25/10/2010
Stress is the most common cause of workplace absence
by Hannah McLaverty-Williamson
Stress is the most common cause of long term sickness absence from work, new research published today shows.
The joint survey was conducted by the CIPD and health care provider SimplyHealth. It found that more than one-third (35 per cent) of employers reported stress as the main reason for long term sickness absence in the past year.
Stress appears to be a greater problem in the public sector as results indicated that 73 per cent of manual and 79 per cent of non-manual public sector employers said stress was in the top five common causes of absence. In comparison the average across all sectors was 51 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.
The research also found that public sector employers have reported higher sickness absence levels in the last year than their private sector counterparts. On average, public sector employees took an average of three days' more sick leave than those in private sector jobs.
The findings reiterate the results of past research which has highlighted greater sickness in the public sector. CIPD adviser Dr Jill Miller told Personnel Today that there are a number of reasons why public sector workers could become ill in particular through stress and anxiety.
"Compared to the private sector, more public sector employees are in challenging, public-facing roles such as social work, policing, teaching and nursing where they often have to deal with people in difficult and emotionally charged situations, putting pressure on their time and resilience," she said.
Those employers with a large number of staff off because of stress may want to consider offering hypnotherapy or counselling as anxiety treatment. Both treatments are highly effective as they discover the cause behind the feelings of stress, before treating them.
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