Post Office Counters stress - Post Office Counters has long provided a comprehensive healthcare and absence management programme, offering staff occupational health and welfare services. Yet stress-related absence doubled between 1993 and 1998. Aiming to tackle the commercial and associated costs, Post Office Counters commissioned research on the nature and extent of occupational stress amongst its 14,000 employees. The findings offer an invaluable picture of the effects of work-related stress across the workforce. The organisation plans to introduce a more proactive, preventative stress strategy using the findings of this research.