Bureaucracy reported more often than workload
Employees cite administrative red tape as a bigger strain on their mental well-being than a heavy workload. That is the finding of a survey by the research group UGent@Work, affiliated with Ghent University in Belgium, among 1,333 employees. Of those surveyed, 58 percent report that every decision must first go through higher-level approval, compared with 50 percent who report a heavy workload. In addition, 53 percent say they struggle with a high administrative burden, and 47 percent say they regularly carry out tasks they themselves consider unnecessary. According to the researchers, the sample closely matches the Belgian working population in terms of gender, age, education, employment status and region.
Burnout risk was measured using the Burnout Assessment Tool, a screening instrument with twelve statements. All figures are self-reported and measured at a single point in time. The screening shows that 31 percent of respondents fall into the burnout risk zone: 17 percent at elevated risk and 14 percent at very high risk. The figures vary considerably between Belgian regions: in Flanders 28 percent score in the risk zone, in Wallonia 36 percent, and in Brussels, a smaller group of around 150 respondents, 44 percent. Other burdensome factors are also common: 65 percent describe their work as cognitively demanding, and 27 percent say they have too little time to complete their work.
Supply does not match demand
A striking gap emerges between what employers offer and what employees actually need. Organizations mainly focus on conversations with the direct supervisor (73 percent offer this), access to the occupational physician (52 percent), and stress-management courses (43 percent, of which 46 percent of employees actually take part). Employees, however, expect the most from adjustments to tasks or working hours. Only 35 percent are offered that option, but among those who are, 76 percent actually make use of it.
Employers are legally required to analyze psychosocial risks and take measures based on that analysis. Yet 38 percent of the employees surveyed see no efforts by their employer in this area, compared with 41 percent who do see such efforts. The research also shows that employers communicate their offerings to staff insufficiently.
Context
The finding that employees cite regulatory pressure more often than the classic workload fits a broader European observation, though there it concerns a different perspective: that of organizations. In the 2019 ESENER survey by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), conducted among more than 45,000 establishments in 33 countries, about four in ten establishments named the complexity of legal obligations as the main difficulty in addressing occupational safety and health. At the organizational level, too, regulatory complexity is therefore experienced as a significant barrier.
That pattern is relevant well beyond Belgium. In many countries, including all EU member states, employers must assess and address risks at work, and psychosocial risks are increasingly made an explicit part of that duty. Research like this underscores that prevention policy need not focus solely on the amount of work, but equally on how many bureaucratic steps are needed to carry out that work. For anyone responsible for prevention policy worldwide, this is a signal to periodically review regulations and internal procedures for needless complexity, alongside the usual attention to workload and staffing levels.
Source: Mental well-being: bureaucracy reported more often than heavy workload, October 6, 2026
Additional research: ESENER survey (2019) by EU-OSHA, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
