European Trade Union Committee for Education

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On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, the European social partners in education — the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) — have released the revised Joint European Guidelines on Preventing Psychosocial Risks in Education.

Developed within the framework of the EU-funded project “APRES COVID – Addressing Psychosocial Risks for an Equitable and Sustainable Recovery in Education”, these updated Guidelines mark a major step forward in supporting teachers, school leaders, and education staff across Europe. They offer practical, preventive tools for trade unions, employers, and institutions to identify, assess, and manage psychosocial risks in schools and universities.

The Guidelines build on the 2016 edition, integrating new evidence gathered during the APRES COVID project and reflecting recent developments such as digitalisation, workload intensification, and changing classroom dynamics. They reaffirm that psychosocial risks are not personal weaknesses but structural occupational challenges that must be addressed collectively through strong social dialogue and sound occupational health and safety policies.

“Teachers across Europe face growing psychosocial risks in their daily work, from excessive workload to digital pressures and disruptive classroom dynamics. These new Joint Guidelines mark an important step forward: they provide concrete, preventive measures to create safe, supportive, and healthy working conditions. On World Mental Health Day, we remind governments and employers that safeguarding teachers’ wellbeing is not optional, it is essential for quality education and the future of our societies.”
— Jelmer Evers, European Director of ETUCE

Highlighting the shared responsibility of all actors in education, Daniel Wisniewski, General Secretary of EFEE, emphasised the importance of cooperation between employers and trade unions:

“Promoting well-being in education is a shared responsibility. By working closely together, we can use these revised joint guidelines as part of our continuous efforts in fostering supportive and healthy environments where both staff and students thrive.”

The new Guidelines offer a user-friendly and adaptable framework for national, regional, and institutional implementation. They encourage social partners to integrate psychosocial risk prevention into everyday occupational safety and health practice, and to promote a culture of prevention based on respect, dialogue, and professional trust.

Both organisations call on EU institutions and national governments to ensure adequate resources and funding to support the implementation of these measures and to recognise the central role of teachers’ wellbeing in building resilient, inclusive, and high-quality education systems.

The full text of the Joint European Guidelines on Preventing Psychosocial Risks in Education (2025) is available on the ETUCE and EFEE websites. Available in english for now, more languages will follow (French, Russian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Slovenian, Dutch, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian). We'll publish them as they arrive.