CIPD - Stress at work

Health, safety and well-being

Revised June 2009

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

explains why managing organisational stress is important and the legal position
defines 'stress', distinguishing it from acceptable levels of pressure
identifies the key indicators of employees' stress, and outlines steps that people management specialists can take
includes the CIPD viewpoint.

Work-related stress

It is well recognised that stress at work is a massive problem. According to the Labour Force Survey1 in 2007/8 an estimated 442 000 employees in the UK believed that work-related stress was actually making them ill. Any stress can reduce employee well-being, and it is well recognised that excessive or sustained work pressure can lead to stress. Occupational stress poses a risk to most businesses and compensation payments for stress are increasing. It is important to meet the challenge by dealing with excessive and long-term causes of stress.

Stress is one of the most important reasons behind sickness from work and stress-related absence is increasing. In our absence management survey 2008, just under a third of organisations surveyed reported an increase in work-related stress compared with the previous year. 11% reported a decrease and 39% no change. Our 2007 research report New directions in managing employee absence found that the average length of time someone takes off work with stress is 21 days.

Other research has found that:

Three quarters of executives say that stress adversely affects their health, happiness and home life as well as their performance at work.²
Stress may be experienced as a result of an exposure to a wide range of work demands and in turn can contribute to an equally wide range of health outcomes. It is important to recognise that stress is a state, not an illness.³
Where employees are stressed because they have no say on how work is done, or need to do work that involves a fast pace and need to resolve conflicting priorities, or have a lack of recognition, understanding and support from their managers, there is a higher risk of the employee suffering a psychiatric disorder.⁴

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have indicated that:

Stress is likely to become the most dangerous risk to business in the early part of the 21st century.
One in five workers report feeling extremely stressed at work. This equates to 5 million in the UK.⁵
Self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety account for an estimated 10.5 million reported lost working days per year in Britain.⁶

The legal position

There are three main types of legal duties that employees could use as a basis for a stress claim:

negligence
express or implied terms in the contract of employment that may be relevant to stress claims (for example the implied duties regarding health and safety and mutual trust and confidence)
statute, including various pieces of health and safety legislation.

There is no statute specifically covering the issue of stress in the workplace: a selection of laws may be relevant as outlined below but the law governing stress has evolved mainly from case law rather than legislation. It is important for employers to keep up to date with the implications of recent cases as the law in this area is continuously evolving. CIPD members can see our Stress FAQs and the Key cases section in the Employment Law at Work area of our website.

Under existing health and safety legislation employers have a duty to undertake risk assessments and manage activities to reduce the incidence of stress at work. For example, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3242) and the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) have a potential impact on this area.

Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) in December 2005 mean that mental illness no longer has to be a clinically well-recognised condition to be covered. So ‘anxiety’, ‘stress’ and ’depression’ may be sufficient to qualify a person as disabled and therefore covered by the DDA, as long as there is a substantial and long-term effect (for at least a year) on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day duties.

Employees can also potentially make claims for work-related stress as a result of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

At an EU level, current legislation under the European Framework Directive 89/391 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the health and safety of workers at work covers work-related stress and its causes, in addition to other risks to health and safety.

The role of the Health and Safety Executive

As part of their overall strategy to reduce work-related ill-health, the HSE has developed some clear guidance on stress management standards. The Management standards for work-related stress⁷ originally launched in November 2004 encourages organisations to take preventative measures through a risk assessment - it includes a guide for employers and an example stress policy. The risk assessment consists of organisations comparing themselves against:

demand – being able to cope with the demands of the job
control – having an adequate say over how work is done
support – having adequate support from colleagues and superiors
roles – understanding roles and responsibilties
relationships – not being subjected to unaccepatable behaviours
change – being involved in any organisation changes.

Assessment will usually involve asking staff questions, through some form of employee attitude survey, about how satisfied they are with their jobs in the six areas identified. If problems are identified, employers will then have to consult with staff about possible solutions. Finally organisations will have to put in place an action plan spelling out what steps are to be taken, such as additional training for managers, as well as a timeframe for review.

The standards are voluntary but the HSE has indicated that they will be used as evidence against employers that continue to ignore their responsibilities in managing stress under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The HSE are currently pursuing proactive preventative strategies which include:

implementing a national Stress Programme and Management Standards
reducing the incidence of stress by 8% nationally
reducing the number of people first reporting awareness of work-related stress
focussing on five key sectors that report the highest incidence of work-stress related ill health - health, education, central government, local government, and the financial services.

For more information on health in the workplace, see our factsheets on health and safety, occupational health, mental health and absence management.

Pressure and stress

There is sometimes confusion between the terms pressure and stress. It is healthy and essential that people experience challenges within their lives that cause levels of pressure and, up to a certain point, an increase in pressure can improve performance and the quality of life, . However, if pressure becomes excessive, it loses its beneficial effect and becomes harmful and destructive to health.⁸

Stress is the reaction that people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them. It arises when they worry that they cannot cope⁹. The pressures of working life can lead to stress if they are excessive or long-term. Examples of long-term or chronic stress are the fear, frustration and anger that may be produced by an unhappy relationship with one's boss or with a difficult customer, and the unhappiness of an unsuitable job. .

Dealing with stress at work

There are four main approaches that organisations can adopt to address stress at work. These can be used together as a single initiative or may be adopted individually in a more step-by-step well-being programme.

Policy, procedures and systems audit - requires the organisation to undertake an audit of its policies, procedures and systems to ensure that it provides a working environment that protects the well-being of the workforce and is able to identify troubled employees and provide them with an appropriate level of support.
Problem centred approach - provides a problem solving model for dealing with stress and other psycho-social issues. It takes issues and problems that arise within the workplace and identifies why they have occurred and then finds ways to solve them. The identification process may involve undertaking a risk assessment, examining sickness absence levels, employee feedback, claims for compensation and performance deficits.
Well-being approach - takes the view that the aim is to maximise employee well-being. Although it uses similar tools to those used by the problem centred approach it is much more proactive in identifying ways to create a healthy workforce.
Employee centred approach - works at the individual level of the employee. Individuals are provided with education and support in order to help them deal with the problems they face in the workplace. The employee centred approach focuses on employee counselling and stress management training.

Measures to reduce workplace stress

Undertaking a stress audit using the Occupational Stress Indicator and subsequently directing resources to reduce or eliminate the sources of stress.
Agenda items should include terms and conditions of employment, physical and psychological working conditions, work content, communication systems and working relationships.
The development of a supportive work ethos to encourage staff to discuss and seek support when experiencing stress.

When sources of stress cannot be eliminated other interventions may be considered, such as:

stress management and relaxation techniques training
promoting of healthy behaviour and exercise
personal counselling schemes.

Should an organisation have a stress policy?

While many organisations have developed stress policies, others have found that a well-being policy is much more effective in recognising the need to maximise the well-being of their employees rather than merely reduce their level of stress. This approach is in line with that taken by the World Health Organisation (1990). Whether organisations choose a 'well-being' or 'stress' policy the elements that should be contained in the policy are very similar.

The policy should:

begin with a clear statement which shows that the organisation is committed to developing a working environment that promotes the health and well-being of the organisation and its employees
be supported by senior management
be kept under constant review, together with other company policies, procedures and initiatives to ensure that they maximise employee well-being
provide for identification of and a regular review of the key well-being indicators
ensure the provision of effective advice, support, counselling and training to enhance employee well-being
incorporate the process for evaluating the effectiveness of all well-being initiatives. .

Stress and the employee

Excessive pressure and problems can occur in an employee's personal life as well as at work. If an employee is facing a relationship breakdown, financial problems, difficulties with neighbours or bereavement, it is possible that these problems may affect the employee's ability to work effectively. Employees do not have to describe the nature of their personal problems to their manager or HR. However, if personal problems begin to affect performance at work then this will need to be raised and discussed with the employee. The objective of the meeting would be to identify the help that the manager or HR can give to the employee to return to effective working.

Signs of stress

The first signs that indicate employees may be suffering from excessive pressure or stress are changes in behaviour or appearance. A guide on the kinds of changes that may occur is given below.

Work performance declining/inconsistent performance uncharacteristic errors loss of control over work loss of motivation/commitment indecision lapses in memory increased time at work lack of holiday planning/usage	Regression crying arguments undue sensitivity irritability/moodiness over-reaction to problems personality clashes sulking immature behaviour
Withdrawal arriving late to work leaving early extended lunches absenteeism resigned attitude reduced social contact elusiness/evasiveness	Agressive behaviour malicious gossip criticism of others vandalism shouting bullying or harassment poor emplyee relations temper outbursts
Other behaviours out of character behaviour difficulty in relaxing increased consumption of alcohol increased smoking lack of interest in appearance/hygiene accidents at home or work reckless driving unnecessary risk taking	Physical signs nervous stumbling speech sweating tiredness/lethargy upset stomach/flatulence tension headaches hand tremor rapid weight gain or loss constantly feeling cold

CIPD viewpoint

Stress in the workplace has to be properly managed if it is to be controlled. CIPD believes that:

people work more effectively within a participative management style
people are better motivated when work satisfies economic, social and psychological needs
motivation improves by paying attention to job design and work organisation.

We have been working with the HSE on a project to develop practical help for HR and line managers to tackle the issue of workplace stress. We produced initial guidance in March 2007 for HR managers and line managers which included a competency framework enabling line managers to work on the skills required to reduce and prevent stress at work. We updated and refined the guidance and framework in June 2008 and again in June 2009 following the latest research.

Find out more and view the guidance

Useful contacts

Acas

ASE - distribute the Occupational Stress Indicator audit tool

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - work-related
stress pages

International Stress Management Association

References

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DATA SERVICE. (2009) Labour force survey. Available at: http://www.esds.ac.uk/Government/lfs/
WHEATLEY, R. (2000) Taking the strain: a survey of managers and workplace stress. London: Institute of Management.
DOHERTY, N.and TYSON, S. (1998) Mental well-being in the workplace: a resource pack for management, training and development. Sudbury: HSE Books.
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE. (2000) Work related stress information pack. Sudbury: HSE Books.
SMITH, A., JOHAL, S. and WADSWORTH, E. (2000) The scale of occupational stress the Bristol stress and health at work study. Sudbury: HSE Books.
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE. (2007) Stress-related and psychological disorders [online]. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.htm
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE. (2004) Management standards for work-related stress. London: HSE. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE. (2001) Tackling work related stress: a managers' guide to improving and maintaining employee health and well-being. Sudbury: HSE Books.
COOPER, C.L., COOPER, R.D. and EAKER, L.H. (1988) Living with stress. Harmonsworth: Penguin.

Stress at work