defenceeye, october 2013

Prospect • DefenceEye – O

ctober 2013

DEFENCEEYEProspect members in the defence industry

www.prospect.org.uk • Issue 2, October 2013

CAREER PLANNINGPROSPECT’S UNION learning team has added new career planning podcasts to its portfolio. You can access them via the union’s website. Please log in at www.prospect.org.uk, then go to http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/ and put in the document references below:

● Thinking about self employment – self reflection – 2013/00831

● Thinking about self employment – practicalities and risks – 2013/00833

● Life transitions and career planning – 2013/01083

● The career management cycle – 2013/01084

● Imposter phenomena and career transition – 2013/01082

● The transition from work to retirement – 2013/01228

PROSPECT HAS welcomed government proposals to protect workers whose jobs are transferred to the private sector but has called for the New Fair Deal pension arrangements to be underpinned by legislation.

New Fair Deal allows members of public service pension schemes who are contracted out of the public sector to retain membership of the scheme they were in before privatisation.

The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 provided the legislative underpinning for the new policy, though New Fair Deal is a policy not a statutory protection.

Trade unions and ministers have been discussing the detail of changes to legislation and regulations required to implement the new package.

There have also been consultations by the Treasury and the Cabinet Office on the regulations required to implement New Fair Deal.

Pensions officer Neil Walsh said: “Overall the provisions meet the commitments made to members when the agreements on public service pensions were concluded. There will always be areas where we

Give pensions deal legal footing

■■ Walsh■–■There■will■always■be■areas■where■we■will■seek■to■make■improvements

In 2014 for the first time Prospect will be producing a calendar featuring members at work.

The theme will be women working in male-dominated industries – and will feature photos from sectors including air and road transport, fisheries protection, defence, energy, telecoms, science and fire and rescue.

The calendar will go on sale in November, but you can register your interest now by emailing [email protected] with your name, membership number, workplace postcode and number of copies. Please put ‘2014 calendar’ in the subject box.

Money raised will go to the union’s project with Oxfam to empower women working in Nairobi’s slums.

■■ Left■Dawn■Lakin,■traffic■officer■in■the■Highways■Agency

will seek to make improvements.” The main points made by Prospect

in its response to the government’s latest consultation include:

● the policy should be established in statute

● the policy should apply to the widest definition of transfers possible

● proper monitoring to ensure that members’ rights are protected

● allowing access to new entrants should be considered

● flexibility in determining whether staff remain “wholly or mainly” engaged on a public service contract.

Walsh said the biggest problems likely to be faced in the implementation were around two-tier workforces when new entrants are excluded from public service pension schemes; problems with continuing eligibility if staff are moved from their current duties, and issues about restrictions to pay increases before retirement.Prospect’s■responses■to■the■Treasury■and■Cabinet■Office■consultations■are■at:

http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01206

http://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2013/01207

Putting women in the frame


ctober 2013

NEWS2

QINETIQ CLOSES DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION SCHEMEDEFENCE TECHNOLOGY company, QinetiQ, will be closing its defined benefit pension scheme from 31 October.

Existing members will be automatically enrolled into a defined contributions section of the QinetiQ Pension Scheme. This will be seperate from, but identical to, the current Group Pension Plan (GPP) that is run by Zurich.

Prospect understands that automatic enrolment to the new scheme will be at a contribution level above the minimum 3 per cent, with inidividuals able to change their contribution or opt out of the scheme within the first month.

QinetiQ has confirmed compensation arrangements for the loss of the defined benefits scheme. These are structured around payment of an allowance payable for three years equivalent to the 1.4 per cent National Insurance (NI) statutory deduction that will apply on a band of earnings until April 2016 when the State Pension and National Insurance regimes will be reformed. Alternatively members can opt for a one-off 5 per cent of salary equivalent payment.

The closure of the QinetiQ DB Pension Scheme was originally proposed for 31 January, 2013 but the requirement for MOD clearance meant this was delayed for nine months. Prospect held off-site meetings of QinetiQ members to discuss pensions during and after the consultation period earlier in the year.

Prospect members managed to secure several important concessions from QinetiQ:

● the closure of the scheme was delayed by nine months allowing significant further accrual in the defined benefits scheme and for some members to retire without having to leave the scheme.

● compensation for the additional National Insurance costs arising from the closure of the defined benefits scheme.

● a defined contributions section within the QinetiQ Pension Scheme, which potentially allows some members to take their entire DC pension pot as tax-free cash.

Although this has been a challenging time for QinetiQ members, it has underlined the value of collective action and the importance of expert support from Prospect HQ.

I AM a Higher Instructional Officer in the Ministry of Defence. I work for the Defence Operational Languages Support Unit where I carry out job analysis, research into languages of interest as well as helping to run the in-house Languages Examinations Board.

In May 2013, I was fortunate enough to spend a week at the Bureau of International Language Co-ordination’s conference in Tbilisi, Georgia.

BILC is a NATO-sponsored body that meets twice a year to discuss and regulate language teaching and testing across NATO.

All 28 nations represented are – or had been – contributors to the international security assistance force (IASF) in Afghanistan. These include NATO, Partnership for Peace and Australia.

NATO has two official languages: English and French. However, by virtue of the fact that the USA and UK are the lead nations in ISAF, English may be the de facto official language in an operational setting.

Consequently, many of the presentations were about the

In defence of plain speaking

problems encountered when many nations have to use English as a lingua franca on operations – and how these might be solved. These include:

● Native speakers who over-rely on abbreviations, for example ANSF for the Afghanistan National Security Forces and sitrep for situation report.

● Acronyms – for example, FOB, which have any one of 15 meanings, GIRoA which means the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and ISTAR which means intelligence,

surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.

● Idiomatic, slang or military slang expressions, for example (‘a wet’, ‘by close of play’ and ‘doesn’t have a prayer’).

Possible solutions put forward included:

● adopting a smaller vocabulary, ● removing culturally-bound idioms

and ‘eccentricities’ and ● moving towards a ‘yardstick’

against which both native and non-native speakers of English can be measured in terms of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

In addition, different study groups focused on specific areas of BILC business, for example military vocabulary, cross-cultural communication and military English exams and tests (STANAG 6001).

A colleague and I gave presentations which gave delegates from the newer NATO nations the opportunity to learn how the UK MoD approaches training, assessment, course evaluation and design.

■■ www.gov.uk/defence-operational-languages-support-unit

Abbreviations, acronyms and slang cause all sorts of problems for the military, says Prospect member Graham Elliott

■■ Elliott■–■shared■knowledge■with■international■colleagues

MOD’s procurement spendTHE PROPORTION of MOD spending with its current top 10 suppliers has stayed largely consistent in the past six year with around 40 per cent of MOD business conducted with these 10 suppliers.

In the same period, MOD HQ placed just under 3,300 new contracts with a collective value of around £5.9 billion. The number of new contracts placed in 2012-13 fell by nearly 30 per cent,

from 2011/12, with the value of new contracts falling by a similar amount.

The percentage number of new contracts that were let competitively rose for the third year in a row to 33 per cent.

The table right compares MOD direct procurement expenditure with suppliers over time.

■■ Source:■Defence■Economics■analysis■derived■from■DBS■Finance■data■sources■


ctober 2013NEWS 3

THE GOVERNMENT’S plans appear to be driven a determination to increase transparency and to share gains and losses accrued through these contracts.

The failings in the current process are rooted in the lack of requirement on contractors to supply MOD with sufficient information on contract pricing – resulting in poor MOD oversight of contract price outcomes.

While there may be benefits in creating an independent regulatory body to scrutinise contracts and ensure value for money from non-commercial contracts, creating the SSRO could cause a degree of uncertainty for defence contractors.

ConsequencesThe increased scrutiny of contract pricing and company overheads by the SSRO may inadvertently cause job losses as contractors trim budgets to comply with stricter transparency rules.

Increased scrutiny may also reduce profits on existing contracts – a stricter application of the rules may create perverse incentives on contractors to reduce efficiencies on future contracts to stay within an agreed price.

There is also an additional cost on contractors because they will have to part-fund the SSRO.

While the formula set out in the bill that determines the profits rate

seems to be reasonable, the process of transition may still have a significant impact as contractors adjust to the tighter regulatory framework.

As a result, Prospect is not convinced that the projected savings will be achieved in practice.

Pay arrangementsAn important element of the contract price is labour costs. These are uncertain and will be subject to the prevailing labour market conditions. Under Clause 20, the SSRO can issue guidance on allowable costs that are “appropriate” and “reasonable”.

Change in MOD expenditure with holding company: 2007 to 2012-13

2007-08 2012-13 % change

BAE Systems PLC 14.2 13.7 -0.5

Babcock International Group PLC 4.3 5.4 1.1

Finmeccanica SpA 4.0 3.7 -0.3

Hewlett-Packard Company/EDS 3.1 3.3 0.2

Lockheed Martin Corporation 2.8 2.8 0

EADS NV 1.9 2.7 0.8

Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC 2.2 2.4 0.1

The Boeing Company 1.9 2.1 0.2

Serco Group PLC 2.7 2.0 -0.7

Thales SA 2.7 1.9 -0.8

Total 39.8 40.1 0.3

Labour market costs can vary considerably over the course of a long-term contract.

Pay bargaining takes account of a number of factors including affordability, employee development, adjustments to take account of the cost of living, addressing changes in the composition of the workforce and the emergence of skills shortages.

In our view, the pay budget is best negotiated through collective bargaining arrangements between the contractor and the appropriate trade unions. It would be inappropriate for the SSRO to provide guidance on pay bargaining and attempt to micro-manage pay arrangements within the defence industry.

Regulator will need skillsThe people and skills that SRRO needs will be similar to those needed in Defence Equipment and Support and the private sector.

At present there is a significant gap in this kind of knowledge, across industry and within the MOD.

These skills are highly valuable and so pay rates will have to be set at a level that is sufficient to attract candidates for these highly specialised roles.

Contractors may be deterred from investing in the skills needed where these costs are accounted for across a number of different contracts.

Greater clarity about what overhead costs are allowable for skills development and how the SSRO will audit them is needed.

Government plans new body for defence contractsSteve Jary analyses the government’s proposal to create a Single Source Regulations Office for non-commercial contracts in defence

At present there is a significant gap in this kind of knowledge, across industry and within the MOD


ctober 2013

4 PAY

More evidence that workers are better off in a unionSINCE THE start of the recession in 2008, real wages have fallen by more than in any other comparable five year period.

Wage growth since 2008 has tended to be lower among workers who were not covered by collective wage

agreements, and they were more likely to experience nominal wage freezes in 2011.

Productivity has fallen within from, especially

among small firms and those whose output has fallen.

The fall in

productivity has been accompanied by unprecedented falls in nominal and real hourly wages in the UK, which have occurred even among workers staying with the same job; one third of such workers saw their wages cut or frozen in nominal terms between 2010 and 2011.

■■ Read■the■full■report■at■www.ifs.org.uk/wps/wp201311.pdf

PROSPECT MEMBERS in the private sector defence industry are securing reasonable pay awards – while colleagues in the Ministry of Defence have had a two-year pay freeze.

As well as the freeze, incremental progression was abolished years ago and any movement up the pay scales was limited and slow.

Bonus payments were cut by a third in 2012 and pension contributions have increased.

It is a sharp contrast to the two-year pay deal secured for Prospect members employed by the ABL alliance (AWE, Babcock-Marine and Lockheed Martin) at the Clyde submarine base.

Unusually for these employees,

Employers up their game to attract engineers and specialists

who transferred from MOD on 1 January 2013, the pay award is scheduled to be paid on the due date and follows a period of intense, but friendly, negotiations.

Working with the three companies, Prospect was able to secure:

● a two-year pay deal (headline increase of 6%);

● an innovative distribution of the funds available so that those at the bottom of the scales receive consolidated awards of 8% plus £250 over the two years;

● a one-off, non-consolidated award of £400 for all to end the contractual entitlement to a bonus (the discredited MOD scheme);

● no increase in employee contributions to the final salary pension schemes established at vesting day.

The two-year pay deal gives Prospect the time to work constructively with the employers to design and develop an employment package that will take account of pay and conditions in the broader market and in partner organisations.

The ABL employers are well aware of how difficult it is to recruit high-quality engineering and specialist staff in the current environment. They are mindful of the fact that they will have to become a more attractive employer to attract these workers.

■■ Cooper■–■skilled■staff■can■command■a■premium

Private sector workers with engineering, project management and other specialist skills are securing decent pay rises, says Prospect negotiator Jim Cooper


ctober 20135

Organisation name Headline increase % Effective date Length of deal

GE Aviation 3.00 01/01/13Year 1 of a 2 year

settlement

Name Withheld 3.10 01/01/13Year 2 of a 2 year

settlement

AirTanker Services 3.00 01/01/13 1 year

BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles)

3.00 01/01/13 1 year

Babcock REME Training (Bordon and Arborfield)

2.25 01/04/13 1 year

Lockheed Martin 2.70 01/03/13 1 year

Marshall Aerospace 2.50 01/04/13 1 year

BAE Military Air and Information 3.00 01/01/13 1 year

Babcock BES (Rosyth Royal Dockyard)

5.00 01/04/13Year 3 of a 3 year

settlement

Nord Anglia Harrogate 2.50 01/04/13 1 year

BAE Land Systems Munitions 3.00 01/01/13 1 year

BAE Systems Land Systems Shared Services

3.00 01/01/13 1 year

BAE Surface Ships 3.00 01/04/13 1 year

Landmarc Support Services 3.50 01/04/13Year 3 of a 3 year

settlement

AVERAGE 3.04NB: see notes, right

MEDIAN 3.00

Settlements in the defence sector 2013

PAY

1 January to 1 July 2013Number of

settlementsLower

QuartileMedian

Upper Quartile

Average

Whole economy 330 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 2.32%

Manufacturing & primary 205 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 2.51%

Private sector services 66 2.0% 2.5% 2.79% 2.23%

Not for profit 47 1.05% 2.0% 2.5% 1.87%

Public sector 12 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1.19%

Energy & water 17 3.0% 3.0% 3.3% 3.01%

Chemicals, pharmaceuticals & oils 53 2.35% 2.75% 3.0% 2.63%

IT, telecoms & media 12 2.38% 2.5% 2.8% 2.35%

Transport, storage & distribution 14 2.0% 3.0% 3.45% 2.4%

Aerospace and defence 7 - 3.0% - 2.9%

NOTES ● Babcock BES (Rosyth Royal

Dockyard)

£350 performance-related payment on achieving cost performance indicator, schedule milestone targets.

● Babcock REME Training (Bordon and Arborfield)

Minimum increase to individual: 2%. 2.25% increase to pay bill. 2% increase to all staff. Extra 0.25% covers annual progression increments for eligible staff at Bordon site only.

● BAE Land Systems Munitions

Grades 7 & 8 are covered by pay and performance over and above basic settlement. Agreement on introduction of flexi-time working, extended leave and new pay and grading system, which includes job evaluation. EIS bonus was paid at 3.75%.

● BAE Surface Ships

No-strings 3% increase for professional staff members working in the Naval Ships and Maritime Services businesses within BAE Systems.

● BAE Systems Land Systems Shared Services

EIS bonus paid 5% BAE Systems Land Systems Vehicles. Other cost items: EIS bonus paid 3%

● Devonport Royal Dockyard

A consolidated pay rise will be equivalent to the average RPI + 0.5% over the three-year period (compounded average of RPI, Sept 2010 to Sept 2013 + 0.5%). Guaranteed consolidated pay rise of 2%. If it exceeds 5%, the excess will be paid as a one-off, unconsolidated payment.

● Flagship Training

1.9% increase to all employees earning over £22,500. 2.23% increase for all employees earning below £22,500 – which equates to 52.4% of the workforce. Total cost to payroll: 2%.

IDS Online Pay Database


ctober 2013

6 GOCO

DEFENCE EQUIPMENT and Support employs approximately 16,000 people – one third of them military officers – and is based in Abbey Wood, Bristol. It has an annual budget of approximately £14 billion. The defence equipment programme accounts for about 45 per cent of the total defence budget.

The government is considering two options for DE&S: a private sector led government owned, contractor operated ‘GOCO’ model; and a fully funded, restructured version of the current organisation, staying within the public sector, known as ‘DE&S+’.

It has introduced a defence reform bill that establishes the arrangements for turning DE&S into a GOCO.

The bill also creates a statutory framework for the governance of Ministry of Defence single source contracts and makes several amendments to the regulations governing the Reserve Forces.

MOD has identified three “root causes” of underperformance:

● an over-heated equipment programme ● an unstable interface between those parts of

the MOD which request acquisition and support services and the Defence Equipment & Support organisation (DE&S) which delivers them, and

● a lack of business capability (processes, tools and skills), including management freedoms.

Prospect’s key question is how do the changes enabled by the defence reform bill ‘fix’ these problems?

“Our members believe that their activities should be conducted by the Ministry of Defence for defence, not outside the MOD for profit,” says Prospect negotiator Steve Jary.

“If the case for GOCO is built principally on the need to employ the right people properly, why can’t that be done within the civil service?

“MOD has not exploited the pay flexibilities that do exist and it has not advocated the need for a different

Unwrapped – the case against a GOCO for procurement

employment framework for specialists sufficiently strongly.

“As a result, dysfunctional systems have been imposed which have exacerbated the root problems.

“The only obstacle to reform within the civil service appears to be government policy on the pay and conditions and personnel management of civil servants,” he added.

Costs, savings and risksThe GOCO decision will be determined through assessment against an in-house benchmark: DE&S+. Prospect has asked whether the team developing DE&S+ will have the same level of resources and support as the other bidders have at their disposal.

MOD’s explanatory notes to the bill (paragraph 166) say: “If the Part 1 arrangements are made, they are expected to deliver a net benefit of £934m over 10 years…Should the public-sector comparator (DE&S+) option be chosen, savings are estimated to be a third lower.”

Jary said it was not clear where this assessment comes from – the forecast returns from any reform should be robust and significant enough to justify the risks.

“The GOCO will present new costs: most obviously the margin charged by the consortium. It also presents new risks: an extra layer of decision-making, the need for an extremely

complex contract and replacing political control with commercial control,” he added.

Jary also questioned whether the possibly marginal improvement to be gained by GOCO are worth the additional costs and risks. And whether a one-year pilot enough to test the change.

“The government must quantify the additional costs

The government’s preferred option for the future of the organisation which handles defence procurement is not the best solution, says Prospect

HAMMOND“WITHIN THE overall DE&S work force, getting the right skills in the right places will be part of the task for the management contractor.

“In some cases, that will mean recruiting at market rates, because at the moment we are haemorrhaging talent.

“… we had nine applicants for 70 commercial posts that have recently been advertised. We have to address the haemorrhage of talent from DE&S by offering market rates if we are to support our armed forces as we need to.”Secretary■of■state■for■defence,■Parliament,■10■June■2013

REX/LON

DO

N N

EWS PICTU

RES


ctober 20137GOCO

and risks presented by the GOCO option. This is a huge and potentially very expensive change for what appears to be an easily-realised prize,” he added.

Skills and payDE&S is the most high-value and visible example of the loss of capability to do complex and specialist work across the civil service. Successive governments have failed to recognise the specialist skills required in the civil service and to understand how those skills need to be developed, nurtured and rewarded.

Prospect has extensive evidence of the problems created for DE&S by its inability to recruit, develop and reward specialist staff properly. There is growing evidence of severe shortages in key specialist areas, resulting in major capability gaps.

The costs of neglecting specialist skills in the MOD are all too apparent: safety incidents (Nimrod XV230), engineering disasters (Astute) and increased costs (the explosion in spending on the framework agreement for technical support – FATS).

Two-tier workforceMOD’s impact assessment seems to herald the creation of a two-tier workforce: the bulk of the DE&S staff on legacy terms and conditions, while external recruits to the GOCO are brought in on higher pay and lucrative bonus schemes.

Prospect wants the bill to outlaw the creation of a two-tier workforce in the GOCO.

DE&S is already seeking to recruit staff externally through the use of financial incentives (known as Higher Starting Pay, or HSP) leapfrogging existing staff who have been subject to pay restraint over recent years. Internal candidates successful in applying for posts advertised with HSP are deemed ineligible to benefit from the enhanced pay. This is having a catastrophic impact on morale within DE&S.

Equipment supportThe defence secretary’s statement on the bill suggested that the GOCO will assume responsibility for current DE&S procurement functions – approximately half the present staff. The plans for equipment support are less clear and, therefore, the objectives and implications of the bill are unclear.

Through Life Capability Management (TLCM) envisaged a ‘cradle to grave’ approach to defence acquisition: a single contract for the design, manufacture, support and disposal of equipment, with, in its purest form, the contract specifying the availability of a military capability rather than specific numbers of particular bits of kit.

As with so many change initiatives in the MOD, TLCM was not allowed to prove itself (and was not evaluated) before being overtaken by the next ‘Big Thing’.

But support accounts for a growing proportion of equipment spending. As the Royal United Services Institute observed recently:

”While the total defence budget is due to fall in real terms by 7.8 per cent between 2012/13 and 2014/15, planned equipment support spending is due to rise by 5.6 per cent.”

Jary said: “It appears that support activities will variously be transferred to the Front Line Commands (HM naval bases), privatised, contracted-out or a combination of these. Is this the end for TLCM? How will the bill address the cost inflation RUSI has identified?”

Military staffOne of the unspoken drivers for the GOCO is the desire to remove military officers from procurement decisions. It is an open secret that military staff in leadership positions in DE&S are in post for too short a time to build expertise, that specifications are changed with the arrival of their replacement and that they owe their loyalty (and career prospects) to their service, not to DE&S.

The defence secretary suggested in the second reading of the bill that military staff would be seconded to the GOCO to represent the customer (ie the front line commands). However, it is not clear that this intention is reflected in MOD’s impact assessment.

ReassurancesIf the GOCO does happen, Prospect will be seeking key reassurances on:

● renewing the agreement between industry, MOD and the unions on handling staff transfers to industrial partners. This will help secure an orderly change.

● no two-tier workforce: if enhanced terms and conditions are introduced for new GOCO employees, then staff who have transferred-in should benefit from those changes.

● the New Deal arrangements being designed for the civil service pension scheme (PCSPS) should be applied, ensuring that staff take membership of the PCSPS with them into the GOCO and all new employees of the GOCO become members of that scheme.

Links

■■ Follow■the■progress■of■the■bill■at■http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/defencereform.html

■■ Impact■assessment■http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA13-20.pdf

■■ Debates■http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130610/debtext/130610-0002.htm

■■ Above,■chief■of■the■defence■staff,■General■Sir■Nick■Houghton,■with■defence■secretary■Philip■Hammond

Published by Prospect, New Prospect House, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN

DefenceEye editor: Marie McGrath E [email protected] T 020 7902 6615

Printed by: College Hill Press

Is it time for you to take the stress test?STRESS CAN be defined as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them.”

Stress is not an illness, but mental and physical illness can develop if it becomes excessive and/or prolonged.

Generally, work is good for people if it is well designed, but it can be a great source of pressure.

Again, pressure can be positive and a motivating factor: it can help us achieve our goals and perform better. But when pressure becomes excessive,

How you can protect your health in the workplaceDo:

● start and leave work on time ● pace your work and take your breaks ● regard stress as a health and safety

hazard ● report stress hazards ● evaluate stress hazards with

mapping techniques, meetings and staff surveys

● ensure workplace stress policies are in place and agreed through joint health and safety committee meetings

● take leave entitlements ● try to anticipate health and safety

implications of organisational change ● ensure you are consulted and

involved ahead of change-management projects

● share knowledge, experience and solutions within your branch

● consider telling your line manager or HR department if you feel you are suffering stress-related illness. Seek Prospect support if necessary

● ensure change that might substantially affect health and safety is subject to risk assessment and consultation

● assess yourself with Professor Cary Cooper’s Long Hours Advice Clinic (http://bit.ly/worksmart_hours) and the TUC’s work-balance check (http://bit.ly/worksmart_balance).

Don’t: ● work beyond your means ● suffer in silence ● work unpaid overtime ● work through your breaks ● allow yourself to become isolated ● leave stress solutions to your

employer – it might be too late ● ignore health and safety effects of

stress ● let stress fall off the table at

joint health and safety committee meetings.

Resources ● Access Prospect’s stress website:

www.prospect.org.uk/stress ● see Prospect’s WorkTime

YourTime resources: www.prospect.org.uk/worktime

WARNING SIGNS AND SYMPTOMSBEHAVIOURAL:

● difficulty sleeping ● changed eating habits ● smoking or drinking more ● avoiding friends and

family ● sexual problems

PHYSICAL: ● tiredness ● indigestion and nausea ● headaches ● aching muscles ● palpitations

MENTAL: ● indecisiveness ● concentration

problems ● loss of memory ● feelings of inadequacy ● low self-esteem

EMOTIONAL: ● irritability or anger ● anxiety ● feeling numb, drained

or listless ● hypersensitivity.

stress can be a natural reaction.Stress produces a range of signs

and symptoms, some of which are listed opposite.

If you feel that you are experiencing some of these signs and symptoms because of a situation at work or home, then it might be because of stress. You might need to seek advice from your GP.

Anyone can suffer from work-related stress, no matter what work they do.

Anyone can suffer from work-related stress, no matter what work they do


ctober 2013

8 STRESS