Understanding and managing workplace stress: a complete guide for employers

Key takeaways:

• Workplace stress is bad for your team and your business: It’s expensive. 22.1 million working days were lost to stress, depression, or anxiety in 2024/25 alone.
• The six main stress triggers: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identifies six core areas of work design that cause stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role clarity, and how change is managed.
• Catching stress early makes all the difference: Regular wellbeing surveys and mental health first-aiders spot problems before they turn into long-term sick leave or resignations.
• It’s a legal obligation: Employers have a statutory duty to protect workers from stress under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and must conduct regular stress risk assessments.

When pressures like long hours, heavy workloads, or messy workplace conflicts become more than an employee can cope with, workplace stress is inevitable.

If you don’t manage it, this pressure quickly hurts your business’ safety, recruitment, retention, and overall productivity. To put it into perspective, a staggering 22.1 million working days were lost to stress, depression, or anxiety in 2024/25 alone.

Taking a proactive approach is the best way to help your company thrive and keep the ‘quiet productivity killer’ at bay. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about managing employee stress, so you can keep your people happy and your business booming.

Contents

• What is workplace stress?
• What are the main causes of stress in the workplace?
• External sources of employee stress
• Spotting the signs: common workplace stress symptoms
• The impact of stress in the workplace
• 7 ways to manage stress in the workplace
• How to carry out a workplace stress risk assessment
• Dealing with stress-related employee absences
• What to include in your workplace stress policy

What is workplace stress?

Before diving into solutions, let’s look at what workplace stress actually is. Simply put, it’s the natural reaction people have to excessive demands at work.

It’s important to separate standard pressure from stress. A healthy dose of pressure is actually a good thing — it motivates your team, keeps them focused, and helps to hit targets. But when that pressure piles up relentlessly, it turns into stress. This leaves your staff feeling overwhelmed, out of control, and unable to cope with their daily role.

What are the main causes of stress in the workplace?

Understanding the causes of workplace stress is a must if you want to protect your team. Triggers can range from physical issues, like harsh lighting or a noisy factory, to emotional ones, like clashing with colleagues.

Because everyone handles pressure differently, what motivates one person might terrify another. To stay compliant and support your staff, you can align your approach with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

They outline six key areas of work design that, if not managed properly, are the primary causes of work-related stress:

1. Demands of the role

When employees feel they have too much to do and not enough time to do it, their stress levels will spike. Unrealistic deadlines, shifting goals, and tasks that are beyond their current skill level can make a daily workload feel impossible to navigate. If someone’s constantly drowning in work, they’ll never feel a sense of completion.

This also includes physical demands — working in an environment with harsh lighting or on a noisy factory floor can really take a toll over time.

2. Lack of control

People like to feel they have some autonomy over their working day. If an employee is constantly micromanaged or has no say in how they carry out their tasks or pace their work, they’ll quickly become stressed and demotivated. Giving your team a bit of freedom to manage their own time goes a long way.

3. Not receiving enough support

Your employees need the right tools, training, and information to do their jobs properly. This includes supportive management who feel approachable and willing to help, rather than criticising employees who ask for assistance. Without this backing, staff can easily feel isolated and become disconnected from their work.

4. Relationships between employees

Conflict is a natural part of human life, but if it’s left to fester in a work environment, it quickly becomes stressful. A workplace should feel supportive and collaborative, not hostile. Bullying, harassment, or even just a long-standing personality clash can make coming into work a nightmare.

If you’re noticing friction in your team, check out our guide on how to handle personal conflict at work.

5. Not fully understanding their role

If someone’s unclear on what they’re supposed to be doing, they’ll constantly worry they’re doing it wrong. Role conflict, where an employee is pulled in opposite directions by multiple managers with different priorities, is a guaranteed recipe for anxiety. Your staff members need a clear job description and defined boundaries.

6. Poorly managed change

Change is a normal part of running a business, but if it’s poorly communicated, it brings a lot of uncertainty. Whether you’re restructuring the team or introducing new task management software, failing to keep your staff in the loop breeds anxiety.

Make sure you talk to your team about changes early on so they feel included in the decision and prepared for the outcome.

External sources of employee stress

While most stressors exist inside the workplace, wider issues in the employee’s personal life can also cause high stress levels that can impact their ability to work.

These include:

• Health conditions
• Financial worries
• Bereavement
• Divorce
• New parents
• Care responsibilities
• Fatigue

Unfortunately, you can’t force your staff to tell you when they’re facing hardship at home. However, promoting an ‘open door’ policy, advertising help and incentives available, and encouraging employees to be honest is a great start.

You can compile all of this into one easy format with an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). This gives employees access to 24/7, confidential support on a range of financial and personal issues — covering everything from money management to landlord disputes.

Even if you’re not in a position to help employees with physical incentives, you can still be there for them in other ways, like:

• Offering regular catch-up meetings
• Temporary flexible working arrangements
• Providing access to advice lines or counselling services
• Offering to reduce workloads if needed
• Allowing time off for employees to attend to personal circumstances

Although external stress isn’t technically an employer’s responsibility, showing empathy goes a long way in helping keep team morale high and showcasing why you’re an excellent company to work for.

Spotting the signs: common workplace stress symptoms

It’s important to know how to spot the signs that your employees are battling stress. Usually, people will try to hide their struggles, meaning you have to be vigilant.

Here are some of the symptoms that might mean your employees are quietly battling stress:

1. Working longer hours

Look out for employees who start staying in the office later, or coming into work earlier. This could be a sign of someone who’s struggling with their workload.

Of course, many employees choose to work earlier or later than their colleagues to better suit their work-life balance. But if this is new behaviour, it could be cause for concern.

2. Increasingly irritable

Employees who suddenly seem irritable, twitchy, and nervous could be another potential victim of stress. Constant fidgeting and over-the-top reactions to minor comments and feedback can all be examples of irritability. If your usually calm manager starts snapping over small mistakes, it’s probably time to check in.

3. Looking visibly tired

It’s not unusual for people under stress to struggle to sleep. If you’ve noticed an employee coming to work visibly tired regularly (and it’s not the result of a heavy weekend), it could be a tell-tale stress signal.

Tiredness is tricky because chronic fatigue makes it harder for them to cope with daily demands. This creates a vicious cycle where the employee constantly feels like they’re drowning, leading to more stress and even worse sleep.

4. Shying away

Stressed employees might shy away to avoid drawing any extra attention to themselves. You’ll need to use your better judgment, as some people are naturally quieter and more introverted than others. But if an employee who’s usually loud and chatty starts isolating themselves, it could be a cause for concern.

5. Working through breaks

Similar to employees who suddenly start coming into work early and staying late, employees who stop taking breaks and start using lunchtime to catch up on unfinished work might be feeling stressed about their workload and meeting deadlines.

6. Not taking time off

Have you noticed any employees not booking time off? A reluctance to take annual leave could be a sign that they’re worried they’ll fall behind with their workload while away.

On the other hand, employees who start booking more time off than usual might be deliberately avoiding the workplace because it makes them feel stressed. If you’re worried about changes in your staff holiday schedule that seem out of character, take the time to pull your workers aside and check in.

7. Concentration and memory lapses

An uncharacteristic lapse in memory and concentration could be a sign of stress-related distraction. Other symptoms might include increased confusion and indecisiveness when it comes to work tasks.

If your most detail-oriented worker starts making typos or forgetting key steps in their day-to-day, stress might be clouding their focus.

8. Overly sensitive

If an employee is stressed because of work, they’ll probably be more sensitive and emotional — especially when it comes to work-related ‘banter’.

For example, passing comments or jokes about their performance that would normally be water off a duck’s back might strike a nerve and really upset them if they’re already worried about staying on top of their workload.

9. Lack of energy

Stress can take both a mental and physical toll. If an employee who’s normally full of beans starts showing signs of constant lethargy and illness, it could be due to stress wearing down their physical wellbeing.

Stress weakens the immune system, making them more susceptible to seasonal illnesses like common colds, so if you’ve noticed an employee suddenly taking a lot more sick leave, it could be a sign of something bigger at play.

10. Socially isolating themselves

If work’s the cause of an employee’s stress, they might start to withdraw from anything associated with work — including out-of-work activities. If someone who was previously at the heart of group settings starts skipping the Friday pub trip or team lunches, it may be a red flag that something is going on.

The impact of stress in the workplace

While workplace stress naturally has the biggest impact on an employee feeling under pressure, there are much broader knock-on effects that can take their toll on the entire team.

From lowering morale to putting more pressure on other employees due to excessive sick leave, here are some surprising ways stress can have an impact:

Employee absence

Any kind of workplace stress can also lead to employee absence — whether that’s increased absenteeism or the stress having a negative effect on their physical health.

These factors can all impact your team’s productivity levels and can even lead to more employees becoming stressed as they’re given higher workloads to pick up the slack.

Workplace morale

Morale is the foundation of any positive work environment, and combating workplace stress makes those foundations stronger.

When morale plummets due to stress, you’ll see a lack of collaboration and an overall gloomy atmosphere. People won’t want to go the extra mile to help employees who are feeling swamped and might even become resentful towards the business for expecting more from them.

But when you actively tackle stress, you build a resilient team that pulls together to achieve your business goals.

Bottom line

The cost of stress in the workplace can be detrimental to your business. If you ignore it and leave it to get worse or impact other employees, the financial drain can be staggering.

Stress can impact your bottom line in various ways, including:

• Decreased productivity (tasks take longer, and quality usually drops)
• Bad business reputation (word gets around if you’re a stressful employer)
• High staff turnover (leading to high recruitment and training costs)
• Increased sickness absences (paying sick pay and cover staff)
• A less qualified workforce due to poor recruitment and retention
• Enforcement notices from the HSE if you don’t have a stress risk assessment

Stress is no different to any other workplace hazard. If you ignore it, the impact doesn’t stop with one person. When an employee goes off with stress, their workload often shifts to the rest of the team, which increases pressure and the risk of further absences. A proactive stress risk assessment can break that cycle before it affects wellbeing, productivity and business performance.” – David Taylor, Health & Safety Advice Manager at Citation

7 ways to manage stress in the workplace

It’s normal to want the best for your employees while also feeling lost when figuring out how to reduce stress in the workplace or handle existing workplace stress.

To help break it down into actionable steps, here are 7 ways to manage stress in your workplace:

1. Carry out employee wellbeing surveys

The HSE is really pushing for businesses to be proactive rather than reactive when dealing with stress. One of the easiest ways to get ahead of the curve is by checking in with your team through regular employee wellbeing surveys.

These give your staff a safe space to share how they’re truly feeling about their workload, the workplace culture, and their overall mental health. Once you’ve gathered this feedback, you can spot trends and nip potential stressors in the bud before they turn into bigger problems.

2. Appoint mental health first-aiders

Did you know it’s now a requirement to factor in mental health when you’re completing your business’s First Aid Needs Assessment?

Treating physical scrapes is just one part of the puzzle, and appointing dedicated mental health first-aiders is a fantastic way to make sure your team has the support they need across the board.

These are trained individuals within your workplace who can easily spot the early signs of mental health concerns, offer a supportive, non-judgmental ear, and guide their colleagues toward the right resources to get help.

3. Carry out a risk assessment

If you’re trying to reduce workplace stress, a risk assessment is your best friend. It helps you find potential causes of stress, so you can fix them before they get out of hand.

To really make a difference, the steps after the assessment matter. For example, if your risk assessment report says you’ll look into supporting workers by considering flexible working requests, it’s important you act on it.

4. Have an open-door policy

Build an open-door policy between managers and staff. This develops positive relationships where stress can be openly talked about without judgment. Or, you could always organise regular one-on-ones with your team — giving them another way to raise concerns in a more structured setting.

5. Keep the workload manageable

High workloads and overtime make up 42% of stress or burnout at work, so it’s vital to make sure workstreams are manageable. Set realistic deadlines and openly communicate with employees about how many hours they should have.

You need to work closely with your employees to find a balance that feels right. You don’t want to overwork them, but likewise, you also don’t want to make them feel babied or that you don’t have faith in their abilities.

6. Establish an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a company-funded confidential counselling service that can be helpful for targeting stress.

It means that, if your staff feel they need to speak to someone without burdening their manager, they can. They cover a wide range of issues that cause workplace stress, including grief, money troubles, and more.

7. Set clear goals

Goals should be clear and achievable, because if an employee starts a task without proper briefing, it can cause stress when they’re unsure what to do.

There are numerous task management tools you can offer to support staff, or you can also let them know you’re available if they need to discuss any tasks in more detail. This way, your employees will feel confident to ask questions and know what’s expected.

How to carry out a workplace stress risk assessment

All employers have to assess any risks affecting their staff under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The need for stress risk assessments is also covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, where employers have to “ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare” of all their employees.

But what do you need to include?

There’s plenty to consider in your risk assessment. The HSE has developed 6 stress management standards that employers can implement to reduce work-related stress. Let’s break it down:

1. Demands — Can your employees cope with the demands of their job? High demands = high stress. You could try to evaluate workloads and make sure they’re achievable and realistic.
2. Control — How much control do your employees have over how they work? Try giving them more control to prioritise their own workload so they can use their initiative and ways of working. Welcome and encourage new skills, because at the end of the day, individual people know how they work best.
3. Support — Do your team feel fully supported in their day-to-day role? Supporting employee mental health isn’t just about having programmes in place; it’s also about the practical, hands-on help they get while doing their job. Do they have the right training, equipment, and resources? Can they easily ask their manager for advice when they’re stuck without feeling judged?
4. Relationships — How’s the relationship between your staff? Unfortunately, bullying and harassment can happen in some workplaces, and as an employer, it’s your duty to prevent this and address any unacceptable behaviour.
5. Role — Do your employees fully understand their role? Systems should be in place to stay clear of any role conflict, whether that’s a process to report it, clearly defined expectations of roles, or proper training and mentorship.
6. Change — Have your staff been told about upcoming changes at work? Anything that can impact employees, like a change of office, TUPE, and acquisitions, should all be shared clearly so everyone is on the same page and can prepare.

If you want some extra tips on pulling your assessment together, take a look at our beginner’s guide to workplace stress risk assessments.

Dealing with stress-related employee absences

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to handling stress-related absences. People are different, so what makes them feel stressed and what gets them to a place where they need time off work is going to be unique to them. That’s where good communication comes in.

If an employee is on long-term sick leave due to stress, set up regular welfare meetings to keep that line of communication open and to discuss whether there’s anything you can do to help them get back to work.

If the absences are more frequent but not long-term, you’ll need to investigate what’s causing the stress. You can’t fix a problem you’re not aware of, so knowing any potential triggers is really important for reducing the chance of sick leave happening again.

The legal implications of stress-related absence

Unfortunately, employees could bring claims against your business if they feel they’re being unfairly punished for taking stress-related sick leave or that you haven’t done enough to reduce risks.

These claims can include disability discrimination, constructive unfair dismissal, unfair dismissal, and personal injury claims. No one wants to be in that position; employment tribunals are costly, time-consuming, and stressful for everyone involved.

Because it’s a legal requirement to keep your staff safe and healthy, it’s vital to prove you’ve taken proactive steps to address any stressors in the workplace with risk assessments. Otherwise, you’re putting yourself at risk of enforcement action from the HSE.

When an employee returns to work

Employees returning to work after a stress-related absence? Here’s what to do:

• Short-term absence — A return-to-work interview is a great starting point. This way, you’ll be able to sit down and discuss why they’re taking stress leave and if you can do anything to help them.
• Long-term absence — The same applies to employees returning from a long-term absence; a return-to-work interview is crucial. However, keep in mind here that you’ll likely be dealing with a more serious or complicated condition.

Once you’ve found the problem(s), supporting employees with reasonable adjustments — like flexible working — can help them settle back into work and make sure you’re meeting your legal obligations.

If an employee can’t return to work

Sometimes, an employee can’t give an indication when they are likely to be fit to return to work. If this happens, you should request a report from their GP or Occupational Health, explaining their condition and any ways you can support their return in future.

If the employee cannot return within a reasonable timeframe, you should start a process with them to review their long-term capability and any potential adjustments or alternatives, which may ultimately result in a capability dismissal. This can be tricky and needs to be handled carefully. Learn more with our free guide to capability dismissal for a good starting point.

What to include in your workplace stress policy

Having a formal workplace stress policy helps your management and staff know what processes are in place to support employee wellbeing. Think of it as your company’s blueprint for creating a supportive environment.

When you’re pulling together your stress-at-work policy, here are some key considerations:

• Managing heavy workloads — You should outline whether there are realistic expectations for completing tasks and whether deadlines can be offered, as this is a common cause of stress.
• Flexibility and freedom — Make sure to include ways employees can have control over their work, wherever possible. This could be a choice of when they take their breaks or openly discussing work patterns. You should also focus on encouraging staff to develop new skills if they feel they need them to carry out their work.
• Wellbeing resources and check-ins — Consider how you’ll support staff with resources. For example, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) might be something you could implement to support mental health.
• A zero-tolerance approach to poor behaviour — You’ll need systems in place to deal with unacceptable behaviour, whether that’s bullying, harassment, or any form of discrimination. Your policy should outline that this conduct won’t be tolerated and include the processes to follow if anyone experiences it.
• Clear expectations and responsibilities — Clarity can help massively when it comes to helping employees understand their roles and responsibilities. In your workplace stress policy, elaborate on the systems you have in place so staff can raise any uncertainties.
• Communication during business updates — Change can severely impact an employee’s mental wellbeing, so it’s up to you to make sure staff are aware of any changes in the organisation. Cover how you’ll provide your team with support and information about any upcoming changes and how this might affect them.

How Citation can help with stress management

At Citation, we know running a business is a juggling act. That’s why we’re here to take the stress out of HR and Health & Safety compliance so you can focus on what you do best.

Whether you need hands-on help creating a stress risk assessment, want to roll out e-learning modules for your team, or just need a quick second opinion from our 24/7 advice line, we’ve got your back.

In fact, 90% of our clients say they’re more confident that their business is protected thanks to our support. So, don’t let workplace stress hold your business back. Contact us today to see how we can help.

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