Stress remains one of the top work-related factors that affect the health of adults across the UK. And according to a 2021 study by HSE, there were an estimated 822,000 UK workers affected by work-related stress, depression or anxiety last year. This represents 2,480 per 100,000 workers in the UK. In addition to that, an estimated 17.9 million working days have been lost as a direct repercussion of stress, anxiety and depression.
In this post, we will share everything you need to know about work-related stress, how to identify when your employees are stressed and how to avoid it in your workplace.
Table of Contents
Related video: Workplace Mental Health: Supporting and Training your Employees. In this video, we share some tips that companies should take into account to improve their company culture and help employees who may be stressed out or close to burnout.
What is Work-Related Stress?
What is Stress-Related Sick Leave?
Stress leave is similar to sick leave in the UK, it’s when an employee needs to take time off work due to their mental health. This could be due to work-related stress or other stress-related factors.
Causes of Work-Related Stress
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most stressful workplaces share these traits.
- Employees face excessive demands
- Expectations do not meet workers’ skillsets
- Employees lack choice and control
- Team members are unsupportive
Here are some of the other common causes of work-related stress:
- Working too many hours, regular overtime
- Excessive or heavy workload
- In contrast to the above, not enough work causes worry about job stability
- Changes within the workplace: your job role, team or management.
- Unrealistic or tight deadlines
- Unpleasant relationships with colleagues or bullying at work
- Job insecurity: feeling as though you have no control over your job
- Being unclear about your job role and what is expected of you
It’s important to consider that not everyone will feel stressed by the above causes. Everyone copes with stress and pressure differently. And different factors such as your age, experience and ability can also affect this. It can also make a difference in how resilient you are in dealing with stressful situations and if you have any other pressures.
Work-Related Stress Symptoms
As an employer, looking for any signs of stress among your employees is important, such as:
- Arguments between colleagues
- Increased staff turnover
- Increased sickness absence
- Dip in performance levels
- More complaints and grievances
- Reports of stress
Work Related Stress Compensation (UK Employees)
As a UK employee, you may be entitled to sick pay when you’re unable to work due to illness, including work-related stress. To make this process as easy as possible, we recommend telling your employer as soon as you know you will not be able to attend work.
The company must pay £96.35 for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) per week for up to 28 weeks. Different companies may have different sick pay schemes, but the amount can never be less than the SSP. UK employers are only required to pay sick leave when an employee has been sick for over four days.
Work Stress Claim UK Rights
When signed off work-related stress in the UK, employees can keep the same entitlement to statutory sick pay. The same amount that they would get if they had a physical illness.
Also, when requesting time off work for anxiety or stress in the UK, the employee might ask for compensation. UK law allows them to claim for personal injury due to work-related stress in case it causes other health issues. In order to claim Stress at Work compensation, you have to prove that the stress was caused by work and that it has had an effect on you, through a medical report.
There are a huge variety of different types of payout you can receive for stress at work claims, but this is entirely dependent on how severe your symptoms have been and what sort of prognosis you’re looking for. The table below from UK accident claims shows some insight into how much stress at work and bullying at work compensation you may be entitled to.
How to Manage Employee Sick Leave From Stress
The first step you can take is to invite them to a meeting either before they take stress leave or afterwards. The employee is unlikely to return to work unless the source of stress has been eliminated or decreased. Therefore, it’s a good idea to speak with them as soon as possible to find out how you might be able to alleviate the causes of stress and accommodate them moving forward.
Turn this meeting into an opportunity to improve your work environment and culture. Listen to what has caused your employee to take sick leave and seek ways to prevent this from reoccurring.
How Managers Can Reduce Stress in the Workplace
The best way to reduce employee stress at work is to act fast. React quickly to any signs or signals that your employee suffers from work-related stress. The best way to start is with a conversation, which is why it’s so important to check in on your employees and their wellbeing regularly. You can check out this Stress Talking ToolKit by HSE to help you approach the conversation best.
To encourage a healthy and inclusive company culture, it’s important to promote mental health awareness at work and focus on any policies that you can put into place to support this.
Employee satisfaction and well-being can be easily monitored through Employee Satisfaction Surveys, Buddy programs, One-to-Ones and more. By implementing these core programs, you can reduce work-related stress by regularly checking in on your employees and ensuring your workforce is happy, healthy and productive.
Here are a few more ideas:
1. Accept Failure, Keep Comments Constructive
Generally speaking, a large workplace stressor is the fear of failure. Let employees know everyone makes mistakes and help managers develop strategies to find logical solutions for problems. When too much time is spent playing the blame game, nothing gets done, and those who have slipped up hesitate to participate.
2. Include Everyone
It can be frustrating not to feel comfortable voicing opinions or like your contribution is invalid. It is a fundamental human necessity to feel accepted. Investigate ways to reform top-down models to include the entire workforce in decision-making.
3. Create a Culture of Acceptance
During the pandemic, the United States experienced some of the worst divisions in history. Tasks like discussing politics in the office with respect are primary objectives for HR. It is best to encourage trust, diplomacy, and respect when discussing difficult topics to avoid conflict and workplace hostility.
2. Make Responsibilities Clear
A basic cause of stress involves the unknown. Questions of responsibilities and strategies can leave too many mysteries and insufficient clarity. To help workers feel confident and secure, ensure expectations are well understood. Feelings of security can be created when everyone is on the same page.
5. Reduce Stress with Activities
Stress-reducing weekly activities can be a great way to break from the monotony and help your workforce build healthy habits. Yoga classes, massage sessions, and music therapy are great activities that help to reduce job stress.
6. Build-in Stress Reduction Breaks
Encourage employees to take regular breaks. Especially after long stretches of intense focus. Build in break times during meetings to refresh minds and add dynamism to brainstorming sessions if needed. For a relaxing break activity, leave out some adult colouring books in shared office spaces.
7. Distraction-Free, Stress-Free Spaces
In the workplace, getting caught up in an unplanned meeting or discussion is easy. Although interaction can be helpful, it can also make it extremely hard to zero in on tasks that require absolute concentration. For these moments, encourage employees to use a “quiet zone”. If your workforce is virtual, try to get employees to use a “do not disturb” status if necessary.
