Three in every five employees suffer from stress at work, according to a TUC survey.

The survey, which coincides with Stress Awareness Day today, showed that the number of workers suffering from stress is increasing - 58% now complain of being stressed, 2% more than in 2002.

The main causes of stress were cited as increased workloads, staff cuts, long hours and bullying.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The fact that people are more stressed than ever before is bad news for workers and bad news for business... Unless bosses start to seriously tackle stress and the causes of stress, then they will continue to lose many days every year to workers off sick and many hours of productivity from their demoralised workforce."

The TUC survey of safety representatives also showed that stress levels varied in workplaces of different sizes and between the public and private sector. The bigger the workforce, the greater the levels of stress.

The overall figure of 58% of workers complaining of stress at work rose to 63% in businesses with more than 1,000 employees.

Public sector workers felt the most stressed at 64% compared to 48% in the private sector.