NUMBER OF HOURS AT WORK NOT A STRESS FACTOR 

_ A bad day at the office has little to do with the number of hours you put in working. Workplace stress, research found, is not linked to clocking in more hours. Rather, the culprit for stress in the office is workplace environment. A researcher at the University of Arkansas found less stressed workers had more autonomy in their daily routine and had supervisors who were supportive of their work. They also enjoyed less family-work conflict and had more fringe benefits from their job. The research showed that to nurture less stress among employees, managers should try to improve their work environment by providing such options as flexible hours.