December ‘most stressful time of year’ for many employees
Stress is driving some employees to opt out of the Christmas party as 37 per cent decide not to attend festivities, a survey has found.
The research, with 1,067 full time employees, found that the main reasons people didn’t go to their work party were because they wanted to keep work and home life separate (41 per cent) or the date clashed with family duties (24 per cent).
The survey, conducted by Consumer Intelligence for MetLife Employee Benefits, showed that in fact very few staff view Christmas as the most wonderful time of the year. More than two-fifths (42 per cent) of respondents said December is one of the most stressful months of the year.
With presents to buy, competition with colleagues to get the best days booked as holiday and projects to finish before the end of the year, the pressure builds up. Respondents said that the biggest causes of stress in December were balancing work and home life (38 per cent) and colleagues taking leave in the run up to the festive break (32 per cent).
And with such high stress levels, letting their hair down at their Christmas party is not much consolation for many employees, while nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of survey respondents said they do not even have a Christmas celebration at work.
Tom Gaynor, employee benefits director at MetLife UK, said: “It is a pity that many people want to opt out of Christmas celebrations at work but it is clear that juggling home life and year-end work pressures is tough for millions of employees.
“Employers – and particularly managers – can benefit from recognising the signs of workplace stress and taking early action to help employees cope, including a focus on physical and mental health at work.”
In October this year, the CIPD Absence Management Survey 2015 found that two-fifths of employers were reporting an increase in employee mental illness. Respondents to the CIPD’s annual survey identified heavy workloads, management style and difficult relationships with colleagues as the main causes behind stress and anxiety in the workplace.
The 2015 survey marked the sixth consecutive year that more than 40 per cent of respondents to the survey have reported a rise in mental ill-health at work.