Three Ways To Manage Stress Related Sickness Absence

The most recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) highlights some concerning statistics:

• 828,000 Workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or longstanding) in 2019/20 and
• 9 million Working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2019/20

As stress is one of the top causes of workplace absence, employers can focus on a creating a workplace culture to minimise the likelihood of employees experiencing workplace stress and taking time off sick as a result.

What can employers do about this? 

There are a number of tools they can use to manage sickness absence ad create a healthy culture, including: 

1. having a proper policies and processes in place; and
2. holding constructive return to work interviews; and
3. devising a wellbeing strategy.

The Health and Safety Executive slogan "good health is good business" is a principle that employers should adopt and put into practice wherever possible.  Stress costs the British economy almost £4 billion per year so it is something we must all take seriously. 

Employers that want to improve employee wellbeing should devise a wellbeing strategy and put in place a wellbeing policy.  This should set out the organisation's commitment to employee wellbeing and the steps that the organisation will take to improve wellbeing.

As I have said before, promoting health and wellbeing at work is not just about free fruit and yoga.  It is So. Much. More.  There is also not a 'one size fits all' or a 'tick box' approach.  Businesses should look at their values and their strategic aims for the future but also look at their workforce and consider what is important to them.  If businesses want to attract and retain the best staff, they should also look at what their competitors are doing.  

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.