Stress at Work: Signs, Causes, Your Rights and What to Do (UK)

Signs of work-related stress

Stress shows up in your body, your thinking and your behaviour, and often at work first. To tell if work is the cause, look for a pattern: do the signs ease at weekends or on holiday and return on Sunday night?

The first three rows are the NHS list, the last is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) list of changes in a worker. For the full list of physical and emotional signs, see stress symptoms. If the dread mainly hits before the working week starts, our guide to the Sunday scaries may sound familiar.

Signs of stress in a team or a colleague

The HSE says these can point to stress across a team: arguments, higher staff turnover, more reports of stress, more sickness absence, lower performance, and more complaints and grievances. In a colleague, look for a change from how they usually are; a quiet “How are you finding things?” is a kind first step.

When the signs are more serious

Get help sooner if you’re having panic attacks, you dread work every day, you can’t sleep for weeks, or you’re thinking about harming yourself (see when to get help). Chest pain should always be checked rather than put down to stress: see anxiety chest pain for the warning signs.

Stress or burnout?

Stress is usually too much: too much to do, too much pressure. The World Health Organization describes burnout as the result of chronic workplace stress that “has not been successfully managed”, with three features: exhaustion, feeling distant or cynical about your job, and getting less done. It’s an occupational phenomenon, not a medical diagnosis. Our burnout guide covers the stages.

The HSE points out that these signs can also be symptoms of other conditions, so it’s worth seeing a GP if they last more than a few weeks.

What causes stress at work: the six HSE areas

The HSE groups the causes of work-related stress into six areas of work design. If they aren’t managed well, they’re linked with poor health, lower productivity and more sickness absence. Knowing which area is the problem makes it much easier to ask for something specific.

The HSE notes that skills, experience, age or disability all affect how well someone copes with the same job. Feeling like a fraud in a new role can add to it: see imposter syndrome. And if you’re carrying the planning at home as well as at work, the pressure stacks up: see the mental load.

How common is work-related stress in the UK?

Very common, and rising. The HSE’s latest annual figures for Great Britain (published in November 2025, covering 2024/25, and still the latest when we checked on 30 October 2026) show:

• 964,000 workers had work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing), a rate of 2,770 per 100,000 workers.
• 409,000 of those were new cases that year, up from 300,000 the year before.
• 22.1 million working days were lost, an average of 22.9 days per case.
• Stress, depression or anxiety made up 52% of all work-related ill health and 62% of working days lost to work-related ill health.
• Rates in each of the latest three years were higher than before the pandemic (2018/19).

Rates were highest in public administration and defence, health and social work, and education. Workers most often blamed workload pressures (including tight deadlines and too much responsibility) and a lack of support from managers.

Pressure or stress: how much is too much?

Some pressure is normal, even motivating. In the HSE’s words, stress “is not an illness, but it can make you ill”. The line is crossed when the demands keep outweighing your resources (time, skills, support and say over your work) for weeks rather than days.

Research shows why it’s worth acting early:

• High demands with low control. A 2017 meta-analysis of cohort studies found that “job strain”, the combination of high demands and little control, was linked with a higher risk of clinical depression. In the published studies, the risk was about 1.8 times higher; in larger unpublished datasets it was about 1.3 times higher.
• Effort without reward. A 2017 review of eight cohort studies with nearly 85,000 employees found that people who felt their effort wasn’t matched by pay, recognition or security had about a 1.5 times higher risk of depressive disorders.
• Long hours. A 2015 analysis of over 600,000 people found that working 55 hours or more a week was linked with a 33% higher risk of stroke than a standard 35 to 40 hour week.

These studies show links, not proof that work alone caused the problems, but they echo the HSE’s six areas. If you’re exhausted, detached and dreading work most days, you may be moving towards burnout, which is the end point of long-term work stress.

How to deal with stress at work day to day

Self-help won’t fix a job that is genuinely too much; that’s for your employer to address. These steps can take the edge off while you tackle the cause.

1. Name the cause. The NHS says identifying the cause is the first step. Note when you feel worst for a week, then match it to the six areas above.
2. Take control of what you can. The NHS points out that feeling you have no control makes stress worse. Choose one thing you can change this week, however small.
3. Work smarter, not harder. Prioritise the tasks that matter, leave the least important to last, and accept that you won’t get to everything. Fewer small choices help too: see decision fatigue.
4. Take your breaks. If you work more than 6 hours a day, you’re usually entitled to an uninterrupted 20-minute break, plus 11 hours’ rest between working days. Use it to get away from your desk and outside if you can.
5. Set limits on out-of-hours contact. Turn off notifications after a set time, take work email off your phone, and agree response times with your team. A meta-analysis of 86 published studies found that people who mentally switch off from work in their own time report less exhaustion and better sleep and wellbeing.
6. Learn to say no, or “not yet”. “I can do that if X moves to next week” is a fair answer, and a clearer one than quietly taking on too much.
7. Calm your body in the moment. A few minutes of slow breathing between meetings can help: try box breathing or the quick techniques in how to calm down.
8. Move every day and protect your sleep. The NHS says exercise won’t make stress disappear but can reduce its emotional intensity. More ideas: how to relieve stress and how to lower cortisol naturally.
9. Avoid the crutches. The NHS warns that alcohol, smoking and caffeine bring short-term relief but create new problems.
10. Talk to someone. A colleague, friend or family member. Working from home can make stress harder to spot: see working from home and mental health.

Keeping it all in? See stress in men and high-functioning anxiety.

How to talk to your manager about stress at work

The HSE advises talking to your manager as soon as possible, because it gives them the chance to help before things get worse. Stress is not a weakness and can happen to anyone. Before you go in:

• Ask for a private meeting, in person or on a call, not a corridor chat.
• Bring two or three specific examples and link them to one of the six areas.
• Have one or two concrete requests ready. You don’t have to share medical details.

Afterwards, send a short email summarising what you agreed. It keeps a record and makes the plan easier to review. If the problem is your manager, the HSE suggests checking your workplace policies and talking to HR, a trade union or worker representative, an employee assistance or counselling service if there is one, or a mental health first aider.

Your rights: what your employer must do

• A stress risk assessment. Under health and safety law, employers have a legal duty to assess the risks to your health from stress at work and act on them, just as they would any other risk. The HSE says they should share the results with you. If there are five or more workers, the assessment must be written down.
• Duty of care. Acas says employers must do all they reasonably can to support workers’ wellbeing, treating mental and physical health as equally important.
• Reasonable adjustments if it’s a disability. Stress on its own isn’t classed as a medical condition, but long-term stress can lead to anxiety or depression. Under the Equality Act 2010, a mental health condition can count as a disability if it has a substantial, long-term effect (lasting, or expected to last, 12 months or more) on your normal daily activities. Your employer must then make reasonable adjustments, such as more rest breaks or help prioritising your workload. The Equality Act doesn’t apply in Northern Ireland, which has its own rules.
• Flexible working. All employees can ask for flexible working (different hours, start and finish times, days or place of work) from their first day in a job. Employers must deal with requests reasonably but can refuse for a good business reason. Different rules apply in Northern Ireland.
• Access to Work mental health support. This government scheme can offer a tailored plan and one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional to help you stay in work. You don’t need a diagnosis to apply, but you must be 16 or over, in paid work and living in England, Scotland or Wales (Northern Ireland has a different system). You can only get the mental health support once.

Stress risk assessments: what the HSE expects

The HSE’s Management Standards give employers a ready-made way to do it, built on the six areas above. The HSE says following this approach properly counts as “suitable and sufficient”, and its tools, including a staff survey called the Indicator Tool, are free.

As a worker, you can ask: has a stress risk assessment been done for my role or team, can I see the results, and what is being done about the area causing me the most pressure?

The HSE does act on this. In December 2025 it served a formal notice on a large UK university after finding its stress risk assessment was too generic and its policy wasn’t being put into practice, and required an action plan.

How to keep a record of work-related stress

If you may need to show that work is the cause, for a grievance, adjustments or time off, keep evidence as you go:

• A dated diary of your hours, workload, deadlines and any incidents, and how you felt.
• Emails or messages that show the demands or the behaviour, saved somewhere you control.
• Your written request for a stress risk assessment, and the reply.
• Notes of meetings with your manager, sent back to them by email.
• A GP appointment: your GP’s notes and any fit note record what’s affecting you.

If you need time off, a GP can give you a fit note. Our guide to being signed off work with stress covers fit notes, sick pay and going back. For advice on a dispute, Acas or your trade union are good first stops.

Stress Awareness Week 2026: rehumanising the workplace

International Stress Awareness Week runs from Monday 2 to Friday 6 November 2026, with Stress Awareness Day on Wednesday 4 November. The organiser, ISMA UK, has chosen the theme “Shaping the Future of Stress and Wellbeing: Rehumanising the Workplace”.

It’s a good moment to raise stress at work. Ideas: ask whether your team’s stress risk assessment is up to date, suggest the HSE’s free Indicator Tool survey, agree an email cut-off time, or swap one meeting for a walk. More in our Stress Awareness Week 2026 guide.

Outside work: your own routine

No supplement fixes stress at work: the job, your workload and your support matter most. Outside work, a steady routine of sleep, movement and time off helps you recover. If you’d like a supplement as part of that routine, here is what ours are, honestly.

Our Magnesium Glycinate Sleep Complex is an evening drink made with magnesium bisglycinate and citrate, plus glycine, L-theanine and botanicals. Magnesium contributes to normal psychological function. It also contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

Our Flow CBD Oil combines broad spectrum CBD with ashwagandha and maca in MCT oil. CBD isn’t a treatment for stress or anxiety, and neither is Flow. Because it contains ashwagandha, it isn’t suitable if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, and check with your GP or pharmacist first if you have a thyroid, liver or autoimmune condition, take any medication or have surgery coming up: see ashwagandha side effects. The FSA’s 10mg a day figure is precautionary advice rather than a legal limit, set while longer-term safety research continues. At Evopure we think it is a very cautious figure, and many adults use more. If you go above it, increase slowly, and check with your GP or pharmacist first if you take any medication.

All our products are for adults (18+) only. We don’t recommend our products during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

When to get help

• See a GP if you’re struggling to cope, the things you’re trying aren’t helping, or stress is affecting your sleep, health or relationships. A GP can check for other causes, talk through treatment and give you a fit note if you need time off.
• Time off: for 7 days or less you can usually self-certify. If you’re off sick for more than 7 days in a row, including weekends, you’ll need a fit note.
• Talking therapy: if you’re 18 or over (16 in some areas) and registered with a GP in England, you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies without seeing your GP first. Some employers also offer free counselling.
• Urgent help: call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment.
• Someone to talk to: Samaritans on 116 123, free, any time.
• Emergency: call 999 or go to A&E if you feel you can’t keep yourself safe.

Watch for the signs that stress is turning into burnout: exhaustion that rest doesn’t fix, feeling numb or cynical about work, and making more mistakes. Our burnout guide explains the stages and how to recover.

Related guides

• If long hours are part of the problem, see our guide to work-life balance, including your UK rights on hours, breaks and holiday.
• If you want to raise stress at work with your team, our Stress Awareness Week ideas for work are a good place to start.
• Your desk set-up matters too: see good posture at work for the HSE guidance on screens, chairs and breaks.
• Physical strain at work matters too: repetitive mouse and tool use is a common trigger for tennis elbow.
• Long days at a desk can show up as a tight upper back: see upper back pain from sitting at a desk.
• If stress at your desk shows up as tight shoulders, see what causes muscle knots and how to ease them.
• How work stress is linked to cholesterol, and how much it matters.
• If stress at work shows up as a tight band around your head, see how to get rid of a tension headache.
• For foggy days at your desk, see how to deal with brain fog.
• If afternoon tiredness is part of the problem, a power nap at work during your rest break can help you reset.
• A minute of slow breathing between meetings can help: our breathwork guide shows you how.
• Thinking of trying CBD for a busy working day? Read our guide to CBD oil for anxiety in the UK first, including drug tests, dose and when to speak to your GP.
• If your energy drops every afternoon at your desk, see 10 ways to beat the afternoon slump.
• A simple team exercise is the stress bucket: each person notes what fills theirs and one healthy tap to add this week.
• Work events such as being fired (47), a change in responsibilities (29) or trouble with the boss (23) all score on the Holmes and Rahe stress scale.
• Work stress and anxiety can feel alike; our guide to the difference between stress and anxiety explains how to tell.
• Saying thank you helps at work too; for school staff, see teacher Christmas gifts.
• If you are considering CBD for work stress, read how to choose a CBD oil for stress first.