UK workers face some of Europe’s greatest job stress, report says

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) – British workplaces rank among the worst in Europe for long hours, tight deadlines and limited autonomy, without being any more productive, according to a report prepared as the new Labour government plans tougher rules for employers.

Three fifths of the workforce reported tight deadlines and two fifths had to work at high speed, among the largest proportions in Europe, while only a third could choose the pace at which they worked, the report said.

The report was produced for the Commission for Healthier Working Lives – a body set up by Britain’s Health Foundation think tank with trade union representation – to improve working conditions required in new employment legislation.

“Problem areas to prioritise now are long hours, work intensity and a lack of control or work autonomy,” wrote one of the report’s authors, Jonny Gifford, principal research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies.

Another co-author, former IES chief Tony Wilson, left the body in October to become a senior advisor to Britain’s labour ministry.

Some businesses are nervous about the new government’s direction of travel.

On Monday the Confederation of British Industry warned that tighter employment rules risked exacerbating problems caused by a steep rise in social security taxes and the minimum wage which it predicts will reduce employment, pay and longer-term investment in the economy.

The report said that conditions varied between sectors and were generally worse in construction, transport, warehouses, retail and hospitality. Among professional roles, nurses and teachers reported particular strain.

Much of the data came from a 2021 European Union survey of working conditions. Britons reported above-average relations with colleagues and managers, but fared more poorly otherwise.

“On nearly every measure the UK ranks among the worst in Europe for workplace demands, control at work and job strain,” the report said, adding that around half of Britons said they were exhausted from work.

Stress at work had increased over the past 25 years, the report added.

“Considering the UK’s lower labour productivity compared to peers such as France and Germany, these conditions do not seem justifiable on performance grounds,” it concluded.

(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)