Research into Work Stress, Burnout and Employment Outcomes

The contract was awarded via the Government Commercial Agency RM6126 Research & Insights Dynamic Purchasing System. It runs for an initial period of six months, from 28 September 2026 to 29 March 2027, with an option to extend by up to 4 months to 31st July 2027. Any extension is for time only and does not increase the maximum contract value of £166,800 (excluding VAT).

The Plan to Make Work Pay sets out the Government’s ambition to make work more secure, flexible and family-friendly, including through policies intended to support better work-life balance and improve worker wellbeing. This includes recognising the need to address the pressures created by modern working practices, including blurred boundaries between work and home. In the response to the House of Lords Home-Based Working Select Committee report, the Government recognised the risks associated with blurred boundaries between work and home, while also recognising that employers should retain appropriate autonomy and be able to contact employees where there is a legitimate need to do so. The Government stated that policies supporting work-life balance should be proportionate, workable across different sectors and forms of employment, and support both worker wellbeing and business needs.

The Government also committed to continuing to progress policies aimed at alleviating stress in the workplace and to consider the importance of wellbeing and work-life balance in the modern world of work. To support this agenda, DBT is seeking to strengthen the evidence base on work-related stress, burnout, work intensification and out-of-hours working practices, and to understand the effectiveness and potential impacts of policy interventions in this area. Work-related tress, depression, or anxiety has reached record levels in Great Britain, causing 22.1 million working days to be lost. Evidence on the root causes of stress, including switching off from work, burnout, digital overload and out of hours contact, is limited. This research distinguishes work-related stress and burnout from broader wellbeing issues such as anxiety or depression. Work related stress is defined as self-reported stress, burnout or reduced wellbeing primarily attributable to workplace factors (e.g. workload, management practices, and working patterns) and the aim is to capture this through validated survey scales.