Employers called on to tackle stress levels

Rising stress levels at work are now costing 10% of the UK’s Gross National Product, mental health charity, Mind, has reported.

A new report published by the charity found that 58% of workers complained of job stress and 12.8 million working days per year are now lost due to work-related stress alone, the number rising to 45 million when general stress and anxiety conditions are taken into consideration.

Mind said that the report showed that workplace stress can create mental ill health, or trigger existing mental health problems, which otherwise might have been successfully managed.

Mind said that sources of stress included poor working conditions, long hours, relationships at work, lack of job security, and travel.

However, the charity also found that fewer than one in ten companies had an official policy on mental health, although a recent CBI survey found that 98% of respondents felt that mental health should be a company concern.

Mind said that it made more economic sense to support current employees than to train and recruit new ones.

The Chief Executive of Mind, Richard Brook, said: “Clearly employers cannot afford to ignore the issues arising from the ever-increasing levels of occupational stress and the ‘longer-hour culture’ of working Britain today. We urge for more understanding and openness of stress and mental health problems in the workplace – today’s competitive and pressured work environments can make it very difficult for people to disclose mental health or work stress problems without the fear of affecting their career prospects.”

Mind made a series of recommendations for employers to help tackle the problem of stress in the workplace.

These include: flexi-time; working from home; stress coaching; on the job support; keeping jobs open during sick leave; provision of quiet rooms; exercise provision; training programmes; and social activities.

(KMcA/SP)