Labor Inspectorate notes increase in complaints about stress and mobbing at workplace

RIGA -  The number of employees' complaints to the State Labor Inspectorate (VDI) about stress and mobbing at the workplace have been on the rise lately, the inspectorate's director Renars Lusis said in an interview with LNT TV channel today.

He indicated that in many of these cases bosses have no idea that their subordinates are suffering from stress or mobbing.

As part of an awareness campaign on the psycho-emotional risks employees are exposed to at the workplace, VDI surveyed nearly 4,000 respondents - mostly public sector and municipal employees. The survey revealed that for roughly 60 percent of them workload has increased lately and they have to work extra hours more often. 

Two thirds of respondents in the survey said that their health had deteriorated because of the psycho-emotional stress at the workplace, Lusis said, adding that the data obtained in the survey are still being processed and analyzed. 

Starting next Monday, October 14, VDI representatives will be visiting the surveyed institutions and enterprises to inform the employers about the measures that should be taken to improve the psycho-emotional environment at the workplace.