Abstract
Low health and wellbeing amongst employees is a major public health concern, with immediate and long-term implications for individuals, organisations, and society. Emerging work-related policies (e.g., remote work, flexible hours, four-day work week, and the right to disconnect) have been introduced to tackle these issues. However, these policies primarily benefit white-collar workers, with equivalent support mechanisms largely absent for blue-collar workers. This policy divide has the potential to further widen existing health inequalities. To explore this challenge, this project will use a systems science approach. This approach concerns a way forward for meaningful and impactful policy research by offering innovative insights into complex, dynamic interactions that emerge within domains such as work-related policies and health inequalities. Agent-based modelling is proposed to allow modelling of the short- and long-term systemic impacts of work-related policies on worker health and wellbeing, with a critical focus on if (and how) they widen the inequality gap. Drawing on international examples and stakeholder input, a plausible policy portfolio tailored to blue-collar sectors in Belgium will be developed and modelled to simulate the impact of these policies separately as well as combined. Beyond providing innovative and societally relevant scientific outputs, the results can usefully inform future policy decisions.
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