Stress is the most common cause of long-term absence in the workplace, new survey reveals

Stress has become the most common cause of long-term absence and the second most common cause of short-term absence, after minor illness, data from the 2016 CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence management survey has been able to suggest.

Almost a third of organisations say they have seen an increase in stress-related absence over the past 12 months, with workloads remaining the most common cause of stress at work, followed by non-work factors (for example relationships and family) and management style, according to the 1,091 HR professionals surveyed for the study.

Increased workloads and longer hours are the main generators of stress for employees, since organisations who say a long working hours culture is the norm are more likely to report they’ve seen an increase in stress-related absence over the past year. The survey found that a higher proportion of survey respondents believe long working hours are the norm in their organisation (56% report this is the case to at least a moderate extent, compared with 43% in our 2015 survey).

Non-work stress generating factors can also be mitigated by using flexible working options/improved work-life balance to help identify and reduce stress in the workplace.

Time and attendance and employee management systems can help mitigate the effects of long and short-term absence

Tensor plc is a market leader in the employee management systems’ segment. We supply an extensive range of systems designed specifically to help HR departments record accurate data regarding the employee’s activity, their performance, as well as their attendance.

Our flagship WinTA.NET integrated workforce management solution incorporates a dedicated Absence Planning and Entitlement Management feature.

WinTA.NET is a web enabled, mobile / wireless technology based Time & Attendance system designed for those companies employing 20 people to 10,000+. The solution provides total control over the creation of working rules, Access Control, Job Costing and System Security and has specifically been designed for multiple companies, each managing multiple sites.

Our comprehensive, yet user-friendly software comes pre-loaded with graphical calendar charts that provide a colourful way of viewing an individual’s or a department’s absence records.

Each employee can be allocated different entitlements for absence such as annual leave or allowed sickness. As absence is booked and taken, the remainder available for each entitlement is updated. Entitlement formulae are used to calculate more complex entitlements calculated on a rising scale based upon length of service.

WinTA.NET supplies the relevant managers with information on employee’s absences through warning email notifications or via hardcopy reports. After that, the system would rapidly identify missing employees that are expected to be at work and then informs you via automatic email reporting reports distributed by email.

If you’d like to find out more about the Tensor workforce management solutions, just contact our team or Book a Demo, we’ll be more than happy to answer all of your questions and queries.