be analysed. Several possibilities have been mentioned. For example, the fact that during the pandemic and lockdown, fewer people were declared unfit for work and disabled because they went to the doctor less.

A closer look shows that it is mainly women who are affected, as well as two age groups: those aged 30-34 and those aged 55 and over.

One of the reasons for this is the pressure to work, especially for the younger age group. Younger workers –mainly women – often have to combine a busy family life (arrival of their first children, young children, care for dependants, etc.) with increasing pressure at work. Furthermore, because of the difficulty of providing for lighter working conditions for older workers, they face health problems and inevitably fall into being unfit to work or disability. According to RIZIV/INAMI reports, this is also the consequence of the tightening of the conditions for accessing early retirement.

It should be noted that for many years, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) – such as back pain, tendonitis, etc. – have been one of the top three most common and disabling occupational diseases and a major cause of disability. In 2020, in the private sector alone, 2092 claims for tendonitis were filed with FEDRIS (the Federal Agency for Occupational Risks). These are only the known cases. The actual figures are probably much higher. Finally, improving health and safety at work is now considered by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as one of the fundamental areas for decent work, alongside trade union freedoms, the fight against discrimination, against child labour and against forced labour.

LONG-TERM ILLNESSES AMONG EMPLOYEES (DISABILITIES)

6.3 Precariousness by sector of activity

Employment in some sectors has been made more flexible (contracts without job stability, temporary work, flexi-jobs, part-time work, unstructured work patterns). A telling indicator is the change in the number of flexi-workers.

A flexi-job is a form of employment that allows a worker to work in a supplementary job under special conditions (low social security contributions, high flexibility of working hours, etc.) in certain sectors (e.g. hospitality, small bakeries and pastry shops, the food trade, certain sectors of retail, hairdressing salons, beauty salons and fitness centres).

NUMBER OF FLEXI-WORKERS

This situation has impacts on the health of workers. A recent study by the VUB (Precarious Work in Belgium) has shown that precarious employment is responsible for an unequal distribution of health and wellbeing risks in society.

According to this study, the two most precarious sectors are cleaning and service vouchers. The most precarious sectors are also, unsurprisingly, those where “general” health is the worst. There is also a strong relationship between precarious work and mental health in all the sectors studied.

These workers also find it difficult to combine their work and home life.

Precariousness Index By Sector

6.4 Persistent discrimination on the employment market: ethnic origins

According to the latest “Socio-economic monitoring: Labour market and origin” from FPS Employment and Unia, groups of people of different origin do not hold the same position on the Belgian labour market. Although the trend is positive, people of foreign origin are still less likely to be employed and, if they are, it is often in less sustainable and positions of poorer quality. The differences between people of Belgian and foreign origin are significant, even when their level of education and qualifications and their field of study are identical. Finally, this monitoring shows that women of foreign origin are strongly over-represented in the service voucher system, especially those from Eastern European countries. The vast majority of them have been registered in the National Register for 5 years or less, including those with higher education.

EMPLOYMENT RATE BY ORIGIN AND LEVEL OF QUALIFICATION (AGES 20-64, 2018)

Source : Datawarehouse labour market and social protection, BCSS. Calculations and processing: FPS ELSDETCS