45 percent of employees say they know a colleague who has quit their job due to stress, according to Capita Employee Benefits.
The third annual Employee Insight Report from Capita Employee Benefits, conducted interviews with more than 3,000 people in employment. The report looks at employee attitudes to health and well-being in the workplace, including stress and mental health issues.
The findings reveal that 38 percent of colleagues have complained to their employer about stress in the past, but the employer has done nothing to help.
Three-quarters (75%) of employees said they have felt stressed at work over the past 12 months. This has been more acute among females (79%) than males (71%) and younger employees (82% of 16-24 year olds) than their older counterparts (68% of 55-64 year olds).
Alistair Dornan, head of health management at Capita Employee Benefits, says:
“The report offers a wide ranging assessment of employees’ views on in-work health and wellbeing, which can help employers better understand and manage some of the day-to-day issues facing their workforce.”
Only 19 percent of employees say they have taken time off work due to stress despite 41 percent saying they do not believe a colleague suffering from stress should still come into work.
Employees are even finding it difficult to switch-off from work when on holiday, especially high earners. 52 percent of employees earning £100,000 a year and 47 percent of those earning £45,000 a year say they find it difficult to switch off.
When it comes to discussing mental health issues at work, 42 percent say that they thought their employer would be understanding and would feel as if they could take time off work to get better. However, just 33 percent say that if they had a mental health issue they would feel comfortable talking to their employer about it.
Employees feel just as uncomfortable discussing these issues with colleagues, with less than one in three (31%) saying they would be happy to talk to colleagues if they had time off for mental health reasons. 57 percent said they would not be happy to talk about these issues at all.
Dornan adds:
“One thing [the report] highlights is the difficulties that exist around talking about stress and mental health issues, not only between employees and employers, but also between colleagues. Tackling these issues can help employers deliver improvements in moral, organisational performance, innovation, employee engagement, talent attraction and retention.”
Amie Filcher is an editorial assistant at HRreview.