Relax & unwind | How to take care of staff wellbeing this Christmas

2020 has undoubtedly been an extremely stressful year for all HR practitioners. According to the latest data released in the Government’s Labour Force Survey, over 828,000 UK workers are currently suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. That equates to a massive 17.9million working days lost due to stress this year alone.

What’s more, these numbers represent a steep increase in cases of stress and depression; the largest increase since the report was first undertaken in 2001. And whilst poor health due to the coronavirus crisis has contributed to overall absence, stress, depression or anxiety actually accounted for 51% of all work-related ill-health cases and 55% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.

It’s obvious that workers are feeling both physically and mentally fatigued by this challenging year, which makes taking time away from work to unwind and de-stress absolutely essential. So, how can workers ensure that they’re properly utilising the time they’ve been given off around the festive period?

Remain as social as possible