Nearly two out of five employees opt out of their employer’s Christmas party as workplace stress peaks at the year-end, new research from MetLife Employee Benefits shows.

Its nationwide study reveals that 37 per cent of staff do not go to their work Christmas party with the biggest reasons for not going including wanting to keep work and home life separate and clashes with family duties, while colleagues taking holidays was cited by 32 per cent as a driver of stress.

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Tom Gaynor, Employee Benefits Director of MetLife UK, said: “Stress is a major issue at work and has a major impact on business performance.  Unfortunately it doesn’t go away at Christmas.It is a pity that many people want to opt out of Christmas celebrations at work but it is clear that juggling home life and year-end work pressures is tough for millions of employees.

In 2014/15 stress accounted for 35 per cent of all work related ill health cases and 43 per cent of all working days lost due to ill health. The total number of working days lost during this period was 9.9 million days, which equated to an average of 23 days lost per case.

MetLife is focusing improving awareness of organisational resilience and wellness at work by offering support to help alleviate stress and build resilience. Its  Wellbeing Hub includes a dedicated area for managers to help them to support employees. 

“Employers – and particularly managers – can benefit from recognising the signs of workplace stress and taking early action to help employees cope, including a focus on physical and mental health at work,” added Gaynor