Introduction The effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on work, employment and health are considerable. There is a need for actionable and targeted evidence that policy-makers, employers, workers and other stakeholders can use to ensure that work is safe and healthy not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in its aftermath.

Objectives The purpose of this umbrella review is to inform evidence-based decision making and best practices for the work and health of workers during an epidemic/pandemic; and to identify research gaps to inform evidence needs for future studies and research funding priorities. We examined the evidence on the work and health impacts of working in an epidemic/pandemic environment; factors associated with these impacts; and possible risk mitigation or intervention strategies that address these factors or outcomes.

Methods We examined review articles published in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase between 2000 and 2020. Data were extracted and analyzed using a narrative synthesis.

Results The search yielded 1,524 unique citations, of which 31 were included. The search yielded a large volume of reviews on mental health and infection risk to health care workers. Reviews identified a variety of individual, social, organizational and risk mitigation factors that influenced study outcomes. Equity considerations were only tangentially referenced in the included studies. Only a few reviews examined intervention strategies in the workplace, and none included long-term outcomes of exposure or work during an epidemic/pandemic.

Conclusion Findings suggest a number of critical research and evidence gaps, including the need for reviews on occupational groups potentially exposed to or impacted by the negative work and health effects of COVID-19 in addition to health care workers, the long-term consequences of transitioning to the post-COVID-19 economy on work and health, and research with an equity or social determinants of health lens.