£1.24 Billion Bill For Stressed Out Workers

11.01.32am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 20th Oct 2003

Stress at work costs British companies £1.24bn a year according to new research by the Health and Safety Executive published today in Personnel Today magazine. The research also shows that 83% of employers believe stress is interfering with productivity.

Malcolm Bruce MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow DTI Secretary, said: "This survey highlights that when people's health suffers due to stress at work, business loses too."

"If stress at work is inhibiting productivity, this is not only an issue of exploited staff, but an issue of business performance."

"Managerial staff are not protected by the Working Time Directive like other workers are. Stressed out managers manage badly."

"If we want to get the best out of people, in whatever role they play at work, then companies must work harder with the Health and Safety Executive to make sure that stress-free workers boost business productivity."

ENDS

Notes To Editors:

Spiralling stress in the workplace is costing UK employers a massive £1.24 billion a year in stress-related absences and lost hours according to Personnel Today . It is seriously damaging the attempts of British businesses to increase productivity and to attract and retain staff.

UK companies cite the pressure of competing and surviving in the economic downturn as one of the biggest barriers to combating workplace stress and identify increasing service and business pressures as key triggers.

Exclusive research by Personnel Today and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveals that a staggering 83% of employers in this country believe stress is interfering with productivity levels while 60% say it is causing increased staff turnover. More than 27% believe potential employees are put off working for them because they perceive the nature of their jobs will be too stressful.

The survey, based on responses from nearly 700 senior Human Resource professionals, shows that more than half (52%) of UK organisations report that workplace stress is increasing. Only 7% report a decrease. Days lost to stress totalled 1,554,263 among the 581 employers who provided an estimate. That averages out to 0.75 days per employee absent with a stress-related illness, which suggests that roughly 11% of the UK's total sickness absence is due to stress.

But 51% of employers believe that over half of the days lost due to stress are not genuine.

The Personnel Today/HSE report is published at the same time as another national study by BMRB which reveals a worrying 52% feel under pressure to work longer than their contracted hours. 42% of 1,971 UK employees surveyed worry about work outside of working hours; and 27% say work worries affect their sleep. The annual National Employee Benchmarks Survey (NEBS) says one-third of their respondents feel overwhelmed by their workloads.

Its findings only serve to underline those of the Personnel Today/HSE report which draws attention to the increasing pace of change that UK employers are forced to undertake in the current economic climate. Almost two-thirds of respondents to the Personnel Today/HSE survey (62%) said they believe an inability to cope with organisational change is a fundamental cause of stress.