The annoying habits of work colleagues are stressing out office workers but instead of approaching HR departments about it, they are suffering in silence.

These findings come from a survey of over 1,000 employees on stress in the office, carried out by Ceridian, a provider of HR services. It reveals that while colleagues’ annoying habits can cause much stress and anxiety, 58 per cent of UK office workers would not complain to their manager about it and two-thirds would not talk to their HR department.

The research also revealed the top three most stressful office worker habits, which are colleagues’ excuses to avoid work; tantrums and arguments in open spaces; and gossiping and private conversations.

Doug Sawers, managing director of Ceridian in the UK, said that many employees are suffering in silence, meaning managers and HR departments are unaware of internal stress triggers.

“Today’s employers must be aware of potential stressors within the workplace and the impact of these on their employees. The CBI estimates the cost to British business of lost productivity through mental illness and stress to be £5bn, so this is a problem that ultimately affects the bottom line. Managers need to be properly trained to identify and correct negative behaviours to avoid undue employee stress and potential confrontation in the work place.”

Stress management health coaching programmes are now a growing trend, to help employees deal effectively with stress in the workplace.