One third of full time employees have health concerns resulting from the levels of stress caused by their jobs, research has found.
A survey of more than 2,000 people commissioned by insurer Legal & General (L&G) found that a quarter of respondents said they were generally stressed at work, while two in 10 complained that they worked too many extra hours. A quarter admitted to never taking a break at work.
Last week work and pensions secretary Peter Hain launched a renewed drive to end sicknote Britain by outlining a new medical test that will assess a person’s capability to work.
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Vanessa Sallows, underwriting and benefits director at L&G’s Group Protection business, said: “Staff absence can have a major impact to a company’s bottom line. So working with independent specialists we have helped companies to significantly reduce their staff absenteeism and get employees back into work.
“We have demonstrated that with the early intervention of the most appropriate support to help an absent employee, whether that is career counselling, stress management, cognitive behavioural therapy, (CBT) or a physical evaluation, we have been able to get over 50% of absent employees back into work in the first year,” she added.
