Managing Stress in the Workplace

Stress and Employers

A Health and Safety Commission study found that on average 33 million days are lost in any one year due to work-related illness. Stress is the single biggest cause of work related illness and the number of employees claiming to have been made ill by stress every year has nearly tripled since it was last measured in 1996.

In addition to the costs of the loss of an employee more and more employees are bringing claims for stress at work. Most employers will be covered by Employers Liability Insurance for Personal Injury claims did you know however, that a claim can be brought in an Employment Tribunal and it is unlikely that your insurance will cover these claims.

Stress is an area of Employment Law that is being ever challenged in the Tribunal and finally it appears that there is some hope for the Employer. In the recent case of Marshall Specialist Vehicles Ltd v Osborne (2003) IRLR 672 the Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned a tribunal’s decision that an employer’s failure to deal with an employee’s complaint that she was overworked, allegedly causing her stress and a nervous breakdown amounted to a breach of contract entitling her to a claim for Constructive Dismissal.

The Employment Tribunal had implied a term in the Contract of Employment providing that “The Company will take such action as (having regard to the availability of its human and financial resources) may be reasonably practicable in the particular circumstances prevailing at the material time to avoid either imposing workload upon you or acquiescing in your assumption of workload which it is reasonably foreseeable may cause you physical or mental injury.” A clause such as this in a contract would cause additional onerous obligations on the employer which would be very costly.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled however, that it was not correct to say that there is an obligation on an employer incorporated in every contract to avoid acquiescing in an assumption of workload by an employee. The term that is implied in all contracts is that the employer should take reasonable care of the safety of employees.

So the law remains as stated in Sutherland v Hatton (2002) IRLR 263 which was a Court of Appeal decision. In this case the Court made it clear that it is essential to know, and to set out precisely, what work it was that the employee was doing which was said to amount to overwork, and then to address the question of what the employer should have done but did not do and, furthermore, whether it would have done some good had it done so.

The question then remains what is necessary to establish such a breach? It appears that the conduct of the Employer must be so serious as to go to the root of the trust and confidence of the employer and employee and destroy it or was calculated to be likely to destroy it. For the Employer this is relatively good news it appears that it will be much more difficult for the employee to establish a claim for constructive dismissal arising out of workplace stress than it would be to establish liability in a claim for personal injuries.

Of course the best advice is to avoid causing any unnecessary stress to employees and thus avoid any claims. Our best advice would be to continue with effective and good management with attention to the following points:

Risk assessments, i.e. checking if there are any risks that can be identified in the workplace or work system and assessing whether existing precautions are adequate;

- Regular appraisals;

- Education and training could be provided, e.g. stress management courses;

- Managerial support is important, e.g. handle changes carefully, keep employees informed, avoid periods of uncertainty;

- Management should approach stress in such a way to show that it is taken seriously and adopt an understanding attitude;

- A helpline and counselling facility could be provided;

- Employees should be encouraged in seeking medical help; and

- Policies and procedures should ensure they reflect and reiterate the above points where relevant.

For more information on this service please contact us on:
07901 556 032 or
StressManagement@management-development.org