Work/life balance beats stress or mental health as business threat - Grid

Stress and mental health have taken a back seat as UK bosses worry most about employee’s work/life balance Group Risk Development (GRiD) has said.

A survey, by the trade body for the group risk industry, survey of 500 employers with 5-1000 employees, found that maintaining a good work/life balance ranked as the top health issue for more than 1 in 5 employers (21%).

This is ahead of stress and mental health issues (19%) - currently cited as the most common cause for workplace absence.

The results suggest employers appreciate a long hours culture can lead to problems with morale and could increase stress related absence in the longer term.

Interestingly, 32% of employers suggest that their absence rate has improved over the last 12 months with 50% believing their absence rate is lower than the industry average.

However, in times of economic uncertainty employees are more likely to turn up for work - even if they should really be at home.

More than one in three employers (38%) said taking steps to improve work/life balance was top priority. By comparison, 27% said actively managing workplace stress was their key goal.

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, commented: "The recently published Sickness Absence Review recognises the importance of supporting employees to remain in the workplace.

"As welfare reform moves forward, any business that has already embraced the value of integrated health, wellbeing and absence programmes will feel vindicated while businesses that have not already understood how crucial this is will come to do so.

"The Group Risk industry fully understands the importance of early intervention - particularly for managing stress in the workplace - and many GIP policies include valuable tools to do this, such as free or discounted Employee Assistance Programmes, vocational rehabilitation and counselling.

"If employers include a reappraisal/restructure of protection, ill-health and sickness absence provision - instead of just purchasing piecemeal - they get something back in return."