Healthy working environments are essential, but what exactly is HWE policy and who would be responsible for its success?

A fundamental shift towards healthy working environments is essential, and it requires meaningful collaboration between employers, workers, and policymakers. While this argument may seem clear in public health research and practice, its implications for policy are profoundly unclear. This lack of collective clarity and purpose will undermine meaningful progress. We identify the need to address three questions: what exactly is HWE policy, what policy instruments should be adopted, and who would be responsible for their design, delivery, and coordination? We use the example of EU policy innovation to highlight the disconnect between two current answers: a top-down approach to obliging and enforcing minimum standards, and a bottom-up approach to going beyond those standards. The overall approach is incomplete: an ambitious and well-supported strategy does not produce a substantive impact on public and private action. We have not witnessed the 'fundamental shift' in policy envisaged by this Special Issue of Public Health in Practice.