Council Solution

Employee Wellbeing Check

Why Councils Must Act on Workplace Stress: The Case for a Staff Wellbeing Checklist

Across the UK workforce, 1.8 million workers reported experiencing work-related ill health in 2022/23, with 875,000 cases attributed to stress, depression, or anxiety. This isn’t just a health issue, it’s an economic one. The UK lost 35.2 million working days last year due to work-related ill health and injury, with stress being a leading cause.

For councils, these figures are especially concerning. With limited budgets and high public service demands, every lost day impacts community outcomes. Stress-related absences can lead to delays, reduced service quality, and increased pressure on remaining staff.

The Financial Toll of Stress

Workplace mental health issues now cost the UK economy £57.4 billion annually, nearly double the cost from just a few years ago.

Councils, as major public sector employers, bear a significant share of this burden, through absenteeism and staff turnover.

Stress is a national crisis – and councils are on the front lines.

The Six Root Causes of Work-Related Stress

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identifies six key factors that, if unmanaged, lead to stress across all sectors:

Demands – excessive workload or unrealistic expectations
Control – lack of autonomy or decision-making power
Support – insufficient resources or guidance
Relationships – workplace conflict or bullying
Role – unclear responsibilities or expectations
Change – poor communication during organisational transitions

These stressors are especially prevalent in council environments, where staff often juggle multiple roles, face political pressures, and navigate frequent structural changes.

Why a Staff Checklist Works

Large-scale stress assessments and one-on-one HR sessions aren’t always practical – especially for busy councils with hundreds or thousands of employees. That’s why ANT developed the Employee Wellbeing Check: a fast, scalable solution that helps you spot stress early and take action before it escalates.

Inclusive by Design

Whether you have 500 or 5,000 employees, this tool is built for everyone. It’s accessible to all staff – either at scheduled intervals or available continuously.

Grounded in Research

The check focuses on the six core causes of workplace stress, giving employees a simple way to reflect and report in just a few minutes

Instant, Actionable Insights

Employees complete a short, intuitive questionnaire
Results are instantly visualised in clear, easy-to-read graphs
HR teams can analyse trends and plan targeted support
Questions can be customised to match your organisation’s needs

What You Gain

A window into “Real Life at the Coalface”
Early detection of stress across departments
Unlimited user licences—scale as needed
No training required—ready to use from day one
Affordable, effective, and easy to implement
Encourages open communication between staff and managers

Compliance and Care

The QUICK Wellbeing Check aligns with HSE’s legal guidance, helping councils meet their duty of care and foster a healthier, more resilient workforce.

Awareness Is Key

Currently, 79% of UK employees report moderate-to-high stress levels, with younger workers and women most affected. Yet, 45% feel uncomfortable discussing mental health with their manager, fearing stigma or repercussions.

By training managers to recognise and respond to stress, councils can build a culture of psychological safety.

This not only improves wellbeing but also boosts retention, engagement, and productivity.

Councils Have a Unique Opportunity

As public service leaders, councils can set the standard for workplace wellbeing. Implementing a Staff Wellbeing Checklist is a proactive step toward:

Let’s Build Resilient & Caring Council Teams

Workplace stress is a national issue, but councils have the tools to lead the change. A Staff Wellbeing Checklist is more than a form, it’s a commitment to care for your teams and personnel.

Getting control and understanding of employee wellbeing at the early stages is the most critical time – before it causes mental health and absenteeism. ANT’s simple wellbeing check enables everybody to answer the simple questions one a quarter etc. and using the results across the Council will provide you with valuable information on wellbeing.

View the overall status of wellbeing questions completed over a time period and see the stress levels quite clearly.

Drill down to get specific locations where wellbeing is at it lowest or drilldown by type of analysis to understand the individual types of wellbeing concerns.

We also use PowerBi to produce the graphs from our API. If you are using PowerBi then you can produce your own graphs.