The word “stress” is easily slipped into flippant comments but, as a condition, it can have serious mental and physical implications. According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive, one in six of the working population considers their job to be very or extremely stressful.
HSE research carried out last year found that the average length of a stress-, depression- or anxiety-related illness is just over 30 working days, and such conditions are the single biggest factor contributing to work-related ill-health.
Stress is also the second most commonly reported reason for work-related ill-health, coming in behind only musculoskeletal problems. In total, 12m people in the UK suffer from mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, and for many of these sufferers the illness is often stress-related.
As a result, companies are now learning how to deal with employees who are off sick for long periods with the illness, and those who decide to sue their employer for causing the stress in the first place.
Workshop
Stress-related incidents can affect any type of organisation, as Salans’ Stress and the City workshop, held at the law firm’s City offices last month, found. The delegate list was made up of HR professionals, managers and in-house lawyers from companies as diverse as Knight Frank, the London Stock Exchange, Microsoft, the Post Office, Unison, House of Fraser, Burger King and Allied Irish Banks.
The discussion featured an overview of the law on stress at work (see below), and two case studies looking at managing stress in the workplace and how to avoid the main pitfalls. The overall aim was to provide guidance on how best to identify and deal with these situations and, in particular, to distinguish those that present a real risk to the business.
Barry Mordsley, a consultant in Salans’ London office, says the number of cases relating to stress the firm is seeing is rising. “[While] we have [not] seen a large increase in very recent times, we have had a steady increase over the years,” he says. “This can sometimes create serious problems, particularly for smaller employers. I think this [number] is something that will continue to climb and the trend will continue.”
Stress in the City Workshop
STRESS – HOW DO I SUE THEE? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (and related statutory instruments)
• Negligence at common law (breach of the employer’s duty of care)
• Working Time Regulations 1998
• Disability discrimination (Equality Act 2010)
• Discrimination or harassment related to any other protected characteristic (Equality Act 2010)
• Contractual duties (breach of express or implied terms of the employment contract)
• Statutory harassment (Protection from Harassment Act 1997)
• Unfair dismissal
NEGLIGENCE AT COMMON LAW – “HATTON GUIDELINES”
Relevant factors:
• Is the workload higher than normal for the job?
• Unreasonable demands on employee compared with others in similar jobs?
• Abnormal levels of sickness or absenteeism in same job or department?
• Warning signs from employee of impending harm to health?
• Does employee have particular vulnerability?
• Has employee already been ill through stress at work?
l Frequent or prolonged absences uncharacteristic of employee?
What is the employer expected to do?
• Reasonable steps, bearing in mind magnitude of risk of harm occurring, gravity of harm that may occur, costs, practicability and employer’s size and resources
• Sabbaticals; redistribution of work; counselling; and so on
• Access to confidential stress counselling
Requests for advice on how to manage stress affecting employees are on the rise. Here is a rundown of some of the issues companies should be aware of.
STRESS – RECOGNISING THE SIGNS
Emotional symptoms in individuals
• Negative or depressive feelings
• Increased emotional reactions – more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
• Loneliness, withdrawn
• Loss of motivation, commitment and confidence
• Mood swings (not behavioural)
Signs of stress in a group
• Disputes and disaffection within the group
• Increase in staff turnover
• Increase in complaints and grievances
• Increased sickness absence
• Increased reports of stress
• Difficulty in attracting new staff
• Poor performance
• Customer dissatisfaction or complaints
NEGLIGENCE AT COMMON LAW – BASIC PRINCIPLES
• Negligence causing personal injury
• Common law duty to take reasonable care for the health and safety of employees in the workplace
• Was injury to the employee reasonably foreseeable?
