Stress Awareness Week: employers reminded of legal duty to act

As Stress Awareness Week 2025 (3–7 November) gets underway, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding employers that work-related stress is a legal health and safety issue, not simply a wellbeing concern.

Work-related stress remains one of the leading causes of ill health at work. In 2023/24, 776,000 workers reported experiencing stress, depression or anxiety, accounting for nearly half of all self-reported work-related ill health and contributing to 16.4 million lost working days.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are required to assess and manage stress risks in the same way as any other workplace hazard — by identifying potential stressors and taking steps to address them before they cause harm.

HSE’s Working Minds campaign encourages employers to take a proactive, structured approach through five key steps:

• Reach out: start the conversation
• Recognise: spot the signs and causes of stress
• Respond: agree actions and make changes
• Reflect: review what’s working
• Make it routine: embed prevention into daily practice

The Stress Talking Toolkit supports managers in discussing the six main causes of stress — demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change — and helps identify practical measures for improvement.

“Prevention is better than cure,” said Kayleigh Roberts, HSE’s work-related stress policy lead. “By acting early, employers can protect wellbeing, reduce absenteeism, and retain skilled staff.”

During Stress Awareness Week, HSE is urging employers to review their stress risk assessments, start open conversations using the Talking Toolkits, and signpost managers to free Working Minds learning modules. Early action, it says, can reduce sickness absence, improve morale, and strengthen workforce resilience.

HSE resources and toolkits can be accessed at hse.gov.uk/stress.