From absence figures to early signals: spotting work stress sooner

When do you notice that a team is becoming overloaded? Many organisations only see it when absenteeism rises. But by then you are actually too late. Work stress does not start with someone calling in sick. It starts with small signals you can hear in conversations, often weeks or months earlier.

Around the Dutch Work Stress Week, we like to take a moment to reflect on this.

Absenteeism is a lagging indicator

An absenteeism figure tells you what has already happened. It is like the warning light on the dashboard that only comes on when the engine is already damaged. Useful, but not for prevention.

If you want to spot work stress earlier, look at leading signals: how people experience their work, how much room they feel they have and how collaboration is going. Those signals are usually there long before someone drops out.

What the figures show

Every year, the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey (NEA) by TNO and CBS gives a picture of how employees in the Netherlands experience their work. According to the NEA 2025, 21 percent of employees had burnout symptoms. Ten years earlier this was 13 percent. More than a third of employees (37 percent) feel that (additional) measures are needed to tackle workload and work stress. High workload is also the most frequently mentioned cause of work-related absenteeism.

Important to know: burnout symptoms in the NEA are self-reported symptoms of mental fatigue caused by work. So these are not medical diagnoses, but what people experience themselves. That is exactly why they are valuable: they show what is going on before things go wrong.

Work stress symptoms: early signals at work

Stress at work rarely has one clear symptom. It is often about small changes in behaviour and collaboration that only stand out when you put them side by side.

None of these signals proves anything. Together, though, they are a reason to start the conversation.

What you can do as an organisation

Recognising signals is one thing. Doing something with them is another. A few simple agreements help:

• Make workload open for discussion. Put it on the agenda of team meetings as a fixed item, not only when things go wrong.
• Look at the cause in the work. Work stress is rarely just an individual problem. The cause often lies in planning, staffing, unclear roles or too much at once.
• Give line managers room. A manager who is overloaded has little attention left for their team.
• Make the route to help known. Make sure everyone knows where to find the company doctor, the confidential adviser and HR.

The role of the line manager

The line manager is often the first to notice something. That does not mean they have to become a care provider. The role is simpler, and at the same time harder.

Notice. Pay attention to changes in behaviour, not just performance.

Ask. An open question works better than a judgement. “I notice you have often been working late lately. How are you doing?” is a good start. Listen, and do not try to solve it straight away.

Look at the work. Ask what would help in the work. Tasks, priorities, planning and support are within the manager’s influence.

Refer. Do the complaints persist, or are you worried about someone’s health? Then refer them to the company doctor, HR or a confidential adviser. That is not a failure, but good employership. Questions about health belong with the company doctor, not with the line manager.

As a line manager, also keep an eye on yourself. If you are overloaded yourself, you will notice signals in others less quickly.

Regular listening reveals trends

One conversation gives a snapshot. Listening regularly, briefly and anonymously shows how things develop. Does perceived workload in a team rise three months in a row? Then you know something is going on, long before absenteeism shows it.

Anonymity is important here. Not everyone tells their manager that things are tough. And it is about trends per team, not about tracking individuals.

The Job Demands-Resources model by Bakker and Demerouti shows that it is not only about the demands of the work, but also about resources: autonomy, support from colleagues and the manager, feedback. If you have both in view, you know where to adjust.

The link with the RI&E

Work stress is not only a matter of good employership. Under the Dutch Working Conditions Act, employers must have a policy to prevent or limit psychosocial workload, such as work pressure. Psychosocial workload should therefore have a place in the risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E), with a plan of action.

Listening regularly helps keep that RI&E up to date. It shows where the risks are and whether measures are having an effect. Arboportaal offers practical information and tools for this.

Also involve employees in devising measures. They often know best where the workload comes from and what would help in practice. A measure devised together with the team usually fits the work better than one introduced from above.

Attention, not alarm

Work stress is a serious subject, but no reason to panic. Most signals can be recognised in time and made open for discussion. What it takes is attention: regularly asking how people are doing, and taking it seriously.

On deepler.io you can read how we help organisations spot signs of workload earlier.

Sources

• Arboportaal (20 April 2026). Burn-outklachten onder werknemers blijven toenemen (burnout symptoms among employees continue to rise). On the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey 2025 by TNO and CBS. arboportaal.nl
• TNO & CBS. Nationale Enquête Arbeidsomstandigheden (NEA) 2025.
• Dutch Working Conditions Act, article 3(2) (psychosocial workload) and article 5 (RI&E). Explanation via arboportaal.nl.
• Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309-328.