Mental-health absence rises among employers
Mental-health complaints among staff increased at 61 per cent of employers over the past year.
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Employers report an increase in mental-health complaints among staff. According to employers’ association AWVN, 61 per cent of the employers surveyed saw the number of staff with mental-health complaints rise over the past year.
AWVN bases this conclusion on a membership survey into absence due to mental-health problems. The association says employers are increasingly identifying mental-health-related absence, particularly among young people, young parents and women. AWVN describes the main findings in the publication.
Figures from occupational health service ArboNed also provide insight into the duration of stress-related absence. Employees who are absent because of stress are away from work for an average of 257 days, according to ArboNed. In cases of burnout, that average rises to 338 days.
The total absence rate was 4.9 per cent between July 2025 and June 2026, according to ArboNed, compared with 4.8 per cent a year earlier. ArboNed also reports that 11 per cent of absence notifications account for 83 per cent of all absence days. This means that a relatively small group of employees on long-term sick leave determines the number of absence days.
Work is not always the only cause, according to the occupational health service. In roughly one in five cases, company doctors identify work as the main cause of stress-related absence. Informal care, financial worries, health problems or uncertainty outside work often also play a role. Seventy-five per cent of employers say they have little influence over circumstances outside the workplace.
AWVN advocates making work part of recovery more often, for example through structure, social contact and a sense of purpose. This does not mean that employees should continue working while ill: what support is appropriate depends on the situation and should be discussed with the company doctor and the employer. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported for 2025 that mental fatigue caused by work is relatively common in education, information and communications, and healthcare. These figures do not prove that a single cause explains the increase.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- AWVN reports that mental-health complaints increased at 61 per cent of employers.
- ArboNed reports long average absences related to stress and burnout complaints.
- According to ArboNed, work and private factors can play a role at the same time.
Left
Arguments Generally stresses that employers must also address workload, employment conditions and social safety, and that mental-health-related absence should not be treated as an individual problem.
Values Equality, solidarity and worker protection.
Consequences More prevention, employee influence and adjustments to work could reduce pressure on employees, but require investment from employers and public funds.
Centre
Arguments Stresses a joint approach in which the employer, employee, company doctor and government each have a role, with room for tailored solutions.
Values Institutional responsibility, feasibility and proportionality.
Consequences Early identification and appropriate return-to-work arrangements can limit prolonged absence without imposing general rules that do not fit every situation.
Right
Arguments More often stresses employers’ responsibility for good leadership, but also employees’ own responsibility and the limits of what companies can solve outside work.
Values Personal responsibility, practicality and limited regulatory burdens.
Consequences Practical support and better management take precedence over new obligations; from this perspective, overly broad regulation could primarily burden smaller employers.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The key figures and interpretation were checked directly with AWVN, ArboNed and CBS. The text makes clear that the sources use different surveys and measurement methods.
- confirmed Mental-health complaints increased at 61 per cent of employers over the past year. — AWVN gives this percentage in its publication of 4 November 2026. source
- confirmed Stress-related absence lasts an average of 257 days and burnout-related absence 338 days. — ArboNed gives both averages. source
- confirmed The absence rate was 4.9 per cent, compared with 4.8 per cent a year earlier. — ArboNed reports this comparison for July 2025–June 2026. source
- confirmed Mental fatigue was relatively common in 2025 in education, information and communications, and healthcare. — CBS describes this sectoral distribution in De arbeidsmarkt in cijfers 2025. source
Editor's note
The increase reported by employers comes from an AWVN membership survey; the full report is not publicly available. The absence duration and percentages come from ArboNed, while the sectoral context comes from CBS.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- De Telegraaf — „werkstress psychisch verzuim”
- AD — „werkstress psychisch verzuim”
- de Volkskrant — „werkstress psychisch verzuim”