Stress-related absence increasing

Workers took an average of 9.1 days off sick last year, with stress an increasing cause of absence. Heavy workloads, pressure to meet targets and management style were said to be the main spark for stress-related illnesses.

A survey of 1,100 employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) showed that workers in the public sector took 10.7 days off work sick last year compared with 7.8 days in private firms. Minor illnesses such as colds and flu were the most common cause of sickness absence but most employers said stress was on the increase.

Almost two-thirds claimed to be taking steps to improve work-life balance and over half were introducing stress audits/risk assessments. Training for managers and staff on ways of tackling stress was also being introduced by 55% of employers.

Survey highlights

Ben Willmott, the report's author, said: "A large part of managing stress is about good people management. It is about providing employees with well-defined jobs roles, challenging but realistic targets and the support, training and recognition to help them achieve these targets.

"Although it is worrying to see stress-related absence on the increase it is encouraging that employers are taking action to address this.” 

The survey also highlighted concerns about the sick note system, currently being reviewed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with most employers believing doctors issued them too easily.

The cost of sickness absence increased from £567 per worker to £588 during the past year, according to the CIPD study. The highest absence levels were among workers in the food, drink, tobacco and transport industries (12 days a year), health (11.6 days) and central government (11.6 days).

The lowest absence levels were in consultancy (5.5 days), media and publishing (six days) and telecommunications (seven days).

Welsh workers topped the national league for sickness absence with an average of 10.7 days a year, compared with 6.9 days in London.

Absence management

Over 90% of Human Resources practitioners believed that absence could be reduced, with 49% having a target to achieve this. However, only 46% actually monitor the cost of absence.

Almost 90% of organisations had a written absence management policy and three-quarters had changed their approach over the past two years.

Return to work interviews were seen as the most effective way of managing short-term absence (cited by 63% of organisations) - almost double that of the next most effective method - disciplinary procedures (35%).

Stress was the leading cause of long-term absence for non-manual workers, while back pain was the main cause among manual workers, followed closely by musculo-skeletal injuries, acute mental conditions and stress.

Stress and health

Meanwhile, new research from across the Atlantic has revealed that stress may actually be good for people's health, provided that they do not suffer for too long.

The findings published in the American Psychological Association journal Psychological Bulletin, showed that a brief dose of stress may actually be healthy, as it strengthens the body's defences.

However, at the same time long-lasting stress could do serious damage by wearing out the immune system.

Dr Suzanne Segerstorm, from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and Dr Gregory Miller, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, sorted stress-triggers into a number of different categories.

These included "acute time-limited stressors", such as public speaking, "brief naturalistic stressors" such as academic tests, and "stressful event sequences" caused by events such as the loss of a spouse or experiencing a natural disaster.

The researchers said stress of this kind was accompanied by the comforting knowledge that at some point it would end.

However, the same was not true for "chronic stressors" that made pervasive demands on individuals and could lead to a weakened immunity to illness.

Angie Bell