UK workers face some of Europe’s biggest workplace stressors: exposure

British workplaces rank among the worst in Europe for long hours, tight deadlines and limited autonomy, without being more productive, according to a report prepared as the new Labor 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 highest proportions in Europe, while only a third could choose the pace at which they worked, the report says Opens a New Tab.

The report was written for the Healthy Working Life Commission — a body set up by the British Foundation for Health think tank with trade union representation — to improve working conditions called for in new employment legislation.

“The problem areas that need to be prioritized now are long hours, work intensity and lack of control or work autonomy,” wrote one of the report’s authors, Jonny Gifford, principal researcher at the Institute for Employment Studies.

Another co-author, former IES chief Tony Wilson, left the body in October to become a senior adviser at Britain’s Department of Labor.

Some businesses are concerned about the direction of the new government’s moves.

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

The report said conditions varied across sectors and were generally worst in construction, transport, warehousing, retail and hospitality. Among professional roles, nurses and teachers reported particular pressure.

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

“On almost every measure the UK ranks among the worst in Europe for workplace demands, control at work and work pressure,” the report said, adding that around half of Britons said they were burnt out at work.

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

“Given the UK’s lower labor productivity compared to peers such as France and Germany, these conditions do not seem justified on performance grounds,” he concluded.