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Commenting on the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)/Simplyhealth Absence Management survey published yesterday which says that stress is the most common cause of long-term sickness absence, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'These figures show that the cuts, job losses, restructurings and pay inequalities are having more than just an economic effect. They are having a serious impact on people's health.

'Unfortunately there is still a tendency amongst many employers to think of it as 'just stress' but this is a real issue which can devastate people's lives and tear apart families.

'Stress is also avoidable and the TUC endorses the view of the CIPD that more needs to be done to prevent it at both senior and line manager level.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A release about the CIPD survey can be found at http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/_articles/absencemanagement051011.htm

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk