On this page you will find a short lunch webinar we held on 10 December, plus a short summary of the most important points during the video.
You can also download our checklist which can be sent to managers in your business here.
What do we mean by psychosocial work environment?
Psychosocial working environment is about conditions at work that can affect health, safety and how people feel at work.
In the webinar, we talked in particular about themes that often recur when sickness absence increases or conflicts become locked up:
- high work pressure over time
- unclear expectations and roles
- lack of support in everyday life
- conflict, alienation and bad tone
- harassment (including sexual harassment)
This is not "well-being". It is HSE in practice.
What will be more important from 1 January 2026?
The main point from the webinar was this: the psychosocial working environment is more clearly expected to be handled as part of systematic HSE.
This means that businesses must be able to demonstrate to a greater extent that they:
- picks up signals early
- assesses risks and causes
- introduces measures that actually change everyday working life
- verifies whether measures work
- have brief and factual documentation of what has been done and why
There is no question of more bureaucracy. It is about having a practice that actually works when a case arises.
Why this affects sick leave so often
A consistent point in the webinar was that cases rarely escalate because someone "doesn't care". They escalate because the follow-up becomes:
- Late
- indistinct
- different from manager to manager
- little traceable
When the workload in everyday working life is not reduced, sickness absence quickly becomes longer and more difficult to reduce. And when the process is perceived as unfair, the risk of litigation and further polarization increases.
What is the consequence if this is not in place?
In individual cases, a lack of systematics can have very specific consequences:
- sickness absence lasts longer because the root of the absence at work is not addressed
- conflicts become harder and more locked
- notification becomes more likely because the process is not perceived as safe
- the business is in a weaker position if it ends up with supervision or a dispute, because it is difficult to demonstrate assessments and measures
In short: "We had a chat" is rare enough if the case is later to be assessed or checked.
To ensure correct follow-up and documentation, you can download our checklist for managers here.
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