§ Dr. CableTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases 385W of work related stress have been reported in his Department in each of the last three years; how much compensation has been paid to employees; how many work days have been lost due to work related stress, and at what cost; what procedures have been put in place to reduce work related stress, and at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [136857]
§ Mr. LammyDetailed sick absence statistics are derived from medical and self-certificates, which are completed by staff or their GPs. While certain illnesses, such as "depression", "anxiety", "general debility" and even "stress" may be indicated on certificates, it is not possible to determine levels of "work-related stress". Consequently, we have no details on the number of working days lost due to work-related stress or the cost to the Department.
However, we know from recent staff opinion surveys that undue stress at work is a problem for some staff. To deal with this we have introduced a range of stress management courses for both managers and non-managers. Our in-house Welfare service is fully trained, and ideally placed, to deal with issues involving work-related stress.
My Department introduced a wide range of work-life balance policies during 2001, enabling staff to adopt more effective working patterns to better balance their work and home life. My Department won the Opportunity Now National Public Sector award earlier this year for these policies.
We have a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all our staff and, under the Government's Revitalising Health and Safety initiative, we are committed to meeting targets for reducing the number of working days lost generally to work related injuries and illnesses.