Having a bad boss may not only lead to bad work days, it could increase an employee's risk of developing heart disease, a new study suggests.

Swedish researchers have found that the higher competency ratings that workers gave their managers, the lower the risk of developing a serious heart problem or death among lower-ranking employees.

"Most people know that working under a better manager can be quite different to working under a worse manager, so it's an important topic," researcher Anna Nyberg of Stockholm University told CTV News.

The researchers compared health data from more than 3,000 male subjects with results from questionnaires the subjects filled out about their senior managers.

The men, who were between the ages of 19 and 70, answered questions about their bosses such as: how considerate they are; how clearly they outline goals and expectations for their staff; how well they communicate with staff and offer feedback; how well they deal with change; and how much work they delegate to others.

The study also showed that poor leadership was linked to higher heart-disease risk the longer an employee worked for the same company, which suggests that a boss's effect on a worker may be cumulative, the authors noted.

Dr. Brian Baker of the Heart and Stroke Foundation said managers have a large responsibility to their employees.

"You have to be empathic or empathetic with people and understand that some people are emotionally sensitive," said Baker.

The findings, which are published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, held true even when factoring in education, income bracket, workload and other heart disease risk factors such as smoking and lack of exercise.

The research suggests that instilling good leadership skills in managers may be a public health initiative worth considering for warding off heart disease in less senior staff.

"One could speculate that a present and active manager, providing structure, information and support, counteracts destructive processes in work groups, thereby promoting regenerative rather than stress-related physiological processes in employees," the authors concluded.

The research supports earlier findings, which showed that workers who endure a great deal of on-the-job stress have a 50 per cent increased risk of heart disease, according to supplementary information provided with the study.

Other studies have found that those who work for communicative managers who establish employee-friendly work policies have higher rates of job satisfaction and productivity.

With a report by CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin in Montreal