Employees lose 5 days of work to stress each year

Employees continue to be plagued by stress, with two-thirds claiming high stress levels and 29 percent coming to work too stressed to be effective on five or more days per year, according to the latest StressPulseSM survey by ComPsych.

ComPsych Corporation is the provider of employee assistance programmes and is the pioneer and leader of fully integrated EAP, behavioural health, wellness, work-life, HR and absence management services under the GuidanceResources brand.

“As the economy continues to sputter, organisations are still doing more with less and that can take a toll on workers,” said Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych. “Many employees have reached a point of unprecedented burnout.

“Forward-thinking employers are seeking to alleviate stress and help employees get refocused by providing seminars on coping with stress as well as support through employee assistance and work-life programmes,” he added.

Key Findings of StressPulse:
• Almost one-third (29 percent) of employees comes to work five or more days per year when too stressed to be effective, up from 19 percent in the same category last year.
• Workers continue to have sustained, high stress levels – 66 percent in this category, compared with 68 percent last year.
• Workload remains the top cause of stress, followed by people issues, juggling work/personal life and lack of job security.