Let us begin with a snapshot from the annual conference of the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS).
On stage is Håkon Hægeland with a couple of other representatives for young workers.
“What does today’s young employees expect from their workplaces?” asks the moderator.
“Young people expect more from the psychosocial work environment. They care more about how they feel at work, while they also want a good life outside of work,” answers Håkon Hægeland.
Read this article in Norwegian on Arbeidsliv i Norden
He heads Parat UNG (Parat Young) and is participating in a conversation about young people in the labour market. The Parat trade union is one of 10 unions under the YS umbrella.
The government: Clearer requirements for the psychosocial work environment
The government is amending the Working Environment Act to emphasise that the psychosocial aspect is an essential part of a fully safe and healthy work environment.
“We need a labour market where more people can stay in employment for longer. The amendment will send a clear signal that the psychosocial work environment should receive the same attention and importance as the physical work environment,” said the then Minister of Labour and Inclusion, Tonje Brenna, when the amendment was presented.
“Measures that can strengthen the prevention of psychosocial strain in working life are important. They can contribute to better health and wellbeing, higher productivity, and help ensure that people want to – and are able to – work where labour is most needed,” said Brenna.
The psychosocial work environment is not the main theme for the conversation taking place on the stage. But Håkon Hægeland uses any chance he has to put it on the agenda.
The day before, he talked about it during a meeting with YS Ung (YS’ youth wing). The weekend before that, it was on the agenda during a network gathering of Parat UNG.
“We talk a lot about the psychosocial work environment. It’s important,” Håkon Hægeland tells the Nordic Labour Journal.
Hit the wall
Let us rewind a few years, to 2020-2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hægeland is working as an assistant in the health and care sector. His job is becoming a struggle. He is young and unskilled and feels he has little to stand on in dealings with his employer.
In the end, it simply became too much.
“I felt exhausted and exploited, and I burned out. I lost my self-confidence and no longer saw the job and life as having a purpose,” says Hægeland.
Looking for help, he became a member of Parat. He found good help and support. This ended with him quitting his job in the health sector.
“I decided to never again end up in the same situation in a workplace,” Hægeland says.
As a union representative, he is particularly focused on helping young people who struggle at work.
LO: Long-awaited and important
“This is a law amendment that really takes the working environment seriously,” says Steinar Krogstad, the deputy leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions LO on the organisation’s website.
LO says the amendment is a clear signal that the psychosocial work environment should be given the same attention as the physical work environment.
“The government makes it easier for employers and employees to understand which factors affect the psychosocial work environment, and as a result, the health of workers,” he says.
Hægeland got a job at retail chain Kjell & Company in Kristiansand. Many young people work in their outlets around Norway. Hægeland recruited more people to join Parat and also became the leader of Parat UNG after a while.
When we meet Hægeland, he has just left his retail job to start working as a security guard.
Young people struggle in today’s labour market
Many workers are now reporting mental health problems, and sick leave levels are rising. Many say their problems are due to conditions at work.
There can be many causes for work-related mental health problems, including high demands and low levels of control, role conflicts, emotional demands and low levels of support at work
The National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI) estimates that 15 per cent of long-term sickness absence is caused by psychosocial risk factors.
Young people quoted in the 2025 YS Working Life Barometer say they want less work pressure and more realistic deadlines. One in three believes this would help reduce the high sickness absence among young people.
The previous year’s barometer had already shown a growing sense of dissatisfaction among young people in working life.
“This must be depressing reading?”
“Yes, absolutely,” answers Hægeland and says the working life barometer results are often part of the conversation when they meet in Parat and YS.
“There’s been a sky-high increase in the number of young people who are worried about their ability to cope with work in the coming years,” he notes.
Young people not allowed to be young
Why are things like this? There’s no single answer. Hægeland shares some reflections:
“Young people have known it for a long time, perhaps realised it before many others: We’re facing a mental health crisis across the world. Fortunately, there’s more awareness about it now than before.
“I’ve struggled a lot myself, with depression, suicidal thoughts, yes, I have struggled with a lot of chaos in my head.
“But I see the same in many of my friends and among members of Parat UNG. Young people experience a lot of stress – in their studies, at work, and, well, in life in general.”
“In my experience, young people have to think a lot like adults do, long before they are real adults. They don’t have the chance to finish being young. There is too much pressure.
Must dare to talk about it
Hægeland got help.
“I got through it with good support from my partner and friends. I also found a GP who listened to me. I was diagnosed with ADHD. I now take medication and get help to sort out my thoughts,” explains Hægeland.
“But it’s not easy,” he adds.
Turning up to work with chaos inside you is difficult, says Hægeland.
“It is extremely mentally exhausting to be at work when you struggle inside. Your work capacity quickly deteriorates. You burn out.
He has been open about his mental health issues with his employers. This has largely been a positive experience. But behind it all lurks the fear of being “punished” for being open – that an employer will see you as unreliable labour and, ultimately, you will lose your job.
“But we must dare to talk about this, and we must become better at looking after each other. It would help many if we did that,” believes Hægeland.
New rules for the psychosocial work environment
A fundamental requirement in Norwegian working life is that the work environment must be fully sound in terms of both physical and psychosocial factors.
While the regulations governing the physical work environment are well developed, there has traditionally been less focus on psychosocial conditions.
From 1 January 2026, the requirements for the psychosocial work environment will become clearer.
Working Environment Act, Section 4–3
(1) Work shall be organised, planned and carried out in such a way that the psychosocial factors in the enterprise are fully satisfactory with regard to the employees’ health, safety and welfare.
(2) Psychosocial work environment factors, in addition to those mentioned in the third to sixth paragraphs, include:
a. unclear or conflicting demands and expectations in the work
b. emotional demands and strain in work involving people
c. workload and time pressure that create an imbalance between the tasks to be performed and the time available
d. support and assistance in the work.
(Adopted by the Norwegian parliament on 5 June 2025)
However, the new legal text does not introduce anything fundamentally new – it is a clarification of regulations that have existed for many years. It does not grant employees any new rights, nor does it expand employers’ responsibilities.
What it does do is list more everyday examples of work environment factors that employers must address to create a good psychosocial work environment, such as workload, time pressure and emotional strain – all of which can affect employees’ health.
“Wonderfully not very humble”
Parat union representatives and members meet every Tuesday at a Starbucks at Oslo Airport Gardermoen for coffee, a chat and mutual support.
The union has more than 3,500 members working at the airport, explains adviser Ståle Botn.
Here too, it is easy to steer the conversation towards the psychosocial work environment. Botn believes both employers and trade unions must figure out how the new legal requirements can function in practice.
“We have to guide both employers and trade union representatives,” he says.
Botn sees clear differences between today’s young workers and previous generations.
“A 21-year-old today faces a much tougher working life than I did. At the same time, we see a generation that sets expectations and demands to be met with respect,” says Botn.
Union representative Sanosh Senthilkumar from Kjell & Company agrees.
“Young people no longer go looking for a job cap in hand. They ask about pay, collective agreements and the work environment, and they expect fair conditions,” he says.
But these new attitudes can also create friction.
“Many young people are wonderfully not very humble,” Botn says with a smile.
“But this can also lead to conflicts, especially when the distance between leadership and employees grows too large.”
Senthilkumar nods.
“I have a local store manager, but decisions are often made far away. This makes it difficult to reach the people who can actually do something,” he says.
Must be taken seriously
Parat UNG leader Håkon Hægeland believes the new requirements for the psychosocial work environment are particularly important to young workers, who often do not know what they can speak up about.
Some might struggle to refer to the regulations when they face challenges at work.
NHO: Wants improved and more targeted guidance
Together with other employers’ organisations, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) has worked to ensure that employers’ perspectives are included in the legislative process.
“When working with the authorities, we’ve focused on preventing regulations that lead to an individualisation of the work environment and an increase in workplace conflict. It’s unlikely that you’ll go through working life without encountering challenging situations, and there must be a clear understanding of the responsibilities placed on employers.
“We also don’t have a lot of faith in what legislation alone can achieve in this area and have pointed to better and more targeted guidance as more effective solutions,” wrote Nina Melsom, Director of Labour Affairs at NHO, on the organisation’s website.
The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, together with the social partners, will now develop supplementary regulations to further clarify employers’ responsibilities.
“This helps remove a lot of uncertainty. Many young workers in the private sector feel that they’re not being heard when the work environment fails them,” he says.
Hægeland believes the amendment reinforces employers’ duty to prevent and manage psychosocial problems in the workplace.
Hægeland is curious to see how employers will follow up on the new regulations. He finds it unfortunate that no form of “penalty” has been introduced for employers who fail to comply.
“In my experience, the psychosocial work environment is what employers take the least seriously. They may have great initiatives and staff handbooks, but they rarely follow up in practice,” says Hægeland, who stresses that the law change must be followed up locally in every single workplace.
