Work-related stress can lead to substantial health problems and thereby result

in immense costs for establishments. Therefore, the question as to what extent

establishments contribute to their employees’ stress levels is of great importance

for firm performance. We investigate the relationship between personnel policies

and work-related stress by considering a series of personnel policies that refer to

a worker’s job reward, job demand, or job control situation. Using data from the

German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) we find statistically significant associations

of several policies and work-related stress. Most importantly, bad promotion opportunities

and low working time control turn out to be associated with higher stress

levels, while the opposite is true for an adequate salary.