Psychological suffering at work: the report on burnout rejected by the Senate

"The right wing in the Senate has locked itself into an ideology by rejecting outright a report that was nevertheless balanced, on the grounds that it would weaken businesses. I deplore this," Annick Girardin, senator for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and member of the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, told AFP.

This centrist elected official from the Radical Party, a former minister, had been appointed rapporteur for an information mission on psychological suffering at work. The mission was tasked with formulating recommendations to better prevent a rapidly growing phenomenon that can lead to professional exhaustion and burnout.

After several months of work, the report was rejected at the initiative of the right and centrists, who hold a majority in the Senate. The document will therefore not be published, a relatively rare occurrence in the upper house.

The RDSE, which initiated this fact-finding mission, expressed its regret in a statement over the "disregard" of a report that it considers "essential to public health prevention".

According to the parliamentary group, the bill notably included a proposal to task a conference of experts with "developing a harmonized definition of burnout." It also proposed adding "listening to workers" to the prevention principles enshrined in the Labor Code and strengthening support for employers through preventative measures.

According to several parliamentary sources, one of the main points of disagreement concerned the possibility of including psychological suffering at work in the list of occupational diseases.

"To move in this direction, a solid legal definition and clear criteria would be needed. People in a state of professional burnout are already taken into account" by existing law, Senator Pascale Gruny of Les Républicains told AFP.

She justified her group's opposition by citing "very biased recommendations" and work that, in her view, "left little room for employers."

When questioned by the fact-finding mission, the Minister of Labour and Solidarity, Jean-Pierre Farandou, also expressed caution regarding the recognition of psychological suffering as an occupational disease.

"There is no consensus on this subject (...) Employers' organizations, as you have clearly sensed, are not very favorable to a development in this direction. This condition of consensus is therefore not met," he acknowledged.