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Stress Awareness Month 2026 – how can we support employees in the workplace?
April 21, 2026
To mark Stress Awareness Month, employment law expert Rachel examines what stress is, when it becomes a legal concern for employers, and how to support your workforce.
High levels of stress and mental health related sick leave are a persisting issue in the UK workforce, with pressures going unaddressed and employees feeling that employers are not doing enough to support recovery from burn out. The Burnout Report 2026 reveals the risk of burnout remains high, with 9 in 10 (91%) adults experiencing high or extreme levels of pressure and stress in the last year.
Stress is a normal reaction to people having pressure or other types of demand placed on them. Some people thrive under a certain amount of pressure. However, when it becomes prolonged or excessive, it can have a significant impact on an employee’s wellbeing. Stress can impact an employee’s mental and/or physical health, resulting in performance in the workplace being affected.
If stress is not properly managed, it can cause burnout (physical and emotional exhaustion), anxiety and/or depression. Physically, it can increase the risk of heart disease, back pain, digestive conditions (such as IBS) and skin conditions.
There are many factors that can cause an employee to feel stress in the workplace. These include but are not limited to:
It is also important to recognise that stress from outside of the workplace can have just as significant an influence on employees and their performance at work. Factors such as poor health, financial worries and poor sleep as well as issues arising in an employee’s family life have substantial impacts.
Other factors can also affect how prone an employee is to stress and how they deal with it. These include an individual’s life experiences, their upbringing and their environment.
For employers, it is important to look out for the common signs of stress in employees. These can include:
The key to supporting employees during stressful times is to be observant and non-judgmental when it comes to an employee’s performance. If an employee is noticeably less productive and appears to have lost their motivation to get tasks done, which is having an impact on the quality of their work, it is important to first consider whether they could be experiencing high stress or possible burnout. Employers must ensure they notice the warning signs about the employee’s wellbeing rather than raising an issue of competence in the workplace.
As part of their statutory health and safety obligations, employers in the UK have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work. In some circumstances, they are required to complete risk assessments and act on them. Even where this isn’t mandatory, stress risk assessments can be helpful in identifying and managing sources of stress, which can have a knock-on positive effect on employee wellbeing and productivity.
There are six key areas of work which can affect stress levels. These are:
It is important that employers manage these properly, assessing the risk of stress in these areas and the related impact on mental and physical ill health. This should be carried out in the same way as any other work-related health and safety risk assessment.
If an employer has 5 or more employees, they are required to produce a health and safety risk assessment. If there are less than five employees, whilst the requirement is not the same, it is good practice to have a risk assessment that is written down, as it allows for potential review if something changes in the future.
When undertaking such a risk assessment, it could be beneficial to review policies on harassment, bullying and discrimination as well as ensuring your first aid needs assessment considers both physical and mental needs. Mental Health First Aiders can be a useful source of support and guidance here.
In order for stress to be considered as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, it needs to be an impairment which has an adverse effect on the employee’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The adverse effect needs to be both long and substantial.
In typical circumstances, an employee’s stress would not be considered long term as they are usually signed off for a short period of time to rest and recover before returning to work. However, when an employee is signed off for an extended period of time due to stress in the workplace, that does not indicate the stress they are suffering amounts to a disability.
Employment tribunals have made a distinction between stress caused by ‘adverse life events’ (which can include issues at work) and stress related health conditions such as depression and or anxiety.
When stress is considered to be caused by an adverse life event, the tribunal is not likely to find that there is a disability because there is no day-to-day, long term, impairment.
If an employee does meet the definition of disability, this means they are protected from discrimination and that their employer has an important legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for any disadvantages they suffer as a result. It’s really important to take both legal and medical advice if you might be facing this situation.
If an employer spots signs of stress, it can be helpful to have an informal chat with the employee. Early action in these circumstances reduce the likelihood of an employee being absent from work for an extended period of time. Being available to employees to discuss how they are feeling and the pressures they are under can be beneficial, as it gives the employer a chance to implement changes to help the employee. Completing a wellness action plan can be a useful tool to support an employee’s mental health.
If an employee raises a concern, this should be dealt with promptly, and in some cases formally under a grievance procedure. Problems and disputes shouldn’t be allowed to fester, as this can increase the employee’s stress levels and make it difficult to de-escalate an issue.
Additionally, encouraging employees to look after their physical health can be beneficial. Physical wellbeing has a positive impact on how individuals feel. Adding movement into the working day, as much as the employee’s role allows, can have a significant impact on their levels of stress and resilience throughout the working day.
Whilst employers cannot prevent all stress in the workplace, being proactive in ensuring employees are working in a supportive culture is key to reducing the impact that stress has on an employee.
Our employment law and HR experts can advise you on what you need to do to support and manage employees in this area. We also regularly deliver training to employers in relation to disability discrimination, reasonable adjustments, and managing employees.
If you’re facing an Employment Tribunal claim, we can help steer you through that process and represent you in the proceedings, or assist you to reach a settlement if that is the best option for you.
Get in touch with Rachel using rford-evans@darwingray.com, our contact form, or via 02920 829 120 today to see how we can help you.
To speak to one of our experts today, please contact us on 02920 829 100 or by using our Contact Us form for a free initial chat to see how we can help.
