Suffering at work: how companies can structure an effective response
Suffering at work is now one of the major mental health issues for companies. Long perceived as an individual problem, it is now recognized as an organizational indicator, revealing how the collective functions, managerial practices, and the actual conditions in which work is carried out.
Chronic stress, discomfort at work, burnout, conflicts, loss of meaning, harassment, emotional overload...
These situations often raise the same questions: what should you do? Who should you turn to? How can you act without making the situation worse?
For the company, the challenge is not only to provide a one-off response, but to structure an organization capable of preventing, detecting, and dealing with suffering at work in a secure manner, for employees as well as HR and management teams.
Suffering at work: an often multifactorial phenomenon to be understood collectively
Suffering at work covers a range of situations in which professional activity causes lasting psychological distress, sometimes accompanied by physical repercussions: sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, somatic disorders, anxiety, and even cardiovascular risks.
From a clinical and organizational perspective, these situations rarely occur in isolation. They are most often the result of a combination of factors:
- High and sustainable performance requirements,
- Insufficiently regulated workload,
- Unresolved relationship tensions or conflicts,
- Lack of recognition or managerial support,
- Loss of direction or meaning in work.
For the company, these manifestations constitute weak or strong signals of psychosocial risks, observable through indicators well known to HR: recurrent absenteeism, disengagement, turnover, an increase in individual requests, or even collective or managerial tensions.
The challenge is therefore not to treat each situation as an isolated individual case, but to adopt a collective and structured approach to suffering at work, in order to identify the organizational causes and take preventive action.
Suffering at work: what should companies do as a first step?
When a situation of suffering at work is identified, the first difficulty is not a lack of goodwill, but a lack of clarity about who to alert, when to alert them, and with what level of confidentiality.
On the corporate side, an effective response is based on three key principles:
- Clarify roles: who is authorized to receive the alert?
- Securing career paths: guaranteeing confidentiality and protecting employees from exposure.
- Quickly direct them to the right people, internal or external, depending on the nature of the situation.
Without this structure, situations of discomfort at work may arise, spread, or even worsen.
The central role of employers in preventing suffering at work
Employers have an obligation to protect the physical and mental health of their employees, in accordance with Article L.4121-1 of the Labor Code. This responsibility is not limited to intervening when suffering is reported or becomes critical.
It involves proactive organization of psychosocial risk prevention, integrated into the company's operations.
When a situation of suffering at work arises, the challenge is not only to listen to the individual on an ad hoc basis, but to create the conditions for appropriate and secure treatment:
- Analysis of the work situation,
- Adjustment of operating conditions,
- Mobilization of the right actors,
- Protection of the employee concerned and the collective.
In small organizations, the employer or manager is often on the front line.
In larger organizations, this responsibility is shared with human resources and prevention specialists.
In all cases, effectiveness depends on clear roles, transparent systems, and the ability to quickly assess situations.
Preventing suffering at work: internal company resources
Human resources and prevention officers
HR teams and prevention officers play a key role in preventing suffering at work.
They have the power to take direct action on:
- Work organization,
- The conditions of practice,
- Load regulation,
Their intervention makes it possible to transform an individual difficulty into an analyzable organizational issue and to address the causes of the problem rather than just its symptoms.
The CSE and employee representatives
The social and economic committee acts as a valuable warning system, particularly when certain situations reflect broader problems.
Its role is part of a process of monitoring, alerting, and collective contribution, complementing other prevention measures.
It does not replace in-depth individual support, but contributes to the prevention of psychosocial risks and social dialogue.
Suffering at work: the role of occupational health services
The occupational physician
The occupational physician plays a central role in assessing situations of suffering at work.
Bound by professional confidentiality, they can meet with employees at any time, suggest workplace adjustments, refer them to appropriate professionals, and alert the company to collective issues without exposing the individuals concerned.
Occupational psychologists
Occupational psychologists work at the interface between individuals and organizations.
They provide a space for listening and putting things into perspective, while contributing to an understanding of the mechanisms at work in the real world.
Their analysis can inform concrete organizational recommendations aimed at preventing the recurrence of situations of distress and sustainably improving mental health in the workplace.
When should external resources be mobilized?
The attending physician, the labor inspectorate, or certain specialized associations may be called upon.
These remedies are most often used downstream, when suffering at work has already had a significant impact on health.
Hence the interest for companies in structuring accessible preventive measures upstream, capable of identifying difficulties at an earlier stage.
Securing a listening device that is truly accessible to employees
In many organizations, not all employees spontaneously turn to existing internal mechanisms for fear of judgment, doubts about confidentiality, difficulty identifying the right person to talk to, or relationship and/or scheduling constraints.
Furthermore, initial appeals rarely concern situations of proven crisis. They often relate to professional or organizational issues, which, without a forum for expression, can worsen.
It is in this context that psychological and social support services available 24/7 take on their full meaning.
They provide a neutral and confidential listening and guidance service, enabling:
- To express a difficulty without exposing oneself,
- To benefit from an initial qualified listening session,
- To be directed to the appropriate intermediaries.
Structuring a sustainable response to suffering at work
Preventing suffering at work does not rely solely on individuals' ability to ask for help.
It depends above all on the maturity of the measures put in place by the company: accessibility, clarity, complementarity of the actors involved, and management capacity.
Structuring an effective response means equipping oneself with the means to document, anticipate, and monitor situations of suffering at work, with a view to social responsibility, sustainable dialogue, and securing career paths.
By organizing clear and secure relays, the company is sending a strong message:
one of attention to real work and a concrete commitment to mental health in the workplace.
