TUC urge employers to address ‘huge problem’ of work-related stress

By The Press Association19th October 2015News EnglandMental Health, News England, Stress

Employers are being urged to do more to prevent stress among their staff after a study showed it had become a “huge problem”.

The TUC said around 244,000 new cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety were diagnosed in the UK in 2013/14, or one every two minutes.

More than 11 million working days were lost through workplace stress, with symptoms ranging from sleeplessness to clinical depression, said the report.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “People don’t get ill from stress because they are weak, but because employers aren’t doing enough to remove or control the causes of the stress. Pressures of long working hours and low job security are being felt in offices, hospitals, schools and shops across the country.

“Much more needs to be done to stop bosses treating their staff like machines. It’s in no one’s interests to have stressed-out workforces. People who experience high anxiety are less productive and are more likely to take time off.”

The report was published to mark the start of European Health and Safety Week.