Stress is a bigger absence problem for businesses than acute medical conditions such as cancer, Group Risk Development (Grid) has found.
New research from the trade body for the group risk industry, has, found stress-related mental ill health is the most common cause of long-term absence, of over four weeks, for almost one in six employers (15%).
This is the second highest cause of absence behind home and family issues (20%), and is even ahead of acute medical conditions such as heart attacks or cancer.
Tellingly, the problem of stress seems to be worse in the public sector, with 27% of public sector employers citing this as their main cause of absence compared with 13% in the private sector.
Following a year of budget cuts and redundancies, it indicates that these pressures have had an impact on the health of the workforce.
As a result of high absence levels through stress, almost one in five employers (19%) stated that stress or other mental health issues are the biggest health-related problem for their business.
This percentage rises to over a quarter (27%) for businesses with over 100 staff.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Grid, commented: "In times of increased economic pressure it is important for employers to consider firstly the wellbeing of their employees and what wider implications are suggested by high levels of stress or other mental illness, and secondly what provisions they have in place to ensure both the employee and the employer are adequately protected in case of long-term absence.
"As welfare reform moves forward, any business that has already embraced the value of integrated health, wellbeing and absence programmes will feel vindicated; any business that has not already understood how crucial this is will come to do so."
Stress Awareness Day is on 2nd November, aiming to highlight the problem of stress in the workplace.
