Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

104
In contrast, the CIPD (2011a) found that stress was the top cause of long-term absence (defined by the CIPD
as four weeks or more) in 58% of all organisations and in 70% of all public-sector organisations in the period 2010-
2011. Similarly, throughout the period of 2009 to 2011 mental health issues, including stress, were the secondhighest
reason given for long-term sickness absences in the participating organisation. When mental health issues
are further broken down, stress is the biggest mental health problem responsible for long-term days lost,
responsible for 9% of all long-term absences in 2009-2010 and 13.5% in 2010-2011.
Finally, it is worth noting that the number of days lost due to stress are generally understood to be underrepresentative
of the actual number of days lost. For example, a Department of Health-funded internet and radio
advertisement campaign (Time to Change, 2008) launched in 2008 urges employees to discuss mental health
issues, attempting to break down the stigma associated with mental health in the UK. This campaign illustrates
that the stigma surrounding mental health in this country is an important reason behind the under-reporting of
mental health-related illness in the workplace.
Table 4: Total number of working days lost due to stress (short and long-term), stress as a percentage of all mental health days lost, and
stress as a percentage of all days lost throughout the organisation.
Period
No. Working Days Lost
Due to Stress
Stress as % of Days
Lost to Ill Mental
Stress as % of all
Days Lost
Health
2010-2011 654.6 51.2 8.7
2009-2010 445.7 46.9 5.5
2008-2009 369.8 46.9 4.9
2008-2007 592.2 48 6.2