By Dr. Winnie Chege, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of REST Psychology
Sickness absence in one team has crept up over two quarters.
The work is getting done, but increasingly through late finishes and missed breaks. What began as a busy period is becoming the usual way of working.
For managers and HR, the question is what it is taking for people to keep delivering and whether that is sustainable.
What is work-related stress?
Work-related stress is an adverse reaction to excessive pressures or demands at work. Stress is not itself an illness, but it can affect physical and mental health even while someone continues doing their job.
When does pressure become a problem?
A demanding period does not affect everyone in the same way. Its impact depends on the intensity and duration of the demands, opportunities to rest, and the control, resources and support available.
Look at what people need to meet the demands. Do they have enough time, clear priorities, appropriate skills and access to help? Can they raise a concern or influence a decision that affects their work?
A demanding role can feel very different when those supports are available. Act on concerns early, including when attendance and performance look steady.
What can cause work-related stress?
Work-related stress can have several contributors. These six areas provide a useful starting point:
| Area | What it can look like at work |
|---|---|
| Demands | High workloads, emotional demands, long hours or difficult working conditions. Tasks increase without changes to deadlines or staffing. |
| Control | Responsibility for delivery with little say over work methods, pace, priorities or decisions. |
| Support | Guidance, equipment, management support or practical help is unavailable when needed. |
| Relationships | Conflict, bullying, harassment or unfair treatment goes unaddressed. |
| Role | Unclear responsibilities or competing instructions leave staff unsure what is expected and what takes priority. |
| Change | People are expected to adapt without clear information about what is changing or how it affects their role or job security. |
Adapted from HSE’s Management Standards.
The pressures can build on one another. A heavy workload becomes harder to manage when priorities clash and nobody can decide what can wait. Understanding that combination helps leaders choose a response that addresses the difficulty.
In the CIPD’s 2025 UK employer survey, workload was the most commonly reported contributor to stress-related absence among organisations that had experienced it.
What might you notice?
Someone who usually participates may become quieter or more irritable. They may struggle to concentrate, make more mistakes, experience physical symptoms or report poor sleep. Across a team, there may be more conflict, absence, turnover or people working while unwell.
These changes can have several explanations. A private conversation can help clarify what someone is facing, alongside appropriate support from a health professional where needed.
Look at changes over time and across the team. Good performance alone does not tell you how people are doing or whether the effort required is sustainable.
Why do people respond differently?
Skills, experience, health, caring responsibilities and access to support can influence how demands are experienced. People with the same job title may also be doing very different work.
A person who struggles should not automatically be labelled less resilient. Equally, one person’s ability to keep going does not establish that the conditions are reasonable for everyone.
Understanding individual circumstances and examining work-related risks are both necessary.
What can employers do?
Assess work-related stress risks and address the conditions contributing to the pressure. Counselling, employee assistance programmes and occupational health services can provide useful support. Preventing recurring problems may also require changes to workload, priorities, decision-making, relationships or how change is managed.
A practical starting point is to:
Find the pattern. Review overtime, absence, turnover, staff feedback and survey themes.
Hear from people doing the work. Involve staff and their representatives in identifying difficulties, gaps in support and possible responses.
Make the change concrete. Agree what will be reduced, delayed, clarified or resourced, and who has the authority to act.
Review conditions and experience. Check whether work becomes more manageable and how people are doing.
A manager may recognise the problem but lack authority to change staffing or deadlines. Responsibility for action needs to sit with people who can make the relevant decisions.
Where can REST Organisations help?
If staff keep raising stress concerns but the causes or next steps remain unclear, an independent assessment can help clarify what needs attention.
REST Organisations’ Advisory service brings employee experience and organisational evidence together to identify contributing factors, strengths, risks and priorities for action. We can also support the design, implementation and evaluation of the response.
Start a conversation with REST Organisations to discuss the issues you are facing and what support may be useful.
Research referenced
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2024). Job demands–resources theory: Frequently asked questions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 29(3), 188–200.
Sakuraya, A., Iida, M., Imamura, K., Watanabe, K., Asaoka, H., Ando, E., Inoue, A., Inoue, R., Iwanaga, M., Eguchi, H., Otsuka, Y., Kobayashi, Y., Komase, Y., Kuribayashi, K., Sasaki, N., Tsuno, K., Hino, A., Ebara, T., Shimazu, A., … Tsutsumi, A. (2026). Effects of participatory organizational interventions on mental health and work performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health, 68(1), Article uiag024.
Sinclair, A., & Suff, R. (2025). Health and wellbeing at work. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
World Health Organization. (2026, September 15). Mental health at work.
