How to address stress
April 1st 2008

Stress in the workplace is becoming an increasingly important aspect of occupational health & safety.

The HSE (Health & Safety Executive) estimates that stress accounts for over a third of work-related illness, with every case causing an average loss of over 30 working days. Charles Kydd of Focus EAP offers some advice on tackling stress in the workplace

For the year 2006/07, a total of 13.8 million working days were lost in the UK due to work related stress, depression and anxiety. Recently PPC Worldwide commissioned research into how people deal with particular events in their lives and how these events affect them and their work. The results are thought provoking.

People coping with major life events are losing a day a week on average, costing British business a staggering £12bn a year in reduced productivity and absence.

Nearly half of the sample believed that difficult periods in their lives could have been more positive experiences if they had received the right support.

Perhaps most revealing of all was the impact that 'everyday' experiences, such as bringing up teenagers, coping with debt or returning to work after having children can have. Although 'routine', they have the same long-term detrimental effect on concentration, morale and productivity.

These findings are a wake up call to employers. The message is clear: If you support staff through life's challenges they'll be more productive, absent less often and pose less of a risk in the workplace. Employers need to bite the bullet and take a proactive approach to the health and well-being of their staff: The results speak for themselves.

PPC programmes focus on proactive service delivery, challenges the traditional viewpoint that Employee Assistance ProgrammeEAP services are only for those already reacting to significant events. As a result PPC can guarantee a higher level of engagement amongst employees than traditional "problem focused" EAP's.

The introduction of workplace counselling, possibly in the form of an EAP, can be beneficial in improving the health and wellbeing of employees. ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) describes EAPs as being used for both work and non-work related problems. "Such problems may be emotional, financial or legal, and may be linked to alcohol or drug misuse and so on. EAPs can be run in-house, wholly contracted out to counselling organisations, or managed from within the organisation using external counsellors."

Positive effects on absence Absence rates declined significantly at Westminster City Council following the launch of its restructured sickness absence policy, which includes an EAP set up by Focus EAP. The combined package was originally launched for the Council's 4,000 employees and their immediate families/households in April 2006.

Employees across the range of Council departments have contacted the EAP via a 24-hour freephone helpline and some family members have also used the service. About two thirds of the calls have been about personal issues, while the remaining third were work related. The option of face-to-face counselling sessions is also available within this EAP.

Trevor Webster, Westminster City Council's strategic human resources Manager (Health & Safety), explained that managers have found the programme helpful, because, not being trained counsellors themselves, they frequently appreciated being supported with personal issues by those professionally qualified to deal with them.

The HSE maintains that tackling workplace stress will have a positive effect on performance, productivity, recruitment and staff turnover. It also will impact positively on the organisation's reputation and provide protection for the employer against prosecution and litigation.

In its "Management Standards for Tackling Work Related Stress", the HSE lists some of the demands that may induce workplace stress, including issues like workload, work patterns, and the work environment. Recommendations include that: The organisation provides employees with adequate and achievable demands in relation to the agreed hours of work: People's skills and abilities are matched to the job demands Jobs are designed to be within the capabilities of employees Employees' concerns about their work environment are addressed.

Stress may also be caused by reasons outside work.

Westminster City Council's experience shows that a majority of the employees taking part in the EAP programme required the service for personal reasons.

ACAS maintains that an organisation with systems for providing regular and sustained support to staff will be more effective and less likely to suffer the effects of stress.

Actions should include: Talking about possible stressors Providing a sympathetic ear and specialist support where necessary Being open about giving information The ACAS recommendations continue: "Individual meetings with staff – for reporting or appraisal purposes – can be used to try and identify any personal stress. Personal stress might include money worries, illness, bereavement, or family problems."

Personal debt Given the current economic climate and squeeze on credit, financial problems are likely to become an increasingly important factor in personal as opposed to work related stress. Figures from the ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council) show that UK personal debt is increasing by £1million every four minutes. The average household debt is approximately £8 582 (excluding mortgages) or £50,918 (including mortgages). The average UK consumer has £3,008 in unsecured debts such as personal loans, credit cards and overdrafts, which is nearly double the Western European average of £1,558.

Focus EAP finds that debt is an increasing problem for those using its telephone counselling and information helpline. Carole Simkins, (pictured) senior case manager at Focus, explained that clients often contact Focus when their financial difficulties have put them into a crisis situation. "They may have several creditors chasing them hard for repayment, sometimes threatening doorstep recovery, a visit from a bailiff or repossession of a car or even their house. We can fully review the client's position, advise on priority debts and secondary creditors, check whether the client is claiming all their entitled benefits and assist them in developing an action plan. If appropriate, we refer clients to a debt management agency, which can offer them a free service and look at their cases in detail." The following are real life cases handled by Focus EAP (some details have been omitted for confidentiality reasons).

Debt through ill health Problem: A full time employee called the Focus EAP help line for support. Unfortunately, her husband had been unable to work for several months because of ill health and was likely to be off work for the foreseeable future. As a result they had been getting increasingly into debt and things came to a head when they were unable to pay for the school uniforms for their two young children.

Actions taken: The information team offered a range of support including: Initially making checks on whether the couple was claiming all their entitled benefits Giving her details of her employer's welfare office Providing information on benevolent organisations to help with finances for the school uniforms Referring her to Focus's recommended debt management agency for a thorough income and expenditure assessment via telephone without the need for a face-to-face meeting.

Financial dispute Problem: A client contacted Focus after separating from her partner, with whom she had held a joint bank account. They had agreed with the bank that the account should in future be in the client's sole name, but the partner had since then taken money from the account. The client had been trying to reclaim the money with the bank's help but without success.

Actions taken: Focus advised that there appeared to be a mistake on the bank's part. If so, the onus should be upon them to refund the money and pursue the ex-partner separately.

They suggested the client put her case in writing to the bank – if this was not successful, they advised to use the bank's complaints procedure.

If the issue was still unresolved, they informed her that she could opt to take her case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Taking effective measures to eliminate workplace stress is an important aspect of employer's duty of care and can reap economic benefits for businesses and public sector organisations. Extending that support to cover personal issues will enhance these positive developments.

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