April
Since 1992, April has been marked “National Stress Awareness Month”. According to the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), in 2018/19 over 600,000 people in the UK reported experiencing work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This amounts to 44% of all work-related illness.
It is therefore important that an employer takes steps to tackle and reduce the work-related causes of stress and encourage their staff to seek help at the earliest opportunity if they begin to experience stress.
What is stress?
Stress is defined as the 'adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them'. Most staff benefit from a certain amount of pressure in their work. It can keep them motivated and give a sense of ambition. However, when there is too much pressure placed on them, they can become overloaded. Stress can affect the health of staff, reduce their productivity and lead to performance issues.
Stress is not an illness, but the psychological impact can lead to conditions such as anxiety and depression. Stress, anxiety and depression can also increase the risk of conditions like heart disease, back pain, gastrointestinal illnesses or skin conditions.
What causes stress?
There can be a variety of causes of stress. For example, financial problems, difficulties in personal relationships or moving house can all cause stress. Work can also cause stress. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has identified the six primary causes of work-related stress to be:
- The demands of the job - staff can become overloaded if they cannot cope with the amount of work or type of work they are asked to do
- Amount of control over work - staff can feel disaffected and perform poorly if they have no say over how and when they do their work
- Support from managers and colleagues - levels of sickness absence often rise if staff feel they cannot talk to managers about issues troubling them
- Relationships at work - a failure to build relationships based on good behaviour and trust can lead to problems related to discipline, grievances and bullying
- How a role fits within the organisation - staff will feel anxious about their work and the organisation if they don't know what is expected of them and/or understand how their work fits into the objectives of the organisation
- Change and how it is managed - change needs to be managed effectively or it can lead to insecurity.
Covid-19
Events like the current Covid-19 pandemic whilst extremely rare, invoke strong reactions in people. Individuals become more stressed and anxious when faced with situations that have no clear precedent, and anxiety is a protective emotion.
Supporting the health and wellbeing of each other and family is fundamental during these unprecedented times. The main purpose of stress awareness month is to increase awareness about both the many causes and cures for modern-day stress problems.
The Mental Health Foundation reports that 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year, they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.
It can often be hard to know how to talk about mental health, especially when faced with struggles. Talking can often enable individuals to make sense of and manage difficult experiences. In light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, this awareness and putting in place adequate support systems has never been more important.
Employer support
Employers are under a legal obligation to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees. As part of this, employers must conduct risk assessments for work-related stress and take actions to prevent staff from experiencing a stress-related illness because of their work.
Whilst individuals might feel helpless during this stressful time, employers can make some helpful suggestions to employees to manage their stress levels.
- Limit their exposure to Coronavirus news on social media, and on online presence;
- Practise self-care such as adequate sleep;
- Regular exercise, to maintain both physical and mental health;
- Eating well, to include a healthy balanced diet;
- Staying hydrated;
- Relaxation techniques.
Prioritising making the above part of everyday life goes a long way towards increasing psychological and physical wellbeing.
Mental health problems can present as physical complaints (such as headaches or stomach aches) or cognitive problems (such as having trouble concentrating).
Isolation
It is widely acknowledged that #mentalhealth and wellbeing when isolated can be significantly compromised, as it can often be more challenging than usual to take care of mental health and wellbeing.
Employees experiencing stress or anxiety related to the pandemic or otherwise, are advised to speak to their employer to ensure that appropriate support measures are implemented and adequate steps can be taken for the wellbeing of employees.
Vulnerable Individuals
The Coronavirus pandemic can be particularly overwhelming for those individuals who are already vulnerable. Employers are reminded to be aware of disabilities which could require additional reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 during this very difficult time.
Older adults and people with disabilities are at increased risk for having mental health concerns, such as depression.
After lockdown
Emotional reactions to coming out of lockdown/quarantine may include
- Mixed emotions, including relief;
- Fear and worry about health;
- Stress from the experience of monitoring signs and symptoms of COVID-19;
- Sadness, anger, or frustration,
- Guilt about not being able to perform normal work or parenting duties during quarantine;
- Other emotional or mental health changes
Employers are reminded of the implications of the pandemic long term on mental health due to various factors such as loss of loved ones, impact of extended social distancing and isolation, financial pressures, economic changes that are inevitably going to impact employees.
Even if the cause of stress may not be work-related, changes to working arrangements may help reduce some of the pressure the employee is experiencing. For example, temporarily changing working hours may reduce stress.
Employers are advised to regularly check on how the affected employee is feeling and whether any changes in place are still needed and/or working as required. This could be through planned one-to-one meetings or through informal chats in the workplace. Even once an employee is able to resume their normal working arrangements, their manager should continue to monitor their health and offer support where necessary.
WHO
The world health organisation has released some guidance for employers and employees. Please note our blogs and for information purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice, the information is correct at the time of publication. For further advice contact Kaajal Nathwani or a member of the employment team on 020 8363 4444.
