Stress costs employers £690m in wasted wages each day

The financial cost of stress in the workplace has been revealed by new research from life insurance and pension company Friends Life.

Almost a quarter of UK workers surveyed have called in sick with stress in the past year - equivalent to more than seven million employees.  That comes at a cost of almost £690m each day in wasted wages.

This is the third annual stress survey from Friends Life coinciding with Stress Awareness Day (5th Nov). This year the research found a large increase in the number of people taking time off work with stress. 23% of those surveyed said they had called in sick because of stress compared to 16.5% in the previous two years.

Anna Spender, Head of Group Protection Proposition from Friends Life said:

“Stress levels are clearly rising and it’s important for employers to be aware of the strain their workforce may be feeling. The financial cost of stress is huge, and our research only takes into account the cost of paying people who take a day off. If you add in the lower productivity which stress can cause through presenteeism, where employees come into work when they really should be taking time off, then that figure would be even higher.”

For women in the 2014 survey, money was named as the biggest cause of stress while for men, money and work were rated as being equally stressful.

Age also plays a major factor with the youngest workers most likely to take time off with a mental health issue. A third of 18-24 year olds said they had called in sick because of stress in the past year – a much higher proportion than any other age group.

This new research comes just a month after Friends Life revealed the shocking truth about mental health in the workplace. The survey found that 4 in 10 employed people in the UK had experienced a common mental health problem like stress, anxiety or depression in the last year and not told their employer4. Perhaps even more worryingly, more than a quarter of employees admitted taking a sick day claiming it was for a physical problem when it was in fact for a mental health issue.

“Stress at work is a problem that cannot be ignored,” said Anna Spender. “It is still being hidden in the workplace and this is actually exacerbating the problem. Creating a culture where employees feel comfortable being open about a problem is vital if they are going to get the support they need to improve their mental wellbeing. Seeing the cost of stress explained by research like this will hopefully inspire businesses to put plans in place for employees who are currently suffering in silence.”

Last month Friends Life ran the first “Mental Health: Leading from the Boardroom” event alongside Business in the Community, Mind and Time to Change. It brought together business leaders to find out more about what could be done to tackle the stigma of mental health in the workplace.