Analysis by Legal & General using Department for Work and Pensions statistics has shown that stress-related absences are nearly three times more likely to be taken by women than men.
Between October- December 2010 absence statistics have shown that;
• 31,000 women took sick days citing stress, depression or anxiety, compared to 11,000 men.
• 74% of stress-related absences were made by women, with only 26% of absences being taken by men.
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The research follows the release of the DWP Survey, ‘Health and well-being at work: a survey of employers’ which revealed that only 17% of employers have any form of stress management advice and support in place for their employees.
Furthermore, The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence management annual survey report recently highlighted that stress is the second biggest cause of short term absences and one of the leading causes of all long-term absences for non-manual workers.
Commenting on these findings, Diane Buckley, Managing Director of Legal & General Group Protection, said:
“Stress is one of the leading causes of long-term absence so employers should ensure that good quality support is available in the workplace to help women before they reach this point.
“Legal & General’s early notification programme, Workplace Recovery, utilises its exclusive partnership arrangement with CBT Services Ltd to help get people back to work. For example, employees who are absent from work because of stress are offered up to 24 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) from this provider. Over 76% of such employees were able to return to work within 18 months of diagnosis.
