Society | Projects highlight different approaches to tackling work-related illnesses, which remain underreported and stigmatized
*First published in May 02, 2024
*Photo: Peter Ilicciev/Fiocruz
In September 2023, pharmacy clerk Rick Azevedo shared a video on TikTok expressing his frustration with the 6×1 work schedule—six consecutive days of work followed by one day off. Living in Rio de Janeiro, the 30-year-old from Tocantins had been posting content on various topics for some time, but it was this video, calling for the end of the 6×1 system, that brought him wider recognition online. The post significantly increased his follower count and planted the seed for what would become the Vida Além do Trabalho (Life Beyond Work) movement.
Today, the post has nearly 890,000 views and over 110,000 likes, and Azevedo has gained more than 245,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, where he continues to raise awareness about the issue. “I posted the video with no intention at all,” he says. “I didn’t expect this kind of response, but it happened—and I realized I needed to do something.”
After the video went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms, such as X and Instagram, Rick recognized a growing demand among workers on the 6×1 schedule for reduced working hours and a better balance between personal and professional life.
“People who work on this scale often don’t have time to study, take an English course, prepare to enter college”
Rick Azevedo
It was in this context that Rick came up with the idea of creating a petition calling for a revision of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) to reassess the validity of the 6×1 work schedule. The petition has already gathered over 700,000 signatures and is currently under consideration in the National Congress.
In addition to demands related to the 6×1 system, the petition advocates for the creation and enforcement of broader worker protection policies, such as parental leave and limits on overtime. The movement, which has local chapters in several Brazilian states, also organizes protests and distributes pamphlets in various cities to spread its message and engage more people.
Rick also points out that the 6×1 schedule—and other aspects of the current labor culture—contribute to workers’ physical and mental exhaustion. “We don’t have time to see our families, nor the means to afford therapy,” he says. “Discussing the 6×1 system is also a socioeconomic issue”.
Cases of illness at work are underreported
According to the Statistical Yearbook of Occupational Accidents, released by the Ministry of Social Security, Brazil reported more than 648 thousand cases of work-related accidents and illnesses in 2022. Despite the high numbers, according to the psychologist and professor at the Center for Documentation, Research and Training in Health and Labor (CEDOP) of UFRGS Mayte Amazarray, there is underreporting of all types of accidents and occupational illnesses in the country, a multifactorial problem and difficult to solve.
“Often, the diagnoses do not consider that those may be related to work”
Mayte Amazarray
She also notes that, due to the stigma surrounding work-related illness, employees themselves may choose to hide their condition from the company. “Out of fear of retaliation, being fired, or facing some form of workplace discrimination, they conceal it,” she explains.
Besides harming employees, who are individually affected, the low reporting of these cases also makes it impossible to create and reinforce appropriate public policies to tackle these occurrences in the workplace. “From the moment we recognize that an illness is work-related, we also recognize some rights that people have,” explains Carlota Brum, a labor physician and coordinator of the Pathways of Work program at UFRGS. The project, initiated at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), aims to identify and offer legal support and medical and psychological treatment to workers affected by work accidents and occupational illness, and already has active nuclei in nine federal universities.
Psychic illness at work is still stigmatized
In 2022, there were more than 11,000 reported cases of absence from work due to conditions related to the employee’s mental health, such as depression, anxiety and bipolarity. However, as with physical illness, these numbers come from symptomatic underreporting. In the case of mental health, however, these data can be even more deeply impacted by the strong stigma linked to psychic illnesses, adversity that also persists within work environments.
For Amazzaray, it is important to remember that the worker’s mental and physical health go together and are often influenced by the same factors. “Often the causes of physical or psychological illness are going to be the same,” he reinforces. “A worker can get physically sick from the same causes as another colleague will get mentally sick.”
According to Cláudio Mazzilli, professor at UFRGS’s School of Administration, the work culture tends to downplay the impact and consequences of mental illnesses compared to physical ones. “There’s a belief that anyone can develop depression, take some time off, undergo treatment, and then return to work as if nothing happened—but that’s not the reality,” he explains. “There must be support in place to help these workers reintegrate into the labor market after their return,” he adds.
Mazzilli also emphasizes the importance of finding satisfaction in one’s work as a way to reduce illness.
“It is essential to find symbolic resonance in what one does,” he explains. “This makes it possible to maintain a harmonious—or at least balanced—relationship with the organization.”
Companies Must Invest in Workers’ Health
Alongside initiatives such as the Vida Além do Trabalho (VAT) Movement and Caminhos do Trabalho (Working Paths), the Abril Verde (Green April) Movement, launched by Brazil’s Ministry of Labor, aims to raise awareness about the prevention of workplace accidents and illnesses. It also promotes the creation of a health-oriented culture that extends throughout the work environment.
However, for Mazilli, despite the undeniable importance of these movements, it is still critical that companies recognize their role in maintaining a toxic culture of work and identify paths for change.
“Businesses must always fight harassment and absurd demands regarding productivity and multifunctionality”
Cláudio Mazzilli
In addition, Amazzaray reinforces that prevention through the creation of healthier work environments is always the best strategy. “It’s always good to invest in it and, if the withdrawal occurs anyway, it is important that there are support policies in the return to work,” he reinforces.
Mazilli also strengthens the importance of workers’ awareness of their rights and the ability to balance life in and out of work. “What we have to offer the organization is our work, our productive capacity. But it’s not our life,” he says. “And we have the right to be treated like any human being, with dignity, respect and attention to labor laws.”
Translated into English by Wagner da Cunha Donat, undergraduate student enrolled in the course “Supervised Translation Training I (English)” of the Undergraduate Program in Language and Literature, under the supervision and translation revision of Professor Rozane Rebechi (P.h.D.) – IL/UFRGS.