A poll has found that the need to take on extra responsibilities when other employees take their annual leave is causing extra stress for colleagues left behind in the office.
Nearly a third of more than 2,000 workers surveyed by Sovereign Health Care cited covering holiday time for their colleagues as increasingly stressful for them.
The only factor to come ahead of this in the professional pressure league is the prospect of facing redundancy, at 38%.
A poll has found that the need to take on extra responsibilities when other employees take their annual leave is causing extra stress for colleagues left behind in the office.
Nearly a third of more than 2,000 workers surveyed by Sovereign Health Care cited covering holiday time for their colleagues as increasingly stressful for them.
The only factor to come ahead of this in the professional pressure league is the prospect of facing redundancy, at 38%.
Over half of employees questioned reported an increase in stress levels at work compared with the previous year, while three out of five said they receive minimal or less support than what is legally required from their bosses.
When it comes to personal stress, employees are found to be more fraught when their colleagues go on holiday than when they themselves are moving house (27%), or experiencing a relationship breakdown or divorce (26%).
Russ Piper, chief executive of Sovereign Health Care, said: “It’s even more important that employers step up the wellbeing support they provide for employees to try and help ease some of the additional burden.”
Copyright Press Association 2011
