ABSTRACT
As the nature of work in the developed world undergoes more and more change, as organisations downsize, de-layer and out source, so the stresses and strains on employees increase. In the United States, it is estimated that 54 per cent of sickness absence is in some way stress related (Elkin and Rosch, 1990). In Europe as well, the costs are high. From a recent study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Paoli, 1997) it appears that 28 per cent of over 15,000 European workers report that stress is a work-related health problem. In many developed countries the total cost of workplace pressure has been estimated at roughly 10 per cent of gross national product (Cartwright and Cooper, 1997; Cooper et al., 1996; Karasek and Theorell, 1990), stemming from sickness absence, labour turnover, premature retirement due to ill health, escalating health insurance and expenditure on treatment of the consequences of stress.
