Small businesses need to take more action to tackle levels of stress among their employees, according to Ben Willmott, a spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

In fact, companies in the UK should have a policy as to how they are assessing and dealing with workplace stress, which would benefit both the business and its employees, suggests Mr Willmott.

One way for small business bosses in the UK to deal with the issues related to workforce stress is to allow staff to operate from their own home and flexibility is important for individuals as they battle to establish a better work-life balance, says the CIPD.

"The difficulty with stress is that on the one hand you’ve got difficulties caused by people’s working lives, and then you’ve also got problems caused by individuals’ lives outside work," said Mr Willmott.

"It certainly makes sense to provide sensible working opportunities, to help people balance the conflicting pressures between work and home," he added.

Last month, a report from the CIPD and the British Chambers of Commerce concluded that it is often easier for small businesses to implement flexible working practices than is the case for larger companies.