One in ten employees admit that they took a leave of absence because of mental ill-being or mental problems

The mental condition of professionally active Poles is not optimistic. According to the MultiSport Index 2023 report, 90% of employees feel stress at work, of which 28% admit that stress accompanies them at work “every day or almost every day” and 18% struggle with it even several times a week. The alarming thing is that as many as half of the stressed respondents (49%) declare that they transfer stress from work to home and one in ten employees admit that they have taken sick leave due to ill-being or mental problems.

Most often employees feel overloaded with duties (47%). One in three of them (35%) admit that they experience anxiety/irritability at work. Poles also have problems with concentration and memory (29%) as well as motivation and commitment to work (27%). One in five (20%) notice problems related to their efficiency, including performing tasks on time. A similar percentage is passive rather than proactive in the workplace (19%).

– Despite the growing expectations of employees related to the implementation of anti-stress programmes by companies, only 39% of professionally active Poles admit that they have access to them. This means that three out of five employees in Poland do not receive any support in this regard, which certainly does not help in the fight against the increasingly worse mental condition of Poles. Currently, one in ten employees admit that they happened to take a sick leave due to ill-being or work-related problems. In this context, the new expectations of employees, such as additional time off due to excessive stress in the form of a benefit – the need currently reported by 71% of employees – are not surprising – says Dr. Adam Waszkowski, Analysis Director at Benefit Systems, MultiSport Index expert.

Dr. Dorota Molek-Winiarska, psychologist and doctor of economic sciences in the field of management science, points out that in a stressful situation the human body is prepared for a heavy physical load: the heart beats faster, the muscles are tense, cortisol is secreted, and the brain waves change. This is the “fight or flight” response.

– In a stressful situation the human body is prepared for physical work, which often does not happen because we are sitting in the office or at a meeting and then come home and spend time on the couch. Meanwhile, the point is to “finish” this stress reaction off and use up the body’s readiness for intense physical action. Therefore, employers should take care of the space and time for physical activity of their employees –points out the expert.

According to the MultiSport Index 2023 survey, two out of three (67%) employees believe that a more active lifestyle has an impact on reducing the number of sick leaves. At the same time, only one in five (18%) of them can say that they employers co-finance their physical activity after work (e.g. in the form of a MultiSport card). Meanwhile, according to the report, 72% of employees claim that after the pandemic sports cards offered by employers have become more important in the context of their psychophysical health.

– Currently, three out of five (58%) Poles believe that they are more physically active than people around them. In the case of MultiSport card users, it is 81% (increase by 23%). Additionally, 85% of cardholders engage in activity in a sports facility at least once a week, while the overall average is only 48%. Analysing the survey results, we see that the benefit in the form of a sports card guarantees that more people can meet the WHO recommendations regarding the optimal level of physical activity in their everyday life, which translates into a better psychophysical condition – says Dr. Iwona Piątkowska, doctor of physical culture in the field of biomedical sciences.

According to Dr. Molek-Winiarska, investing in anti-stress programmes, including the promotion of physical activity in the workplace, is crucial in maintaining good mental condition of employees. According to the expert, it also brings companies real financial benefits.

– In T. Cox’s research one dollar spent on the implementation of an anti-stress programme at the individual level brings up to 5.5 dollars in profit for the organisation because of increased work efficiency and less severity of stress symptoms. Dutch studies have shown that a 3% reduction in absenteeism resulting from stress-reducing programmes translated into savings of 40 million euro, while the British ones mention 1.13 million pounds saved over the two years of implementation – concludes Dr. Molek-Winiarska.

According to the WHO, if incentives to be more active are abandoned, by 2030 half a billion people will suffer from heart diseases, obesity, diabetes, or other non-communicable diseases related to physical inactivity. The estimated cost of this inaction is 27 billion dollars a year.