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How to deal with stress at work

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Mental health is something that we all have, and just like our physical health it can fluctuate. But how should you manage it?

As well as looking after our physical health, it’s imperative that we pay attention to our mental health too. The modern workplace can be extremely rewarding and bring a great deal of purpose to our lives. However, it can also be stressful and can sometimes have a negative impact on our mental wellbeing if stress levels go unchecked.

Stress and poor mental health is becoming much more of a common problem in the workplace today; it causes over 70 million working days to be lost each year. In fact, research found that one in 10 people have taken sick days due to mental health issues in the last year. What’s more, only three in 10 UK workers would be comfortable discussing their mental health with their employer.

To help ensure you can manage your stress levels so that they complement, not complicate your work life, we’ve developed some guidance on what causes and how to identify workplace stress; advice on how to reduce stress, and your legal rights below.

Major causes of work-related stress

Before it turns into a problem, it makes sense to detect what causes you stress in the workplace, so you can work on doing something about it. StepStone HR Director, David Clift, pinpoints common causes of work-related stress:

Workplace demands

Some modern-day workplaces take no prisoners. If the organisation you work for is lucky enough to be constantly busy, then it’s very easy to get overloaded or struggle with the work you need to do. You may have a poor work-life balance, which can put a strain on your personal and home lives.

Bad relationships

A lot of jobs will require regular contact with people at work.  If you’re having problems with people at work, especially your boss, the day-to-day can get very difficult, very quickly. If relationships break down, this can cause a great deal of stress. You can also feel stress if you feel particularly isolated or are treated unfairly.

Job uncertainty

This can come in different forms. If there are difficulties in the wider business, you may have worries about keeping your job. If you don’t know what your job involves and workloads vary widely, you may get confused about your goals and how you should be performing. This can all cause stress.

Identify what is causing your stress

One good way of identifying stress triggers is to keep a daily record which details how you felt at certain points of your day – in particular noting anything that made you feel stressed or unwell. For instance, looming deadlines may be a trigger for some individuals. For others, it may be certain meetings with clients or colleagues that cause them some discomfort.

By keeping a record of how you feel after certain situations, you will start to see patterns of behavior emerging. You should ask yourself the following questions to record your stress:

1. Where were you when you started to get stressed?
2. Was there a person involved?
3. How did you react?
4. How did the situation make you feel?
5. How did you feel immediately after the situation?

How to deal with stress at work

Image: Adobe Stock

Practical steps to reduce stress

All jobs have the potential to cause stress, so it’s critical to spot and manage it in the workplace before it affects your overall health. Here are a few practical tips that Clift suggests could help you:

1. Learn to say no. Making sure you understand your capabilities and time management is critical to avoid overwork. Only you will know when possible turns into impossible, and one key skill to manage workplace stress is to say no when you should. You may be tempted to take on more work than you can handle to win praise in the short term, but in the long term you might be asking for trouble.

2. Build a positive relationship with your boss. This is crucial. It helps in terms of managing workload – you can offer specific, measurable ways why you might be doing too much and work out solutions. In addition, you can speak to your boss about creating a work environment that allows you to perform best at your job without creating any needless stress.

3. Establish boundaries. The modern-day workplace and always-on connectivity can certainly cause stress, especially if you feel required to be in touch with work 24 hours a day. It’s important to set boundaries – leave work on time if possible and cut yourself off work email when you get home. This will also provide perspective – although work is important, it’s not important enough to negatively affect your personal life.

4. Keep healthy, recharged and relaxed. Although tempting, as they can provide short-term relief, alcohol and smoking are not good ways to combat stress. Much better is exercise and relaxation techniques such as mindfulness. Also, make sure to take holidays when you need to – everybody’s batteries get run down at some point, and time off is a great opportunity to recharge them.

Ask for help

According to the Totaljobs study, just 3 in 10 UK workers would be comfortable discussing their mental health with their employer. Of the reasons they don’t feel comfortable, worries about employers thinking negatively of them (35%); the stigma attached to mental health (32%); embarrassment (32%); not getting the right support (32%), and impact on their chances to progress (23%) were the top five. However, despite these feelings, it’s important to remember that you are not alone.

Today, organisations across the world are recognising the importance of good mental health, not only to the wellbeing of their staff, but to the business. In fact, even the Ministry of Defence has recognised the importance of mental health and launched a new charitable trust, The Royal Foundation – with Prince Harry, to help the strongest and bravest men and women with mental health.

David Clift, HR Director StepStone, believes that speaking to someone, whether it’s a manager or a loved one, can really help ease the burden:

“While dealing with stress, pressure and your mental health can make anyone feel isolated, it’s important to talk to someone. Most organisations take stress and mental health extremely seriously, and will be able to advise you on what to do to remedy the situation.

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to you manager, then reach out to your HR team or someone else in your company. Opening up can be the hardest step, but it will make you feel so much better.”

Employers are legally obliged to help you

While there are no specific laws aimed at workplace stress, under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to any employee experience a disability. This includes a mental health problem (which can arise from workplace stress) if it has a substantial, adverse, and long-term effect on normal day-to-day activities.

Equality Act Facts:

1. It ensures that you’re protected from discrimination when applying for a job, at work, made redundant or dismissed

2. Employers can’t ask you about your mental health before they offer you a job

3. However, if you have a mental health problem and want protection by the Act you must tell your employers

4. You must show that your mental health problem is a disability. Under the act, ‘Disability’ has a special meaning and includes mental health

As well as work-related stress, outside factors could come into play, such as bereavement, relationship problems or disability. Make sure you make your employer aware of the stress you’re under. Otherwise, they won’t be able to offer the necessary support that might help. Employees also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and of others.

In cases where matters have escalated to dismissal, if you haven’t taken the steps to inform your employer there was a problem in the first place, they can use the fact that they weren’t aware of your problems as part of their defence.

How to deal with stress at work

Image: Adobe Stock

Your legal right to make stress claims

It’s an unfortunate situation where an employee makes a legal claim against an employer due to work-related stress, but it does happen. Such claims could be for personal injury or constructive dismissal (for example if an employee feels forced to resign because of the stress they are experiencing at work).

Personal injury claims

A personal injury claim would arise from the duty of care that employers must staff and to provide a safe place of work.

The problem must involve a recognised psychiatric illness, such as clinical depression, and you would have to show this was solely caused by stress at work.

You would need to show that it was reasonably foreseeable by your employer that you would develop a mental illness. They must also have been made aware of your worsening condition.

Employers are usually entitled to assume that an employee can withstand the normal pressures that the job entails, and are entitled to believe what they are told by an employee.

Constructive dismissal

The issues you’re experiencing must be sufficiently serious for you to resign and you would normally be expected to lodge a grievance (or at least raise the issue internally) to see if it can be dealt with before taking the step to resign from work. If an employer first dismisses you due to your work-related stress, you may have a claim for unfair dismissal.

Sometimes an employee’s condition can meet the criteria of being a disability, which is a “protected characteristic” under the Equality Act. If that is the case, then as well as the above claims, you may be able to make a claim for disability discrimination. As well as disability discrimination claims involving your dismissal, they may also cover situations where your employer fails to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace aimed at alleviating your stress.

Try to manage your work stress, but don’t be afraid to use your legal rights

Make sure you find ways to deal with stress issues, as they can hurt your general health and performance. If it does get particularly bad, you may not wish to make too many waves at work, fearing that you find yourself out of favour and out of a job.

However, you shouldn’t forget that you ultimately do have certain legal rights, so don’t be afraid to make use of them. Unchecked stress can cause long-term illness, and this could affect your ability to find new work. Absences due to stress could be disclosed to new employers.

If you cannot resolve matters with your employer, and you don’t wish to make a legal claim, then you may have no option but to leave and change jobs. Sometimes a fresh start is all that’s needed.

You may want to seek legal advice before you do so, however, as an employer could be receptive to a mutual departure of your employment which could include a financial package and an agreed job reference.

Spotting the signs of colleagues

But it’s not just your own mental health to be aware of. The charity Mind has also been campaigning for managers to provide better policies and practices for good mental wellbeing at work. If you are a manager, the first important step is to be able to recognise when a colleague is suffering from stress.

Emma Mamo, Policy and Campaigns manager at the mental health charity Mind says:

“Changes in behaviour can be an indicator that a work colleague might be stressed. If they’re usually very outgoing but are becoming withdrawn or are being unusually irritable for example then it could be a sign that they’re having problems with stress. Other things to look out for could include poor concentration or people simply being tense and over-reacting, similar to when we are under other types of pressure and we can’t relax.”

If you spot these signs in a colleague or employee, you need to know how to handle the situation. Emma continued:

“When you are worried about someone it’s easy to go wading in, but remember that any action you take should depend upon how you get on with that colleague and what your relationship with them is like. If you feel that you’re in a position to raise it directly with them without causing more pressure or discomfort, then ask them if they are ok and mention that you’re worried that they’re stressed.

If they don’t want to open up though or you don’t feel that you’re the right person then don’t force the issue as that can be even more stressful for them. If you can, then encourage them to speak to their line manager as they should be in a position to help.”

Mental health is something that will affect everyone at some stage in their life, so remember to talk about anything that is causing you stress, and keep an eye on others. We’re all in it together!

Related Articles

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