Stress policy

Cases of stress-related illness are on the increase. Having a workplace stress policy will not only assist your managers to deal with stress issues but also show commitment to your workforce that you endeavour to create a stress-free working environment and are willing to make changes where possible to eliminate such issues. A clearly written policy will also help your employees to understand what they need to do if they are experiencing problems and encourage them to raise these at an early stage in order that they may be more easily resolved.

The BusinessHR stress policy is fully customisable so can be adapted to meet your particular needs. All you need to do is:

• consider the suggested wording on our template stress policy
• consider whether you are able to offer an employee counselling service (this has been shown to considerably reduce the risk of a claim against you)
• customise your policy to suit your individual business environment and download it
• consult with your employees and managers and consider any representations or queries
• communicate the final version to your employees and managers
• consider whether your managers need any training in order to implement the policy, and ensure that they are aware of the absolute requirement to follow this
• review the document on a regular basis: we would recommend at least annually and also whenever there are any changes in your methods of working.

You may wish to also read our guide to handling stress !