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I would contact Professor Simon L. Dolan who was a colleagueof mine at ESADE.  Simon wrote a wonderful book entitled, "Stress, Self-esteem, Health and Work."  He has a vast amount of experience on the subject and has an international perspective. 

His contact information is as follows: simon.dolan@esade.edu

Best of luck...we need so much more research in this critical domain!

----- Original Message -----
From: Deirdre McCaughey <dxm68@PSU.EDU>
Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:37 am
Subject: Re: Any empirical "facts" regarding cost of workplace stress?
To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu

> Try the Canadian Policy Research Network, Duxbury & Higgins, 2001
>
> http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=52.
>
>
>
> It does has some Canadian info that might help you.
>
> Good luck and please post a list if you get enough info to put one
> together.
> Thanks, Deirdre
>
>
>
>
>
> Deirdre McCaughey
>
> Assistant Professor
>
> Department of Health Policy & Administration,
>
> College of Health and Human Development,
>
> The Pennsylvania State University,
>
> 601F Ford Building,
>
> University Park, PA
>
> 16802-6500
>
> (814) 863-8130
>
> mccaughey@psu.edu
>
>
>
> From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv
> [mailto:OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of Susan M Jensen
> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 5:38 PM
> To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
> Subject: Any empirical "facts" regarding cost of workplace stress?
>
>
>
> Hello all -- I'm trying to find some reliable information on the
> cost of
> workplace stress. I can find lots of articles in the popular press
> proclaiming how "stress costs businesses billions of dollars each
> year".But when I search for more evidence to back up claims such
> as "experts at
> the American Institute of Stress estimate $300 billion is spent
> each year on
> stress-related compensation claims, reduced productivity, etc" I'm
> coming up
> short.
>
>
>
> I did find an article by Riga (2006) describing a study that found
> 20% of
> payroll of a typical firm goes toward dealing with stress related
> problems.......would anybody know of other academic articles that
> mightprovide substantiated evidence of the cost of workplace
> stress to
> businesses?
>
>
>
> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated - thanks!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Susan M. Jensen, Ph.D.
> Department of Management
> College of Business & Technology
> University of Nebraska at Kearney
> West Center 255W
> Kearney NE 68849
> (308) 865-8189
>
>

The problem with the calculation of stress costs is that there is no agreement what to include: * Is it just ABSENTEEISM and within there just the cost of sick leave? Or is it also costs relating to overtime of colleagues, their quantitative overload, replacement workers, disability, return to work, managing disability cases, loss of intellectual capital etc. * What about PRESENTEEISM and costs related to equipment breakage, work- related accidents, reduced quality, judgement errors, ...? * And then, following Brun's approach, there are costs that are common to both like health insurance premiums, substance abuse, internal/external workplace health service, legal costs, loss of productivity, lost opportunities, ... Have a look at Brun's & Lamarche's "Assessing the costs of work place stress. Research report" from 2006: http://www.cgsst.com/chaire/stock/eng/doc273-809.pdf. It is the most comprehensive framework I have found so far. If you are looking for numbers from e.g. the UK you can check out * Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) * Health and Safety Executive (HSE) * National Center for social Research (NatCen) * Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Ines O'Donovan PhD Researcher Leadership & Stress Management Department of Management Learning & Leadership Lancaster University Management School Lancaster LA1 4YX UK Skype: InesOD Phone: +33 (0)6 20 78 60 31