If the source of pressure is your line manager, find out what procedures are in
place to deal with this. If there aren’t any, talk to your trade union representative
or employee representative who can provide advice on a range of work-related
topics. Alternatively, you can speak to your HR department or Employee Assistance
Programme/counselling service if either exists

Try to identify the causes and what you can do to make things better. Ideally, tell
your manager at an early stage. If your stress is work-related, this will give them the
chance to help and prevent the situation getting worse. Even if it isn’t work-related,
they may be able to do something to reduce some of your pressure.

Stress is often a symptom of poor employment relations and can seriously
affect productivity. Organisations who talk regularly with their employees and
have sound systems and procedures in place for dealing with issues like
absence and discipline are much more likely to avoid work-related stress and to
be able to deal with potentially stressful situations when they arise.’ Acas

We can all feel stressed at times when we feel as though everything becomes too
much, when things get on top of us, or when we feel as though we are unable to
cope. It affects us in different ways at different times and is often the result of a
combination of factors in our personal and working lives.

There is a difference between stress and pressure. We all experience pressure on
a daily basis, and need it to motivate us and enable us to perform at our best. It’s
when we experience too much pressure without the opportunity to recover that we
start to experience stress. The HSE definition of stress is ‘the adverse reaction a
person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them’.