It is an uncomfortable truth that those who work in financial services must pay a stress premium. An analysis by employment law firm Fox & Partners of Health and Safety Executive figures has shown that the number of working days lost per worker, per year, in financial services because of stress is 31 per cent higher than the average between 2007 and 2010.

A Banking Standards Board study this year of wellbeing revealed that a quarter of employees in the City of London felt their job was having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing. Worryingly, that number has remained constant for the past three years.

Stress is something everyone experiences and in itself is not an illness. However, there are links between stress and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychosis. As an industry, financial services has a responsibility to address this complex problem. The following three steps, while by no means guaranteed to be a solution, could help reduce the stress premium.