- Conference
- 2021 Virtual Special Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 25 March 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) definition that �Work-related stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work�, recognises that stress is closely related to excessive anxiety and depression, that 600,000 workers suffer from these conditions due to work and, and as a result, 17.9 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2019/20
Conference further notes that work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill health which can cause severe physical and psychological problems in workers affected.
Conference agrees that work related stress should be treated in the same way as other work place hazards, that it should be subject to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and should therefore be risk assessed to ensure that stress factors are removed or proper controls put in place to reduce them as far as possible.
Conference recognises that as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the workplace for many thousands of our local government members is now home and that while the areas that lead to work related stress may not have changed, the impact on staff is more likely to go unnoticed and unaddressed.
Conference also notes with concern, the reports from across branches indicating an increased interest from councils to sell off or decommission workplaces with, in some instances, little thought for the workforce who may not all be suited to a life of working from home.
In addition to this, conference is also concerned by research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development which identifies that long term absence due to stress is more likely in the public sector (71% compared to 45% in private sector services and 33% in manufacturing organisations), that stress is caused by excess workload, poor management and organisational change.
Conference is further concerned by research from the HSE which identified stress, depression or anxiety as more prevalent in public service industries, such as education; health and social care; and public administration and defence with the main causal factors being workload pressures, including tight deadlines, too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.
Conference notes a survey by the mental health charity Mind which found that public sector workers are less likely than private sector counterparts to feel supported when they disclose mental health problems. Half (49%) of public sector employees in the survey said that they felt supported whereas the proportion in the private sector was 61%. If undiagnosed, excess stress can lead to more complex issues resulting in greater harm to workers and more time off work.
Conference is also concerned that cuts to social care, reduced levels of staffing and increased outsourcing, have left staff demoralised, have reduced the opportunities for staff privacy at their break time, created issues around access to a staff room or other private space, all of which have further contributed to rising levels of work place stress.
Conference notes that since 2010, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost from local government due to the Westminster government�s austerity agenda. These cuts have caused vastly increased workloads for those still in work, leading to immense stress. Conference further notes that UNISON research has shown that Black members, women members, disabled members and LGBT+ members are particularly likely to suffer from workplace stress.
Conference therefore calls on the Local Government Service Executive Committee:
1) To campaign for local authorities and private companies providing local government services to recognise their responsibility to identify excess stress as a workplace and working from home hazard and to support workers experiencing excess stress with free measures such as mindfulness classes or counselling sessions in work time;
2)To develop a strategy to support local government branches through discussions with employers on the closure of workplaces in favour of widespread enforced home working;
3)To campaign against employers who seek to make workers more �resilient� in the face of excess workplace stress rather that tackle the underlying causes; and
4)To develop a communications campaign that will encourage workers to speak out when they are experiencing excess work-related stress.