World Mental Health Day is on 10 October this year and
to chime with that, we surveyed almost 30 countries to find out
about two related risks for long term remote workers: the risk of
feelings of isolation and the risk that it becomes hard to
disconnect from work - either because the distinction between work
and home is not clear, or because some supervisors may expect
people to work after normal hours.
1. Isolation
In many countries, there's no specific legislation tackling
isolation, as mental health is considered to be connected to the
employer's general health & safety obligations (countries
where this is the case include Brazil, Estonia, the Czech Republic,
Croatia and Finland). But some other places, such as Chile and
Belgium, do have specific previsions. In Chile, the employer must
develop a programme containing prevention and corrective measures
that control, eliminate or reduce the risks. In Belgium there is a
collective agreement on home working which
