New Medibank Private-commissioned research has found that stress in Australian workplaces is costing the economy $14.81bn a year.

The research, conducted in conjunction with Econtech, captures the direct cost of workplace stress to Australian employers, as well as the indirect costs that occur when the effects of stress flow through the economy, causing changes to capital investment and other impacts to upstream and downstream industries.

Craig Bosworth, Medibank Private industry affairs manager, said that the findings demonstrate how negative stress at work can significantly impact productivity and impose a heavy economic burden on businesses and the Australian economy as a whole.

"The research has found that stress-related presenteeism and absenteeism are directly costing Australian employers $10.11bn annually. Perhaps more applicable is the finding that 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress. Even for a small business with only 10 employees, this adds up to more than a month in lost productivity," Bosworth said.

"At a macro level the research shows that stress is an important issue for employees and employers in Australia, and suggests we should all be doing more to address negative workplace stress. At the macro level, the cost of $14.81bn to the economy highlights just how big the problem of workplace stress is," Bosworth added.

Productivity losses incurred through negative workplace stress has also been found to reduce overall business productivity and can lead to lower GDP, private consumption, investment, imports, exports and industry production.