And these are only the wage and salary costs. Social costs such as medical treatment, benefits etc. are not included in this figure. For the research the results of the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey carried out by TNO and Statistics Netherlands were combined with wage and salary information from employees.

The Work Balance Report (‘Arbobalans’) and a separate publication on the costs of sick leave, both focussing on these figures, were published at the end of November in 2014. The publications also include a breakdown of the figures by economic sector.

Sick Leave

Stress at work can be caused by excessive pressure of work, aggression, bullying or intimidation in the workplace. Employees subsequently go on long-term sick leave, or are absent from work with health problems. According to TNO, these absences cost Dutch employers some 2.2 billion Euros in 2012, and that is excluding the costs of, for example, coaching, replacing absent employees and loss of production.

Social Costs

But illness and absence due to stress at work do not only cost employees money, but also incur social costs. Society pays the costs of medical treatment, hospital admis - sions and incapacity benefits. TNO estimates the total social costs of workplace stress at between 4 and 5 billion Euros.

Treating the Symptoms

Sabine Geurts, a university lecturer in Stress and Recovery, says that employers often do not do enough to tackle the causes of stress at work.

– Employers will finance a course in stress reduction or mindfulness, but that is only treating the symptoms. Employers need to identify and deal with the causes of stress at work.

Burn-out coach Masja Mooy is also critical of employers.

– Employers often say ‘take two weeks off and then it’s back to full steam ahead’. But full steam ahead is the last thing people need.

TNO’s research shows that 1.3 million employees think their managers take no consideration of their welfare. Forty percent of employees want extra measures to be taken to reduce stress and excessive workloads.

– Stress is a problem that has to be tackled at source. But a complication is that the cause usually lies in the employee’s private life. Employees often find it difficult to talk about this, says the Dutch employers’ federation AWVN.

Campaigns

According to the AWVN, research by TNO from 2012 in fact shows that employers are actively engaged with reducing workplace stress.

– AWVN itself, on behalf of all employers, signed up to the campaigns of the Ministry of Social Affairs. These campaigns help to remove the taboo from the subject, and create a culture of open and safe communication. That is where the key to success lies, not in new rules and procedures.

Next week a new campaign by the Ministry of Social Affairs will be launched during Check Your Work Stress Week. On a special website, people can test whether they are suffering from work stress themselves. And during the week various companies will initiate a dialogue with their employees on work stress, and organize meetings on stress in the workplace.

Would you like to know more? The Dutch Maintenance Society is taking part in the European campaign together with the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS).

All members of the Dutch Maintenance Society have been sent a CD-ROM with information, films and tools as part of the Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress -campaign of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

Ellen den Broeder-Ooijevaar,

Manager NVDO