According to HSE, work-related stress is biggest occupational cause of working days lost through injury or ill-health, with an average of 29 days lost per case. In 2001/2, over half a million individuals in UK experienced work-related stress at levels that made them ill.

A recent poll of UK’s top 112 companies has revealed that 65% of them believe stress is a major factor in ill health in their organisations. Every day 270,000 people take time off work for stress-related illness and absenteeism cost UK businesses £10.2bn last year.

The impact of longer working hours

One survey which has followed a group of 5,000 British managers since 1997, confirms that long working hours are part and parcel of many people's jobs. A total 91% of managers regularly exceed their contracted hours, according to Quality of Working Life Survey 2000, published by Chartered Management Institute in 2001. 75% of managers surveyed said working late or at weekends was only way to deal with their workload, while two-thirds believed it was a part of their organisation's culture.

The survey also showed that almost three-quarters of executives claimed workplace stress was damaging their health, happiness and home life, not to mention their productivity and performance at work. The study also found a quarter of executives had taken sick leave in past year as a result of their stress.

Lessons from France

In 2000, France introduced a 35-hour week with aim of reducing unemployment by redistributing labour between over-worked and unemployed. It is still unclear whether this objective has been met, but there have certainly been positive benefits on lives of French people. Gym memberships are up, as are travel and leisure, while DIY has taken off. This greater amount of leisure time has contributed to a less ‘stressed out’ society.

However, according to European Foundation for Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, almost one third of French workers report to being more stressed out since introduction of 35-hour working week. This is an illustration that too little work, as well as too much work, can cause stress.

The future of stress at work

It is clear that, whilst low levels of stress can be motivating, a substantial level of pressure can have a negative impact for both employees and employers. Stress can make employees less productive which, in turn, costs businesses and organisations millions of pounds every year. More importantly, stress can have a profound impact upon lives of individual by instigating serious health problems.

It is now, with help of a series of research projects, that we are able to see scale of stress at work problem. Despite huge media interest in stress and government backing for 'family friendly' workplace policies, indication is that work-related stress has yet to peak.

There are likely to be some employees who are exploiting serious issue of stress at work in order to take time off work, when in fact their stress levels are not high enough to warrant time off. Despite this, problem of stress should not be tarnished by actions of few. In reality it is difficult to know which employees are suffering from stress and which ones are exaggerating truth. It is important that government encourages new ways of identifying genuine from not-so-genuine.

The new HSE standards introduced last year are another useful addition to current legislation concerning reduction of workplace stress, but evidently more needs to be done. As UK workers continue to work long hours and face difficulty in managing stress, it is vital that regulations and common laws develop at a faster rate to meet workers’ changing needs.

It is too early to assess whether or not introduction of 35-hour week in France has been a success. However, UK should watch closely to see if this change does bring benefits in reducing stress in France. Such a policy is unlikely to work in UK, but placing less pressure on people to work longer hours may not be way forward.

The government needs to be more proactive, as oppose to reactive, in developing new and innovative ways of combating causes and consequences of stress at work. It should work closer with businesses to propose methods of dealing with stress and support charities and organisations which are helping both staff and companies identify root causes of stress and manage problems associated with it.