Work-related stress reaches record levels, says TUC
Britain is facing a work-related stress crisis, according to new figures released overnight by the Trades Union Congress.
The TUC said its latest survey of more than 2,700 union safety representatives shows stress has become the biggest health and safety concern in workplaces across the country.
Almost eight in ten respondents, 79 per cent, said stress was one of the main hazards they face at work, the highest level recorded since the survey began.
Stress was rated as the top concern in every region and almost every industrial sector, including education, health, local government and the voluntary sector.
The survey found workload was a major contributing factor, with 60 per cent of safety representatives citing excessive workloads as a key issue, and many reporting that pressure on staff had reached unprecedented levels.
Union representatives also raised concerns about employers’ responses. Two thirds said they were not aware of any risk assessment being carried out to address stress at work, while 43 per cent said they had not been consulted at all during their employer’s risk assessment process.
The TUC said its findings are supported by official figures from the Health and Safety Executive, which show record levels of work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2024 to 2025.
According to the figures, the number of workers reporting work-related stress rose from 776,000 in 2023 to 964,000 in 2024. The HSE said 22 million working days were lost due to work-related stress over the same period.
The TUC said the figures highlight both the human and economic cost of failing to address workplace stress, and called on government and employers to take stronger action, including enforcing existing health and safety law and reducing excessive workloads.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “These findings expose a growing national crisis. Stress is now entrenched as the biggest health and safety issue facing working people, and the situation is getting worse.
“No worker should find themselves lying awake at night from stress. But too many employers are ignoring the law, failing to assess stress risks, and piling impossible workloads onto staff. Workers are burning out, and they are paying with their health.
“Employers and managers need to do more to identify and reduce risks and to provide support to employees struggling to cope.
“It is vital that we now implement the Employment Rights Act quickly and in full, so that we can improve employment standards and create happier, healthier and more productive workplaces.”
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