Over half of work absences related to stress

A new report shows how prevalent stress is in the workplace and how it’s contributing to the rising number of absences.

Over half of work absences related to stress

A new report shows how prevalent stress is in the workplace and how it’s contributing to the rising number of absences.

Sickness-related absence is costing an estimated £150 billion in the UK each year, and figures show that £5.9 billion could be added to the economy just by cutting stress-related absences alone.

Health and Wellbeing at Work

In its 24^th edition, the Simplyhealth and CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work report revealed that 64% of HR professionals reported stress-related absence in their organisation over the last year.

The top reason cited for stress is heavy workloads (41%). This is followed by personal health issues (37%) and family relationships (34%).

While 64% of organisations say they’re taking steps to identify/reduce stress in the workplace, only half believe that their efforts are proving effective.

More employer support needed

Simplyhealth is calling on employers to proactively support their workers by taking positive steps to reduce stress in the workplace.

Dr. Louise Rix, Head of Clinical Product and Ops, Simplyhealth suggests:

• Communicating openly with employees to help build trust.
• Having regular check-ins to allow employees to recognise that they have a point of contact.
• Building familiarity in the workplace by arranging meet-ups like virtual coffee chats, monthly socials or informal lunches.

She added, “Creating comfortable environments at work is an incredibly important first step towards breaking down barriers often sensed by employees, such as fear of judgment, which prevent workers from flagging that they are having a tough time.

“Encouraging openness and adopting an open-door policy are just a couple of the immediate changes that employers can make to send a clear message to employees: we understand that life doesn’t move in a straight path, and we’re here to help if needed.”

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