It turns out we’re stressed. Very stressed. However, HR professionals and employment lawyers will probably be some of the few people who will not be surprised at the latest figures to come out the NHS’s Health and Social Care Information Centre which show that the number of people being admitted to hospital with stress is rapidly rising, with a 7% increase from last year. And unsurprisingly, the HSCIC’s figures show that it is those of working age (18 to 60) who are particularly affected.
Stress is the single biggest cause of sickness in the UK and affects one in five of the working population. The Health and Safety Executive estimate that 105 million working days are lost due to stress each year. Not only can work be disrupted by stress, but it can of course be a cause of stress. There is little that can be done by businesses to completely remove employee’s stresses when there are business difficulties resulting in redundancies, but where stress is caused by day to day issues at work, prompt action by an employer can not only help employees, but can also help the employer by reducing stress related absence. See Stressed out by stress? Is this really a workplace issue? for information on dealing with stressed employees in the workplace.