Stress Policies

This section of THE STRESS SITE looks at Stress Policies, which are an important component in setting out how an organization is going to manage work related stress and minimise the risk stress poses to employee health and well-being.

What is a Stress Policy?

A Stress Policy is a formal written statement explaining the action an employer is taking with regard to managing stress and mental health problems in the workplace. 

The aims of a Stress Policy are often three-fold:

1. To promote mental well-being at work
2. To prevent work related stress and related mental health problems from occurring where reasonably practicable, and
3. To state what will be done to support employees experiencing stress-related problems

There are a number of reasons why organizations set out to develop and implement a Stress Policy:

• Legal reasons - Employers have a duty of care and legal obligations to assess risks to employee health and well-being and must take steps to prevent harm from risks that are foreseeable. Therefore it's very much in the employer's interest to clearly state what they are doing to manage stress risks and the steps they are taking to prevent stress at work. The Policy, effectively implemented will minimise such risks.
• Business reasons - Often the main Policy drivers are related to the minimising the costs associated with stress such as sickness absence, presenteeism, staff turnover and poor performance, not to mention the legal and management time costs associated with stress cases. The employer might also be very concerned about the damage that poor management of stress can do to their reputation.
• Ethical and moral reasons - Understandably, many employers want to be seen internally and externally as good employers and therefore take their ethical and moral responsibilities very seriously. The Stress Policy provides an opportunity to clearly state their commitments in this regard.
• Political reasons - Large organizations, especially those in the public sector, are very aware that they need to be seen to be doing the right things when it comes to stress management. Generally they are more under the spotlight both from the regulatory authorities such as HSE and from the Trade Unions than private sector or smaller organizations.

Support with Development and Implementation of your Policy

We can provide you with specialist support with the development and implementation of your Stress Policy. Please contact us for details

Stress Policy Guide 5th Edition

We are currently writing the 5th edition of the Stress Policy Guide, which will soon be available for free download on this website. The updated guide will reflect changes in legislation (e.g. Equality Act 2010), new guidance and evaluation tools (e.g. NICE guidance) and the development of new frameworks (e.g. Stress Management Competency Framework).

The availability of the Management Competency Framework and associated tools enables new and more effective approaches to management development. This allows organizations to improve the stress management skills and behaviours of line managers, which are critically important in preventing and reducing stress at work.

The 2012 Stress Policy Guide will take account of these important developments so that organizations can ensure they maintain best practice in managing stress risks at work.

For further information and support please contact us using our contact form.