Did you know that 19 per cent of employees in the Netherlands have burnout complaints, and that a third of all absence relates to psychosocial workload, such as work pressure and a socially unsafe environment? That raises one important question for many organisations: when you look at absence and prevention, do you look only at your people, or also at how the work itself is organised?
This is where the work and organisation expert brings a valuable perspective. Unlike the occupational physician, who focuses on health and capacity, a work and organisation expert analyses how work is set up and identifies sticking points within the organisation. That covers things such as how tasks are divided, how people work together and how they are led. It is often exactly those factors that determine whether complaints ease or turn into long-term absence.
For employers, HR professionals and occupational physicians this approach matters, not only as good employment practice but within the Working Conditions Act. Employers have to pay attention to psychosocial workload and must have access to core expertise. Above 25 employees, a review by a certified core expert is compulsory. In this article we look at what this expert contributes to absence guidance, prevention and sustainable employability, so that you can take effective steps in your organisation.
What a work and organisation expert does in practice
A work and organisation expert is one of the four core experts named in the Working Conditions Act. Where the occupational physician looks above all at health, capacity and absence, this expert looks at the way work is set up. Think of how tasks are divided, workload, cooperation, leadership, organisational culture and social safety.
So this expert moves at the meeting point of people, work and organisation. It is not only about individual complaints but about the question of whether the work itself is organised in a healthy and workable way. That makes this expert particularly relevant to subjects such as sustainable employability, psychosocial workload, unrest in teams and recurring absence.
According to Arboportaal on occupational health and core experts (in Dutch), the right combination of experts gives employers and employees a fuller picture of preventive measures. The work and organisation expert has a role of their own in that: not primarily medical, but organisational and behavioural.
When do you need one?
A work and organisation expert is often brought in when complaints or risks do not lie with an individual alone but connect to the working environment. That can be preventive, but also when problems are already visible.
With high workload and work stress
Work stress remains a large concern in the Netherlands. According to Arboportaal on psychosocial workload (in Dutch), around a third of sickness absence is caused by work-related psychological complaints. On top of that, TNO on burnout complaints and work stress (in Dutch) shows that work stress led to 11 million absence days in 2021 and an estimated 3.3 billion euros in absence costs for employers.
At moments like these a work and organisation expert matters, because they look further than the complaint. Not only "someone has dropped out", but also:
- are the task demands too high?
- is there too little room to organise one's own work?
- is the division of roles unclear?
- do employees experience a socially unsafe environment?
- does the style of leadership add to the pressure?
So the expert investigates the causes beneath the surface and helps with structural solutions.
With psychosocial workload and social safety
Psychosocial workload covers work pressure, bullying, aggression, violence, discrimination and sexual harassment. Employers are legally required to prevent or limit it where it poses a risk. This is exactly where the value of this expert comes through strongly.
With signals such as tension in teams, higher turnover, reports of unwanted behaviour or a culture in which people do not dare to raise problems, a work and organisation expert can carry out an independent organisational investigation. That neutrality matters, because employees are often more open when an external expert examines the patterns.
With rising or recurring absence
When absence rises in a team or department, guiding individual cases is not always enough. Sometimes the cause lies in the organisation itself. In unclear expectations, for instance, in structural understaffing, or in a culture that leaves too little room for recovery and for holding each other to account.
In such situations it is worth looking more broadly alongside the occupational physician. That fits well with subjects such as what an occupational physician actually does and your obligations as an employer. The physician assesses health and employability; the work and organisation expert investigates whether the set-up of the work needs to change.
The legal context
For employers it is worth knowing that a work and organisation expert does not only have an advisory profile but can also play a part within statutory obligations.
Every employer must have an RI&E and an action plan. According to the Netherlands Labour Authority on the RI&E obligation (in Dutch), that obligation applies to every company with staff. Companies with more than 25 employees must in many cases have the RI&E reviewed by a certified core expert. A work and organisation expert may do that within their own certification scope.
Certification has been tightened as well. The Dutch Social and Economic Council on the renewed certification scheme (in Dutch) stresses that core experts may only review the risks they are certified for. For employers that means looking not only at availability but at whether the expertise fits.
Anyone working on their wider policy also benefits from understanding the Working Conditions Act and what it means for employers in 2026 and what a basic occupational health contract is and what it must contain. That contract often also records how access to core expertise is arranged.
What it means for employers
For employers, bringing in a work and organisation expert means above all that problems can be tackled earlier and more precisely. That matters, because many organisations only call for help once absence is rising or teams have got stuck. By then the costs are usually already high and trust has sometimes been damaged.
A work and organisation expert can help employers with:
- investigating the causes of workload and absence
- analysing psychosocial risks and social safety
- advising on leadership, division of tasks and cooperation
- supporting the RI&E and the action plan
- improving occupational health and absence policy
- guiding organisational change
The strength lies above all in tackling things at source: not only fighting symptoms but looking at which parts of the work have to change. That usually makes the advice more durable than separate measures at individual level.
What it means for employees
For employees, a work and organisation expert can mean their complaints are taken more seriously and looked at more broadly. Not only "how are you?", but also "what in the work is contributing to this?". That can make a great deal of difference to people who have felt under pressure for a long time or who work in an unsafe team.
A work and organisation expert is not a therapist and not a replacement for the occupational physician. But they can help make visible the patterns that employees have often experienced for some time, such as:
- too high a workload
- too little influence over one's own work
- unclear direction
- clashing expectations
- unwanted behaviour
For employees that matters, because solutions are then not laid at the individual's door alone. The organisation also takes responsibility for the conditions people work in.
How they work with the occupational physician
Cooperation between the work and organisation expert and the occupational physician is often very valuable in practice. The physician looks at the health, capacity and employability of employees. The work and organisation expert looks at how work is organised and at the risks that flow from it.
For example: a physician sees several employees from the same team with stress complaints. The medical side may be clear, but the question remains why so many complaints arise precisely there. A work and organisation expert can then investigate whether workload, culture, leadership or task structure play a part.
That boundary also helps avoid confusion with other specialists. Anyone looking into the differences between professionals can also read the difference between an occupational physician and an occupational health doctor and what an occupational capacity assessment is and when to use it. A labour expert focuses more on reintegration and suitable work for an individual, while the work and organisation expert works mainly at organisational level.
How to recognise that this expertise fits
The question is often not whether there is a problem, but which expertise belongs to it. A work and organisation expert usually fits when you recognise one or more of these signals:
- several employees drop out with similar stress complaints
- teams experience high workload or a lot of unrest
- there are signals of bullying, intimidation or a socially unsafe environment
- managers get stuck in cooperation or in giving direction
- changes in the organisation cause resistance or drop-out
- the RI&E shows risks around psychosocial workload or the organisation of work
- absence guidance helps, but the problem keeps coming back
In all those cases it is important not to escalate too late. A work and organisation expert then helps you move from scattered signals to a founded analysis and concrete improvements.
What to watch when bringing one in
If you want to bring in a work and organisation expert, watch three points. First: is the question clear? Is it about the RI&E, psychosocial workload, work pressure, culture or change? Second: does the expert hold the right certification, certainly when it comes to reviewing the RI&E? And third: how does the expert connect with the occupational physician, the prevention officer, HR and managers?
It is often that cooperation that determines the result. Good advice only has effect once it is translated into policy, leadership and daily practice. Which is why we prefer to work on such cases in a joined-up way: medical where needed, organisational where possible and always with an eye for what employees actually experience.
Looking at the work as well as the person means tackling absence more cleverly and keeping people healthily at work.
With a work and organisation expert you look further than absence figures alone: you get a view of how work, teams and leadership can be set up so that people keep doing their work healthily and with pleasure.
Key takeaways
- A work and organisation expert helps make the causes of workload, psychosocial strain, an unsafe environment and recurring absence visible and discussable.
- This expertise focuses on the organisation of work, cooperation, leadership and culture, as a valuable addition to the physician's medical view.
- For employers and HR it produces concrete handles for spotting risks earlier, making more targeted policy and matching measures better to practice.
- In the RI&E and the action plan, this expert can contribute structurally to healthier, more workable work, provided the question is clear and the expertise fits.
- Escalating in good time when signals appear in teams keeps complaints, absence and unrest from deepening into more complex problems.
- Looking early and deliberately at how work is set up is an important step towards sustainable employability, healthy work and strong prevention.
When we look at work, teams and organisation together and in good time, room appears for recovery, development and growth. That way you build an organisation where people feel safe, can handle their work and where you stay increasingly ahead of absence.