The entry into force of the NR-1 update, scheduled for May 26, marks a key turning point in the way companies deal with employees, productivity and risk in Brazil. By officially including psychosocial risks in occupational health and safety management, the standard consolidates something that was already being perceived by the market, especially after the pandemic: that mental health is no longer an individual issue and has become a corporate responsibility with a direct impact on the financial result.
And the numbers only confirm the perception. In 2025, Social Security granted 546,254 benefits for temporary disability due to mental and behavioral disorders, an increase of 15.66% compared to 2024. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimate that depression and anxiety are responsible for many lost working days per year, with a cost of close to US$1 trillion for the global economy.
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Faced with this escalation, the problem reached the board of directors, who had to start accounting for losses resulting from absences, treatments, turnover and decreased productivity.
The losses also hit the public health and pension system, leading the government to adopt measures to detect and contain the problem before it snowballed.
After the creation of the NR-1, adaptation was not so simple, much less cheap. Therefore, the implementation of the standard, which was supposed to come into force in 2025, was extended to May 25th of this year. And there are still many companies that are in the adaptation phase.
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According to experts interviewed by the InfoMoneythe country is going through a period of transition, because the rule began to take shape in 2024, but its implementation was postponed due to doubts from companies. To try to help, the Ministry of Labor has been expanding guidelines and manuals to guide companies through this structural change. The last update was made last Monday (16), with the publication of a
From well-being to financial risk
The main change brought about by NR-1 is conceptual, but with profound practical effects because it will have to measure psychosocial risks, especially in the face of excessive workload, pressure for goals, long working hours and toxic environments. All of these, which were previously seen as subjective issues, are now treated with the same rigor as physical, chemical or ergonomic risks.
This means that companies need to identify, monitor and mitigate these factors within the Risk Management Program (PGR), which involves looking with a magnifying glass at how the organizational culture and the actions of leaders on employees are working.
“This change represents a new phase in the corporate world. I think the next big revolution for companies will not be digital, it will be emotional and regulatory”, says the doctor and CEO of the consultancy Starbem, Leandro Rubio.
According to him, the topic has already left the field of discourse and has started to influence concrete performance indicators. “When emotional health worsens, we see an increase in absenteeism, turnover and a drop in productivity. And there is also presenteeism, which is often more expensive, because the employee is there, but with reduced performance”, he explains.
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The invisible cost at the checkout
Even though it is not always visible in the short term, the impact of mental health on companies appears directly in its results. This is because the deterioration of employee well-being tends to generate more errors, lower operational efficiency and increased replacement and training costs. “Replacing an employee can cost several times the salary for that position, considering recruitment, integration and lost productivity”, lists Rubio.
Furthermore, the reputational effect begins to gain weight. Companies that neglect the issue face increasing difficulties in attracting talent and maintaining internal engagement, which affects the calling employer branding and, ultimately, the ability to grow.
In this context, mental health ceases to be an HR agenda and becomes a strategic business variable, according to the expert.
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Data and prevention at the center of management
To quantify these problems, one of the most relevant strategies driven by NR-1 is the requirement for a more structured and data-driven approach. In this way, companies are starting to adopt diagnostic tools to map psychosocial risks before they translate into layoffs or labor actions.
According to Rubio, methodologies such as the application of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) have been used to identify levels of stress, autonomy, support and risk of burnout within organizations. Based on this data collected from employees, companies are able to generate formal reports, which become part of the Risk Management Program (PGR) and eSocial, in addition to guiding specific action plans by area or team.
“This changes the game because it allows us to move from a reactive approach to a completely preventive one”, he states.
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Legal risk enters the equation
If the operational impact is already relevant, the legal risk can be even more sensitive, especially in an environment of greater supervision, as explained by lawyer Tadeu Henrique Machado Silva, partner in the labor area at Cascione Advogados.
“Companies are not yet fully prepared, but they have already been moving a lot since the initial publication of the standard, seeking to adapt to the real risks of increased judicialization”, says the lawyer, citing new ways of preparing reports, training leaders and implementing reporting channels.
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All this because, according to him, ignoring the NR-1 can generate concrete consequences such as fines by the Ministry of Labor, in addition to individual and even collective labor actions, filed by unions.
“This topic is so important that it has already started to appear in collective agreements and tends to gain strength in the coming years. Therefore, not observing these risks can result in relevant liabilities, especially when there are environments considered toxic or excessive working hours”, says Silva.
Small businesses
If large companies are already advancing in so-called ESG and risk management practices, the challenge today is even greater for small and medium-sized companies, which have less structure and budget for adaptation. Still, the proportional risk may be greater.
“A relevant labor action can represent a hole in the cash flow of a small company”, warns the lawyer.
The recommendation, according to him, is to seek external support to detect problems and act preventively. “Often, an outside look helps to identify risks that the entrepreneur does not notice on a daily basis.”
A cultural shift
The inclusion of mental health in work problem protocols also changes the internal dynamics of companies. This is because the issue needs to stop being solely the responsibility of HR and now require integration of both legal, compliance and all leadership. “The more these areas are talked about, the better prevention will be”, says the lawyer.
In practice, this has already elevated the issue to higher levels of decision-making, including councils and management, according to Rubio. “Mental health has become a topic of advice because it directly impacts productivity, talent retention and financial results,” he says.
In the end, NR-1 imposes a classic dilemma on companies: invest now or pay more later? The difference is that, this time, the risk is not just operational or legal, but also strategic. “In an increasingly competitive and globalized market, companies with healthier environments tend to be more productive, innovative and resilient. In other words, taking care of mental health is no longer a cost and has become a way of protecting the business.”
