Four out of five court employees experiencing burnout

Four out of five judicial employees have high levels of burnout. A study by Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), presented this Tuesday, reveals that this is a consequence, above all, of the organization and management of work.

The “Final Report of the National Survey on the Living and Working Conditions of Judicial Employees”, authored by a group of researchers from UNL, concludes that 80% of employees present high levels of exhaustion, “which is not a good symptom of the health status” of these professionals. Of these, “around 44% have a very high and extremely high level of emotional exhaustion”, he adds.

The study, requested by the Judicial Employees Union (SFJ) and with the participation of a universe of more than two thousand interviewees, points out that the numbers represent levels higher than those of other professional classes already studied, including teachers, journalists or flight personnel.

“For us it was very clear that there is an impact on health that has to do with the organization and management of work. The way work is organized sickens professionals, in this case, judicial employees. This has to do with a series of factors where demotivation due to the lack of careers stands out, a salary that does not allow paying bills at the prices we have at the moment”, said Raquel Varela, one of the authors of the study, cited by the Lusa agency.

Regarding the study that also concludes that almost all judicial employees are dissatisfied with their salary, the researcher highlighted that there are cases of judicial officers working second and third jobs “to survive,

The investigation also revealed that salary issues are a problem for almost all judicial employees, who complain about “low salaries and insufficient remuneration”, stating that this does not allow them to have a dignified life. Only 2% of respondents said they did not feel affected by this issue”.

The study also identified high percentages of demotivation, with more than 75% of respondents revealing a very high distance from work, and that approximately 88.5% of respondents stated that they were affected by conflicts with the hierarchy”, which “suggests that there is significant tension in the relationships between judicial employees and their superiors, which may contribute to the emotional and professional exhaustion reported”