As we find ourselves in the middle of summer holiday season, research finds that employee absence due to sickness or holidays is harming the mental health of colleagues who remain active in the workplace.

With school holidays underway more people take holidays and therefore the workloads for those at work increase at this time of year. We know that when colleagues are absent, their responsibilities often fall on the remaining team members. This can lead to increased stress, longer working hours, and burnout.

A new research report amongst employees at companies with 50+ employees shows that employee absence due to sickness or holidays is harming the mental health of colleagues who remain active in the workplace. The independent report* found that although a third of employers cited rising workloads as a main reason for employee mental health-related sickness absence, they recognise there are broader causal factors, and therefore the reasons are far more complex.

• 40% of employers say rising workload is the main reason for their staff being off work with mental health illness.
• 31% of employees surveyed felt that workload pressures would ease if fewer colleagues were off sick.
• Employers need to be better equipped to help colleagues better manage workload and remain resilient.
• With school holidays underway more people choose to take holidays and therefore workloads for those at work are likely to rise sharply at this time of year.

The report found that the employers surveyed who said that mental health conditions were the main reason for staff sickness absence in the last six months recognised that increased workload is a significant cause of their mental ill health. We know that when colleagues are absent, their responsibilities often fall on the remaining team members. This can lead to increased stress, longer working hours, and burnout, which in turn can weaken the immune system.

The report also found that increased pressure and expectation around performance at work contributed to mental ill health absence with 27.36% of employers stating this as a main reason. Coupled with a rising workload, this is recognised as a significant issue. The data also showed that over half of employers (65.09%) cite the cost-of-living crisis as another factor in the rise in mental ill health absence. Interestingly the size of the company also had an impact on the data with those employed by bigger organisations more likely to be absent. This could be due to less impact in bigger teams and more people available to take the extra workload on.

Pamela Gellatly, Strategic Development Director, HCML, says: “What’s interesting is that although employers are citing rising workloads as a main reason for mental health sickness absence, they also believe other lifestyle factors are at play. This is consistent with what we’ve found with our own clients, where over the past four years, 40% of employees assessed for a health condition present with a ‘blue flag’, which pertains to people’s perceptions about the relationship between work and their health condition. But what we also find is that there are other risk factors involved.”

The findings from the research found that 22% of employers suggested a lack of support due to hybrid and work-from-home situations was a reason for mental ill health absence. The report suggests that conflicting home and work demands (23.58% of employers cited this as a main reason for absence), job security (15.09%) and circumstances to do with personal and home life (46.23%) as well as those already mentioned above are all contributing factors of mental illness and ultimately cause a rise in workplace absence. A better understanding of these factors and clear solutions and signposts in place to help employees is crucial. With a struggling National Health System and long waiting lists for treatment, mental health support is not always quick and easy to access for many.

Pamela Gellatly, Strategic Development Director, HCML, says: “Managers have a duty of care to ensure that employees are not overwhelmed while their colleagues are off sick or on annual leave. When absences are known in advance, annual leave for example, it is important to review the workload to ensure it doesn’t impact the employees who are covering.

“Having strategies in place that assess not only the presenting symptoms but the underlying causation as well, can help employers understand what they need to address to reduce the occupational factors whilst employees can benefit from tailored care to ensure they received the most appropriate intervention and not just the standard 5-6 sessions of counselling.”

The report found that employers need to be better equipped to understand the root cause and contributory risk factors of mental ill health absence and how workload is viewed, in order to help colleagues better manage their workload and remain resilient. Employers seem aware that poor mental health and a rise in workplace absence are inextricably linked but finding key solutions to tackle this are less easily understood. Where our NHS cannot provide immediate help for those suffering from mental ill health, employers must offer solutions. EAPs and workplace benefits can offer targeted and specialist help for those with mental health issues. For many employers providing more in the way of health and wellbeing benefits could be the difference between a healthy, happy and present workforce and in turn a profitable company.

*Commissioned by HCML