Psychosocial risk legislation and entrepreneurs' work-related stress: evidence from 35 European countries

Purpose This study examines whether national psychosocial-risk legislation is associated with work-related stress among employer-entrepreneurs, defined here as self-employed individuals working in organizations with at least ten employees, across 35 European countries and whether this relationship operates through organizational stress-prevention plans and psychosocial working conditions. Design/methodology/approach The study links enterprise-level second European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER-2) data with individual-level European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) data for self-employed respondents working in organizations with at least ten employees. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework, it tests the relationships among national legislation, organizational stress-prevention plans, job demands, job resources, and perceived work-related stress. Findings Explicit national psychosocial-risk legislation is associated with a higher likelihood that organizations report a formal stress-prevention plan. However, the presence of such plans is not systematically associated with lower job demands, higher job resources, or lower stress among employer-entrepreneurs. Instead, perceived stress is positively associated with job demands and negatively associated with job resources, with the buffering role of resources more evident in countries with explicit legislation. Originality/value The study extends prior research on psychosocial-risk regulation by focusing on employer-entrepreneurs rather than on employees and by showing that formal organizational action alone does not appear sufficient to improve their psychosocial conditions. It contributes evidence that institutional regulation may encourage formal planning, but stress among employer-entrepreneurs is more closely tied to work demands and available resources.