Occupational Safety & Health · Hazards

Psychosocial risks at work

Workload, long hours, job insecurity, harassment and lack of control — the risks behind the largest occupational disease burden, across all sectors.

Last updated: 3 October 2026

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Overview

Psychosocial risks arise from the design, organisation and management of work: excessive workload and long hours, low control, job insecurity, lack of support, violence and harassment, and conflict between work and private life. The WHO/ILO Joint Estimates identify long working hours as the single largest occupational risk factor, responsible for 745,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease in 2016 (WHO and ILO, 2021). The ILO made a healthy psychosocial working environment the theme of the 2026 World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Georgian law regulates working time and prohibits harassment but contains no provisions on psychosocial risk assessment (ETF–Eurofound, 2024).

Key figures

745,000

Deaths in 2016 from stroke and heart disease attributable to working 55+ hours a week

WHO and ILO (2021)

About one third

Share of the total work-related disease burden attributable to long working hours

WHO and ILO (2021)

45%

EU establishments reporting time pressure as a risk factor

EU-OSHA, ESENER 2019

None

Provisions on psychosocial risk in Georgian labour law

ETF–Eurofound (2024)

Risk factors in Georgia


Risk	Evidence for Georgia
Long and irregular hours	40-hour week, 48 in specified sectors; share working 55+ hours not published; informal work (about 37% of employment) escapes hours limits
Job insecurity and informality	Informal employment 37.1% (ILO); limited unemployment insurance
Low pay and working poverty	Minimum wage GEL 20 since 1999; see Wages, Poverty & Social Protection
Violence and harassment	Labour Code Article 4 prohibits harassment; Convention No. 190 not ratified; health-sector violence unmeasured
Lack of voice	Union density roughly 10–15%; collective bargaining coverage 11–14%

Sources: Geostat; Pignatti (2026); ETF–Eurofound (2024); see linked topic pages.

Standards


Instrument	Content	Georgia
ILO Convention No. 155 and the Global Strategy 2024–2030	National OSH frameworks covering all risks, including psychosocial	Not ratified
ILO Convention No. 190 (2019)	Violence and harassment in the world of work	Not ratified
WHO guidelines on mental health at work (2022)	Organisational interventions, manager training, support for workers	Guidance
EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC	Risk assessment covering all risks; the basis for EU psychosocial risk management	Not transposed
Labour Code of Georgia	Working time, rest, night work, harassment	In force; no psychosocial risk provisions

Public health perspective (WHO)

WHO defines burn-out in ICD-11 (QD85) and issued guidelines on mental health at work in 2022; it estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy about a trillion US dollars a year in lost productivity (WHO). For WHO, psychosocial risk is where occupational health and mental health policy meet, and the response belongs to employers, health services and social protection together. Workers' health: the public health perspective.

Data gaps

No Georgian working-conditions survey measuring workload, control, support or harassment.
Share of workers working 55+ hours not published; derivable from the Labour Force Survey.
No data on mental health conditions attributed to work or on related sickness absence.

Legal sources (Matsne, with article numbers)

Statutory references on this page are to the following acts in the Legislative Herald of Georgia (Matsne), with the articles relied on. English translations on Matsne are official for the Labour Code and the Labour Inspection law; the Occupational Safety law's English text is an unofficial translation.


Act	Official text	Articles relied on
Organic Law — Labour Code of Georgia (No. 4113-რს, 17 December 2010, as amended; major amendment No. 7177, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 1155567	Art. 2 and 4 — discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work; Art. 10 — minimum age 16 (14 with consent for light work), hazardous work barred for minors and pregnant women; Art. 17 — probation up to 6 months; Art. 24 — 40-hour week, 48 hours in listed sectors, 12-hour daily and 24-hour weekly rest, working-time records; Art. 27 — overtime; Art. 28 — night work 22:00–06:00, barred for minors and pregnant women, 8-hour cap in hazardous work; Art. 31 — 24 working days' paid leave, 10 extra days for hazardous work; Art. 37 and 39 — maternity leave 126 days, state benefit; Art. 45 — safe and healthy working environment, right to refuse dangerous work, employer's duty to compensate harm; Art. 47–49 — termination grounds, notice and compensation, collective redundancies; Art. 52–57 — freedom of association, collective agreements; Art. 61–67 — disputes, mediation, strike and lockout, essential services; Art. 70 — information and consultation through elected employee representatives in enterprises of 50 or more
Organic Law of Georgia on Occupational Safety (19 February 2019; replaced the Law of March 2018)	Matsne 4486188	Employer duties, risk assessment, designation of an occupational safety specialist, workers' rights, inspection powers and sanctions; applies to all sectors
Law of Georgia on the Labour Inspection Service (No. 7178-Iს, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 5003057	Art. 2 — legal status; Art. 4 — governing acts; Art. 5 — aim and functions; Art. 13–16 — inspection powers; Art. 20 — reporting
Government Decree No. 381 — list of heavy, harmful and hazardous works	Matsne (Georgian)	Defines hazardous work for the purposes of the Labour Code and the Occupational Safety law
Government Decree No. 597 — sectors with specific working regimes (48-hour week)	Matsne (Georgian)	Implements Labour Code Art. 24(3)

Consolidated versions change; the links open the current consolidated text. GILS cites the version in force at the date of the page's "Last updated".

Sources

WHO and ILO (2021). Long working hours increasing deaths from heart disease and stroke. www.who.int
WHO (2019). Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon". www.who.int
EU-OSHA. ESENER 2019 risk factors (via the MSD campaign page). healthy-workplaces.osha.europa.eu
ETF–Eurofound (2024). Working life in Georgia. www.etf.europa.eu
ILO. Safety and health at work — World Day 2026 theme. www.ilo.org

Figures are from the GILS Evidence Register and the official sources shown. GILS is independent of government, trade unions, employers' organisations and the ILO.