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Luminate Cost of Stress Calculator – Methodology

Purpose

The Luminate Cost of Stress Calculator provides organisations with an illustrative estimate of how much workplace stress may be costing in lost productivity, absence, and turnover. It is not a financial audit, but a tool to highlight the hidden business impact of unmanaged stress and underdeveloped leadership.


Data Sources

The calculator draws on the latest UK and international research, including:

  • Deloitte UK (2024–25): Mental Health and Employers: The Case for Investment
  • Gallup (2024): State of the Global Workplace Report
  • CIPD (2025): Health and Wellbeing at Work
  • UK Government (2024): Graduate earnings in the UK: 2024
  • PwC (2024): UK Staff Turnover Benchmarks


Assumptions & Calculations

  • Employee Numbers – entered by the user.
  • Average Salary – either user-provided or defaulted to £42,000 (ONS, 2024: UK median for working-age graduates).
  • Absenteeism – calculated from salary ÷ 280 working days × average absence days (default 9.4 days, CIPD 2025).
  • Presenteeism cost per employee – we provide a per-year estimate of £806 per employee. This figure is derived from Deloitte’s 2024 estimate of £24–28 bn national presenteeism cost (Mental Health and Employers: The Case for Investment, 2024), divided by the 30.3m payrolled employees in the UK (ONS, Sept 2025). We use the payrolled employee figure rather than the broader 36.8m “jobs” measure, because Deloitte’s estimate reflects costs borne by employers, which aligns more directly with payroll employment.
  • Cost of Presenteeism – calculated as £806 per employee annually (see above) × total employees.
  • Turnover cost per employee - Oxford Economics estimated this at £30,614 for salaries of over £25,000 per year in 2024. While this figure is still widely cited, it is over a decade old. More recent estimates from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, 2023–2025) suggest that replacing a salaried employee typically costs 6–9 months’ salary or more, depending on role and industry. Users can adjust the turnover rate, however the replacement cost is fixed in the calculator for simplicity.
  • Cost of Turnover – calculated as total employees × turnover rate (default 15%, CIPD 2025) × £30,614 replacement cost per leaver (Oxford Economics, 2014). 


Limitations

  • Results are illustrative, and should not be treated as a financial audit.
  • Local pay scales, company culture, benefits, and wellbeing provision can significantly affect actual costs


Why It Matters

Workplace stress is not just a wellbeing issue — it is a strategic and financial risk. The calculator highlights the scale of hidden costs and shows why investing in resilience and leadership capacity delivers measurable ROI.



Next Steps

For a tailored analysis of stress costs in your organisation, based on your workforce profile and sector, Luminate can provide a customised report with actionable insights

For a deeper dive into the research behind these numbers, visit the Luminate Evidence Hub, where we’ve gathered all the primary data sources in one place.

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