Every company with more than 50 employees in the future will need to have at least one internally-trained counsellor for well-being at work – an initiative being led by the Federal Minister of Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne.
The initiative forms part of the package of measures for which €2.8 million has been added to the budget to strengthen well-being at work.
The government is asking social partners for advice on the details of this obligation, which will be legally attached to the welfare legislation. Investments must be made to take the necessary measures "to prevent general loss of production due to any failure as a company as much as possible".
One aspect of the initiative is to coordinate the "MentalHealth@Work" network and the federal Mental Wellness at Work (MWOW) policy and action plan. There will also be several action plans and working groups to address the various pain points in mental well-being issues.
These should provide more prevention advisers and pay attention to psychological aspects. Furthermore, they should make the role of occupational doctors better known and improve their image and the provision of mental well-being prevention services.
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Moreover, the currently understaffed Federal Inspectorate for Supervision of Well-Being at Work will receive additional manpower: 11 inspectors, one per province and one for the main administration in Brussels, with a humanities training/background.
Minister of Social Affairs and Health Frank Vandenbroucke also obtained an extension and expansion of the FEDRIS pilot project for secondary prevention of work-related mental health problems. There are also initiatives to improve the well-being of federal civil servants.
