On 10 March the results of the study “Mental Health, Digital Desconnection and Teleworking. From the perspective of Ocuppational Risk Prevention” were presented in the UGT-PV headquarters. This study was led by Adrián Todolí, head of the Chair for Collaborative Economy and Digital Transformation.

The study “Mental Health, Digital Desconnection and Teleworking. From the perspective of the Occupational Risk Prevention” was carried out in the framework of the Valencian Strategy of Health, Safety and Labour Welfare and headed by Adrián Todolí, professor of Labour Law in the Universitat de València. It was presented the 10 March in the trade union UGT-PV headquarters, that was the promoter of the work. The research stress the prevention of mental health (not only with remediation as it has been until now), and in the digital desconnection as a tool that is not used enough in teleworking.

Todolí pointed out that “the main goal is that the institutions are finally realising the importance of mental health, but at the same time they are focusing on a perspective of remediation, which is very important, but they are not aiming to adapt a perspective of prevention. We cannot forget about prevention, this perspective was not being accurately analysed, but trade unions, with the delegates of prevention and this reality overdose, have been thinking about this matter for many years”.

“If these strategies take into account inputs from the prevention services, the strategy will have many more possibilities of achieving goals. Because in order to prevent mental health problems, we believe that prevention, not remediation, is crucial. Naturally, if something happens, we should provide the means this person needs, but if we can avoid problems from the beginning, it is much better”, Todolí said.

“If other countries have made that mistake, we can learn from them. Spain is the second country, after France, that approved the right to digital desconnection in 2018, but it looks like it got forgotten. The right exists, but it is not being guaranteed”, he concluded.

Mª Vicenta Mestre, principal of the UV, was there in the opening ceremony. She highlighted the importance of the study because teleworking has changed from being something exotic to being something real after the pandemic, at the same time that mental health gained importance in the public sphere. Meanwhile, the Counsellor of the Spanish Tax Office and Economic Model, Arcadi España, added that there are people who cannot choose their job and we must think about them and their work conditions.

For its part, the General vicesecretary of Occupational Health, Environment and Cooperation of UGT-PV, Marisa Baena, expressed that it is a report that is very well developed because it includes very recent jurisprudency and stress the clauses of collective negociation. In the study, some red lines that cannot be trespassed from a juridical perspective are considered.

Lastly, the ceremony concluded witha pannel discussion on “Mental Health, a challenge with the existence of new technologies” in which Antoni Tatay, Labour and Social Security inspector; Ángela Martín-Pozuelo, Assistant Professor of the Department of Labour and Social Security Law of the UV; and Ana Belén Muñoz, Full Professor of Labour Law and Social Security Law of the University Carlos III of Madrid.

• Access the  full study “Mental Health, Digital Desconnection and Teleworking. From the perspective of Occupational Risk Prevention”
• Visit the Chair for Collaborative Economics and Digital Transformation website

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