Irish workplaces becoming more stressful and absenteeism rising

A third of respondents said working out of hours and almost a quarter of respondents said having little or no breaks affected their mental health.

Mental health-related absence is a growing concern for Irish employers, as more than half of employers recently surveyed reported that the proportion of absenteeism due to mental ill-health has increased in the last 12 months. 

According to a recent study of health and well-being promotion in Irish companies, the majority of Irish employers are not investing enough in mental health supports within the workplace. The report includes results conducted on over 1,500 companies in Ireland led by Dr Jane Bourke of Cork University Business School at University College Cork, Professor Stephen Roper of Warwick Business School and Director of the Enterprise Research Centre and Niamh Lenihan of UCC and Munster Technological University.