Work and Emotional Health in COVID-19 times

Abstract

Psychosocial factors have numerous consequences for the health and safety of workers, as well as for the world of work. In addition to being difficult to recognize as an occupational disease or an accident at work, mental illnesses are not only related to illnesses such as stress and depression, but also countless other illnesses, such as cardiovascular or muscle diseases, as the risks psychosocial problems are closely related to work stress. Despite being an extremely relevant subject for public health and for society as a whole, labor law has little to do with its study. In this sense, at first, we seek to clarify to the reader the main measures taken by the Spanish (2012) and Brazilian (2017) labor reforms, after which to analyze their concrete consequences in terms of unemployment, discouragement and sick leave from work in these two countries. Then, we will indicate the measures adopted by these countries in the face of the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss their efficiencies as a measure of social stabilization and care for the health and life of those who depend on work to survive. It remained to be demonstrated the expressive increase in the number of people suffering from mental illnesses due to work, which tends to worsen with the economic crisis established, with massive unemployment, with the legislative options that prioritize capital to the detriment of those who sells its workforce and with policy that Brazil has in the midst of more than 140 thousand deaths.