{"id":122079,"date":"2025-11-06T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufrgs.br\/jornal\/?p=122079"},"modified":"2025-11-05T09:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:20:12","slug":"how-to-address-illness-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufrgs.br\/jornal\/how-to-address-illness-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"How to address illness in the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Society | Projects highlight different approaches to tackling work-related illnesses, which remain underreported and stigmatized<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
*First published in May 02, 2024 *Photo: Peter Ilicciev\/Fiocruz<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In September 2023, pharmacy clerk Rick Azevedo shared a video on TikTok expressing his frustration with the 6\u00d71 work schedule\u2014six 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\u00d71 system, that brought him wider recognition online. The post significantly increased his follower count and planted the seed for what would become the Vida Al\u00e9m do Trabalho (Life Beyond Work) movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. \u201cI posted the video with no intention at all,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect this kind of response, but it happened\u2014and I realized I needed to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00d71 schedule for reduced working hours and a better balance between personal and professional life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cPeople who work on this scale often don\u2019t have time to study, take an English course, prepare to enter college\u201d <\/p>\nRick Azevedo<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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\u00d71 work schedule. The petition has already gathered over 700,000 signatures and is currently under consideration in the National Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to demands related to the 6\u00d71 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rick also points out that the 6\u00d71 schedule\u2014and other aspects of the current labor culture\u2014contribute to workers\u2019 physical and mental exhaustion. \u201cWe don\u2019t have time to see our families, nor the means to afford therapy,\u201d he says. \u201cDiscussing the 6\u00d71 system is also a socioeconomic issue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nIn addition to formal jobs backed by employers, there are also those who work informally on the streets\u2014without labor rights or guaranteed time off. These workers face the same health issues caused by exhausting work routines, along with an urgent need for labor protections that include them (Photo: Vin\u00edcius Marinho\/Fiocruz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Cases of illness at work are underreported<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cOften, the diagnoses do not consider that those may be related to work\u201d <\/p>\nMayte Amazarray<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
She also notes that, due to the stigma surrounding work-related illness, employees themselves may choose to hide their condition from the company. \u201cOut of fear of retaliation, being fired, or facing some form of workplace discrimination, they conceal it,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. \u201cFrom the moment we recognize that an illness is work-related, we also recognize some rights that people have,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psychic illness at work is still stigmatized<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
In 2022, there were more than 11,000 reported cases of absence from work due to conditions related to the employee\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Amazzaray, it is important to remember that the worker\u2019s mental and physical health go together and are often influenced by the same factors. \u201cOften the causes of physical or psychological illness are going to be the same,\u201d he reinforces. \u201cA worker can get physically sick from the same causes as another colleague will get mentally sick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Cl\u00e1udio Mazzilli, professor at UFRGS\u2019s School of Administration, the work culture tends to downplay the impact and consequences of mental illnesses compared to physical ones. \u201cThere\u2019s a belief that anyone can develop depression, take some time off, undergo treatment, and then return to work as if nothing happened\u2014but that\u2019s not the reality,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere must be support in place to help these workers reintegrate into the labor market after their return,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mazzilli also emphasizes the importance of finding satisfaction in one’s work as a way to reduce illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is essential to find symbolic resonance in what one does,\u201d he explains. \u201cThis makes it possible to maintain a harmonious\u2014or at least balanced\u2014relationship with the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Companies Must Invest in Workers’ Health<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Alongside initiatives such as the Vida Al\u00e9m do Trabalho (VAT) Movement and Caminhos do Trabalho (Working Paths), the Abril Verde (Green April) Movement, launched by Brazil\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cBusinesses must always fight harassment and absurd demands regarding productivity and multifunctionality\u201d<\/p>\nCl\u00e1udio Mazzilli<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In addition, Amazzaray reinforces that prevention through the creation of healthier work environments is always the best strategy. \u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d he reinforces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mazilli also strengthens the importance of workers’ awareness of their rights and the ability to balance life in and out of work. \u201cWhat we have to offer the organization is our work, our productive capacity. But it\u2019s not our life,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we have the right to be treated like any human being, with dignity, respect and attention to labor laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Translated into English by Wagner da Cunha Donat,<\/strong> undergraduate student enrolled in the course \u201cSupervised Translation Training I (English)\u201d of the Undergraduate Program in Language and Literature, under the supervision and translation revision of Professor Rozane Rebechi (P.h.D.) \u2013 IL\/UFRGS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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