Just how far do you have to go to make the office a sweeter place to work? At a microelectronics firm in Fife, Scotland, the workers appear to have just about everything they could wish for.
When it's a sunny day, they can walk into their garden to hold a meeting. For the 250-strong workforce, there's a chill-out zone, a bistro and a games room, all designed to curb the growing menace of stress and depression.
'No one abuses it,' said a spokeswoman for the company Ingenico Fortronic. 'People take time out when they need to, but we find that they stay longer and work harder. People are also a lot more relaxed.'
Stress is the big problem facing employers up and down the country as rates of sick leave soar. It is now a requirement that companies carry out risk assessments for stress. Some, like Ingenico, go to great lengths to help their staff avoid it.
Others are not so conscientious, and the public sector has come under fire for failing to recognise its problems. Health inspectors recently served an improvement notice on the West Dorset Hospital Trust after a complaint by a member of staff about stress levels.
Work-related stress has reached record levels, with 13.4 million lost days a year blamed on the pressures of office life. That means that each sufferer is taking an average of 29 days' sick leave.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive revealed earlier this year that stress has replaced backache as the biggest cause of absenteeism, and the financial burden is enormous. At 1995 prices, it costs the UK around £3.8 billion a year.
Cases of stress, depression and anxiety are said to have doubled in the past seven years, with one in five employees reporting that they feel stressed.
Yet no one can come up with a proper definition of what it is. In the workplace, it is generally described as an imbalance between the perceived demands of the job and the resources available to that individual to cope with the demands. The resources might be time, or ability or support from colleagues.
The problem is that it is not an organic disease although it can trigger them. For some people, burdened by an overwhelming number of troubles, stress leads to breakdowns and, if prolonged, can causes disease such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and peptic ulcers. The temporary effects stress has on the body can also be seen - increased production of adrenaline and cortisol, muscle tension and raised blood-sugar levels.
But for all those who feel that they don't have enough control over their lives, there are others who positively thrive on stress and seem to sustain high levels over long periods with complete impunity. In fact, one survey recently suggested that 77 per cent of people think that some stress in the office is a good thing, and half of them acknowledge that they work more efficiently when they are put under pressure.
Women appear to be taking a more active role in trying to cope with the stress of daily life. Spending on yoga and Pilates classes has rocketed, along with massage and acupuncture sessions, as many turn to natural therapies and exercise to relieve muscle tension and give themselves a life outside work and the family. 'Spiritual spending', as it is known, will reach £670m this year, one of the boom industries which seems to be taking over from the traditional gym classes.
Employers find themselves in a dilemma over how to act. At a time when many companies are tightening their belts, hiring counsellors or spending more on providing relaxation facilities may seem like an indulgent waste of money. But if they do not take the problems seriously, they might find themselves issued with enforcement notices which could eventually lead to prosecution for failing to implement stress-busting programmes.
A new, more robust approach has been taken by the Health and Safety Executive, which has now categorised it as a priority area. It has devised a questionnaire to measure levels of stress that asks employees about their roles, the support they receive from managers and colleagues, and organisational changes.
The HSE says it doesn't want to bring in more regulation, but some companies believe that if they don't adopt the organisation's management tools, they could find themselves more vulnerable to legal action.
One leading group of insurers said today that by producing management tools aimed at measuring the problem, workers are encouraged to be negative and to start blaming the firm for all their malaise.
Michael O'Donnelly, medical director of UnumProvident, which provides income protection insurance, said: 'Stress is not a traditional hazard like asbestos or lead. You cannot measure exposure and then define an acceptable limit because stress is a subjective phenomenon.
'Workplace stress is sometimes unavoidable - for example, in a downturn when it is necessary to make redundancies or during sudden expansion when employees may be asked to work overtime.
'Moreover, stress, as a normal human emotion, can have a positive function. Preventing all stress may deny employees the sense of achievement that can follow from overcoming a period of adversity or difficulty.'
But that thinking does not fit with the HSE's code, which sees it as worrying that employees are under so much pressure, and often have very poor communication with their managers. It stipulates that at least 85 per cent of a company's workforce should be positive about their job.
Bill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission, part of the HSE, said his organisation would 'continue to fight for people who are made ill by coming to work'.
'To those who allege that a bit of stress never did anybody any harm, I say don't turn the clock back. Recognise that people are your greatest asset and that a healthy and happy workforce is likely to be a more productive one.'
But what he is suggesting entails changing an entire business culture, according to some. Over the past decade there has been a marked shift in employees' expectations with which some companies seem to struggle. Demands for better training, a higher quality of life and most important of all, more time to spend on leisure activities or with the children, have all risen.
Dr Janet Asherson, head of environmental affairs at the Confederation of British Industry, said that younger employees expect far more in terms of training and support. 'In the past, when you started your job you were expected to learn on your feet and take the initiative whereas now people have pretty high expectations of the kind of training they are going to get. They also expect far more of their colleagues, both up and down the management chain, than they expect of themselves.'
You don't have to be an employer to worry about the way things are going. The Work Foundation, a charity which investigates job-related issues, said the motives behind the HSE's work is fine, but its approaches are wrong.
'Everyone deals with stress in different ways,' said Stephen Bevan, head of research at the charity. 'Something that might cause me problems might be invigorating for you. It's based on the false premise that you can measure and regulate it. You can't.
'We run the risk of catastrophising an aspect of life that is pretty unavoidable. If you work in a well-managed organisation, that might make you less vulnerable to it but no one can avoid unhappiness altogether.'
Bevan also believes that the roots of stress-related absence are often not caused by work at all. Rising divorce rates, social problems and binge-drinking may be just as much to blame. When employers set up phone hotlines for employ ees if they feel unhappy or under pressure, only one-third of the calls are work-related. The majority are about domestic or financial worries.
And then there is the matter of children. Schools are increasingly being told that they must not put pupils under too much pressure, and provide them with a sympathetic ear so that they can air their problems. Bevan said: 'What does it do to children if you tell them they are getting stressed out by exams? If they begin to think of the classroom as a stressful environment, how on earth are they going to cope with the gritty reality of office life?'
And breathe ... how to beat stress
Yoga or Pilates
The 'spiritual sports' find ways of linking mental relaxation with muscular relief, and are enjoyed by over one million Britons. Pilates also focuses on posture and can help prevent backache.
Having a hobby
Ballroom dancing, chess and photography are the kind of hobbies which are said to help employees to unwind at the weekend.
A healthy diet
Some foods raise the level of blood sugar, which can cause surges of anger or anxiety. Stress is linked to increased cortisol and adrenaline production, which can cause peptic ulcers and hypertension - and good nutrition will help counteract the damage.
Time out
The biggest gripe among workers is that they do not have the time to control their own lives. 'Time sovereignty', the ability to decide when and how you organise your day, gives workers a sense of control and often leads to a huge boost in morale.
Walking to work
Eschewing public transport and using your feet has a hugely beneficial effect. One study showed that Japanese men who started walking reduced their chances of a heart attack by 30 per cent.
Britain's Top 10 causes of stress
Unemployment
Money problems
Single parenthood
Family problems: children in trouble, sick parents
Relationship problems/divorce
Moving house
Retirement
Having a baby/infertility
Serious or terminal illness
Death in the family
