Workplace stress has become so widespread that a massive 91 per cent of employees feel under severe strain at work, new research has revealed.
The study, conducted by Portfolio Payroll, found that nearly eight in ten staff had taken days off because of stress, although 65 per cent said that they wouldn’t admit to their bosses that they were on edge.
Worryingly, businesses appear to be doing little to combat workplace stress, with a massive 93 per cent of employees feeling their employers needed to do more to ease tension.
A further eight in ten workers said that their bosses didn’t understand how serious stress was – an opinion supported by the fact that 68 per cent of employers felt that stress was “just an excuse.”
However, the survey suggested that stress was having a severe impact upon staff, with 72 per cent admitting that workplace worries had affecting their personal lives.
Although 62 per cent of bosses said that stress was a reasonable excuse for an employee to take time off work, nearly eight in ten admitted that they were concerned about the mental well-being of staff.
Stress is estimated to cost UK businesses over £3 billion a year, with around 90 million working days taken off in the same period by under-strain workers.
Britain’s ‘long hours’ culture is seen as the main culprit for the stress epidemic, with trade unions urging the government to adopt the 48-hour week to protect workers from resulting health problems such as heart disease.
UK employees also take far less holiday time than their European counterparts, while the lack of workplace skills has placed pressure on high-quality staff to perform.
Danny Done, managing director of Portfolio Payroll, said that any employer wishing to eradicate stress entirely from their office is fighting an admirable but impossible battle.
“The key to success, by way of a healthy workforce, is to be aware of stress and address it as soon as possible. It is vital that you create an open atmosphere in your working environment.
“If your employees feel that, as a boss, they can approach you and raise and discuss worries regarding stress then they will be confident of overcoming the problem.
Many days off are taken by the UK’s employees every year with stress cited as the reason. This is obviously costly to the business and will affect productivity levels adversely.
“I believe that employees who feel comfortable about approaching their boss are far more likely to work together and thus spend less time off sick,” he said.
