Emotional demands: when the job gets to people

In many jobs, meeting people in difficult situations is part of the work. It cannot be removed, but nobody should face it alone. Here is how to read the number and act on it.

Updated October 6, 2026 · 3 min read

What the law says

aml § 4-3 (2) bEmotional demands and strain in work with people are a psychosocial working environment factor.aml § 4-3 (6)Employees shall, as far as possible, be protected against violence, threats and undue strain from contact with others.

Arbeidstilsynet writes that emotional demands can arise in work with patients, users, relatives, clients, children, pupils, customers and others, and can mean handling other people's feelings and behaviour, concealing your own reactions or adapting to those you work with. It stresses that a demanding job is not forbidden – but the strain must not become too great.

What Orgpuls asks

The factor «Emotional demands» is measured with three statements, answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree:

«I am rarely left alone in emotionally demanding situations»
«We talk about difficult incidents afterwards»
«I am allowed to react as a human being at work»

Read the number right

Are people left alone? The statement about being left alone says most about the organisation.
Do you talk about it? A low score on talking about difficult incidents points to the follow-up afterwards.
Together with workload? Arbeidstilsynet's own example is that a high workload adds to emotional strain. Read more about workload and time pressure.

Common causes

Typical causes:

demanding encounters with customers or users faced alone
no fixed practice for following up after difficult incidents
a culture where being affected is seen as weakness
too little time between heavy tasks to recover

Three measures that work

A short talk with colleagues after demanding incidentsAfter a difficult incident those involved have a short, voluntary talk the same day. The leader follows up a few days later. Time: 15 min. Watch: «We talk about difficult incidents afterwards»

Workshop: When the job gets to usThe team shares which situations drain the most, and agrees on how they help each other through them. Time: 90 min. Watch: «I am allowed to react as a human being at work»

Nobody stands alone in the hardest meetingsDecide which meetings with customers or clients always have two people present. Time: One decision. Watch: «I am rarely left alone in emotionally demanding situations»

The research behind it: research on emotional labour (Hochschild). Note: a single debriefing right after an incident has not shown effect in systematic reviews. What works is support from colleagues and follow-up over time.

Measure whether it helped

Run a short pulse on the factor a couple of months after the measure is in place. If the number does not move, the measure missed the cause, and you need to go back to the group and ask again. Read more about getting from results to measures and going through the results with your employees.

Sources

This is general information, not legal advice. We checked what the law says with Lovdata and Arbeidstilsynet in September 2026.

Support from colleagues: when people do not turn up for each otherA low score on support from colleagues? What the law says, what the number means, common causes and three measures that build support in daily work.Read the article →Contact and communication: when the job gets lonelyA low score on contact and communication? What the law says about contact with others and lone working, common causes and three measures that work.Read the article →

See where you stand

Orgpuls measures «Emotional demands» and ten other factors anonymously, and suggests measures where the number is low. The first 15 days are free.

Try it free for 15 daysFrom NOK 265/month excl. VAT · 15 days free · No card · Answers stored in the EU