Tackling Stress at Work - A Guide for Employers

Tackling Stress at Work – A Guide for Employers

Workplace stress is a serious issue for employers and employee burnout is on the rise in the UK.

This month is Stress Awareness Month, so our Employment Law Team at Lamb Brooks have put together some useful tips and updates for employers and managers to help them tackle the issue of stress at work.

In the UK, 13.7 million working days are lost each year due to stress. Stress is also believed to trigger 70% of GP visits. Stress can have a detrimental impact on businesses in many ways and employers have a legal duty of care to their employees, so it is imperative that this issue is taken seriously.

The Impact of Stress

In many workplaces a certain degree of stress is normal, and some could argue, necessary. Some pressure can be motivating, give employees a purpose, a challenge and enjoyment in their roles. However, when stress becomes excessive or unmanageable, it can lead to serious health problems.

A business is far more productive and successful when it has healthy and happy employees working towards a common goal. When employees are suffering from stress, the business overall can be severely affected.

• Absence and Sickness

Dealing with employees taking unplanned time off work can be a nightmare for businesses as they will need to organise cover, pay sick leave and ensure that customers are kept happy. An employee taking regular or pro-longed sick leave will impact the morale of the rest of the team, who can become frustrated needing to work additional hours or pick up tasks and can also impact on the wellbeing of managers needing to deal with staff shortages and invoking sickness policies.

• Motivation and Morale

A workplace can be negatively affected if there is a stressful atmosphere at work or if multiple employees are experiencing high levels of stress. It can become a place where people do not enjoy working.

• Staff Turnover

Unhappy staff leave and those suffering from work-related stress could be signed off work or absent for long periods of time. This puts pressure on a workplace to find replacements, incur recruitment costs and re-train new staff. A high staff turnover is also not good for staff morale or reputation.

• Productivity

If staff are stressed, there is likely to be an impact on productivity, people could make more mistakes than usual, taking longer completing tasks or run into issues with their workload. This can impact on profits.

• External Reputation

It is very difficult to keep customer service levels high when a workplace is firefighting low morale, poor productivity and staff shortages. Poor service can lead to loss of business, negative reviews and PR for the business.

• Stress on Managers

Employers can get caught in a catch 22 where stressed staff leads to stressed management. This can spiral into a negative place to work and create further problems where your key people or top performers are signed off sick with stress.

What Causes Stress?

It is important to recognise that people deal with stress differently. Some will thrive on living a stressful life or having a stressful, high-pressure job. Others will have a much lower tolerance to stress and struggle to cope when pressure is applied.

Stress may be due to issues outside of the workplace in someone’s personal life. Employers have very little control over this, but it is important to understand external factors that could be causing employees issues with their mental health.

According to the Health & Safety Executive, the 6 main causes of stress at work are: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. In a 2022 Health & Wellbeing survey, the main causes of employee stress in the UK were:

• Workloads or volumes of work
• Personal relationships, family or financial issues
• Management style
• Personal illness or health issues
• Covid related anxiety
• Work related demands or changes
• Lack of communication between employees and management
• Job uncertainty
• Poor work/life balance

Often people feel overwhelmed with stress when they feel that they have no control over a situation.


Continue reading for your legal obligations and some stress management tips for employers...

Your Legal Obligations

UK Employers have a statutory duty of care to ensure that employee’s health, safety and welfare is protected at work and that reasonable steps have been taken to ensure their wellbeing.

Employers can find themselves embroiled in workplace disputes, resignations, grievances or even employment tribunals if employees believe that they have been treated unfairly or that their duty of care has been breached.

Stress, in itself does not constitute as a qualifying disability, protected by the Equality Act 2010, however, the long-term symptoms of stress that become mental health issues can be considered as a disability.

Stress, mental health and disability can be very tricky issues to deal with at work and it is vital that employers are prepared and protected. This is aided by following the correct procedures and policies, harbouring a supportive workplace, having training in place and seeking legal advice before it is too late.

How to Spot the Signs of Stress

Some employees will be able to mask stress better than others, but it is important to have awareness of any changes to your employee’s behaviour so that you can detect signs of stress before they manifest into a bigger issue.

Some signs of stress could include:

• Declining performance
• Making uncharacteristic errors
• Lack of motivation
• Forgetfulness
• Lateness
• Taking more sickness than usual
• Not taking breaks or annual leave
• Withdrawing from social situations
• Irritable moods, sensitivity, argumentative
• Appearing tired or unkept
• Complaining of headaches, tiredness, stomach issues
• Rapid change in weight
• Nervous or stumbling speech

How to Manage Workplace Stress

Employers should keep an ear to the ground so that they are aware of any issues relating to stress before they become a serious problem.

Some ways that employers can manage workplace stress, reduce stress or provide more support might include:

• Providing training to management
• Lead by example
• Supporting awareness initiatives
• Carry out regular assessments
• Have an open door policy and access to HR or management
• Ensure you have clear policies in place
• Provide ongoing support and contact with signed off staff
• Have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying and discrimination
• Encourage staff social activities
• Promote healthy lifestyle choices and perks
• Allow flexible working
• Recognise your employee’s achievements and commitment
• Have a mental health first aider and wellbeing programme
• Create a culture that supports good mental health
• Ensure that employees have a healthy work/life balance
• Signpost to support services when required
• Communicate well regarding any changes in the workplace
• Provide quiet zones

Employment Law Support

The Lamb Brooks Employment Law Team are specialists when it comes to resolving workplace disputes and advising employers on best practices to keep them on the right side of employment law.

If you have a problem in your workplace, need to diffuse a situation or would like a review of your policies, contracts and procedures to ensure that you business is protected, then please get in touch with our expert team.

Call us on 01256 844888, email enquiries@lambbrooks.com or speak to our online chat assistant who can take your details and arrange for a no-obligation call with our Legal Team.