Background Staff working in learning disability social care services have high turnover rates resulting in disruption to care and financial costs to employers in relation to recruiting new staff.

Aims To explore whether the theory of planned behaviour can be used as a framework to predict intention to leave their job and actual staff turnover, and to identify whether including measures of organisational ‘fulfilment’, work-related stress, perceived job equity and receiving positive behaviour support (PBS) training improved prediction of staff turnover.

Method A quantitative design was used. Respondents were 285 social care staff working in learning disability services. Path analysis was used to explore the relationships between staff turnover and the theory of planned behaviour components, perceived equity score (the extent to which respondents believed they benefited from work compared with what they put into it), organisational fulfilment score (the extent to which respondents believed their organisation offered the elements they valued), stress score and group status (that is, whether respondents had undergone the PBS programme).

Results Staff turnover was significantly predicted by perceived equity score at one and nine months after baseline, by stress score at six months and by whether respondents had undergone the PBS programme at six and nine months.

Conclusion Reducing staff stress, increasing their perceived equity and offering PBS training may be ways of increasing staff retention.