Workplace Wellness: Embracing Stress Awareness Month – Employment Litigation/ Tribunals

This April is Stress Awareness Month, which aims to increase
awareness of both the contributory factors and solutions to
workplace stress. Although much has been done to tackle this
modern-day epidemic, April should serve as a reminder for employers
of their ongoing legal obligations to continue to support their
employees’ mental wellbeing. Not least because stress remains
one of the biggest contributors to workplace absences, demonstrated
by a recent CIPD survey, which confirmed that 76% of respondents
had taken time off due to stress in 2023.

Employers’ duties under the law

All employers are under a statutory duty to safeguard the
health, safety and welfare of their staff, due to provisions in the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which also covers the
protection of employees’ mental wellbeing. Consequently,
employers are required to identify and mitigate any health and
safety risks in the workplace. With work-related stress being
widely acknowledged as posing a health and safety issue to workers,
employers are duty bound to treat stress like any other workplace
hazard.

There is a further duty imposed on employers by the Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. These regulations
require all employers to make a suitable and sufficient assessment
of the health and safety risks of their employees, including
conducting a thorough workplace risk assessment. Within this
assessment, employers should work with their employees to identify
the risks of stress, discuss and decide how to remove or reduce
these risks and mutually agree on what steps need be taken to
achieve this.

Making reasonable adjustments

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers also have a duty to make
reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities, which
includes mental health conditions, ensuring that they are not
disadvantaged in the workplace. Workplace stress alone does not
meet the criteria under the Equality Act such that it amounts to a
disability. However, employers should be mindful that when an
illness begins as workplace stress, it can very quickly develop
into other, often related, mental health illnesses such as
depression or anxiety (among others), which are more likely to be
classified as a disability, if the condition is long-lasting and
has a substantial effect (or potential to have a substantial
effect) on the employee’s day-to-day lives.

Reasonable adjustments can include changes to employees working
hours, the duties they undertake as part of their work or providing
additional support to them. It is also important to remember that
every job and employee is different, so what works in one situation
might not working in another. It’s vital to identify each
employee’s needs and implement a strategic support system to
provide them with effective assistance should the need arise,
including, if needed, appropriate referrals to Occupational Health
or implementing other steps to manage their absence/ illness in
conjunction with the employee.

Risks facing employers for non-compliance

If any employer neglects their duty to safeguard the mental
wellbeing of their employees, they could be sued by employees for a
breach of their duty of care. Furthermore, if an employer fails to
provide reasonable adjustments for employees suffering from stress,
resulting in employees being disadvantaged at work, an affected
employee may pursue a claim of disability discrimination. Such
disputes may end up at the Employment Tribunal, resulting in costly
proceedings, potential compensation payments and reputational
damage for the employer.

There is also a risk to employers of an employee bringing a
personal injury claim. For such a claim to succeed, an employee
will need to show that their employer has breached the duty of care
owed to the employee, that this breach has caused the employee an
injury, which includes psychiatric injuries, and that it was
reasonably foreseeable that the employer’s breach of duty would
result in the psychiatric injury suffered. Foreseeability depends
on what the employer knows, or ought to know about the employee in
question. Usually, an employer is entitled to assume that employees
are up to the normal pressures of the job, unless the employer
knows of a particular problem or vulnerability.

Ways to reduce stress in the workplace

Employers should approach stress management proactively,
focusing on early intervention before the problem becomes
significant or an employee is signed off sick due to stress. Aside
from providing support to employees when an issue arises, there are
a number of ways that employers can reduce stress in the workplace.
These could include:

• Spotting the warning signs – employers need to be aware
  that employees suffering from stress may not want to report that to
  their managers for fear of potential recrimination. As such,
  employers should think about whether they see behaviour changes or
  other indicators, which might indicate an employee is suffering
  from stress or potential burnout, rather than relying on employees
  to inform them;




• Leading from the front – employers should be mindful of
  their own well-being and stress levels as employees often follow
  the example of their supervisors;




• Offering an Employees Assistance Programme – this offers
  a confidential support through a professional counsellor, without
  the need for employees to face long waiting times and expensive
  bills. Further, an employer who offers a confidential advice
  service is unlikely to be found in breach of duty, unless
  unreasonable demands have been placed on the individual employee in
  circumstances where the risk of harm was clear;




• Scheduling regular check-ins with employee – this enables
  employers to keep abreast of any changes to an employee’s
  mental wellbeing, meaning issues can be tackled earlier. This
  includes discussing workloads and deadlines, ensuring an employee
  isn’t at risk of becoming overwhelmed by work;




• Promoting work-life balance – this can include offering
  remote working options, compressed workweeks or flexible hours,
  focused on accommodating an employee’s individual needs and
  responsibilities outside of work.

Concluding points

Stress Awareness Month serves as a reminder to employers that
they need to actively support and enhance the mental well-being of
their employees. Crucially, strategies for reducing workplace
stress should be implemented all year round and not end just
because April does! Ultimately, employers need to make efforts to
reduce the stigma associated with stress – employers should
create a culture whereby employees feel supported and comfortable
with raising issues that may be causing them stress and where
managers are spotting issues in advance. Employers who sustain
their commitment to reducing workplace stress stand to reap
significant benefits and sidestep potential liabilities that could
arise, such as protracted absences, employees suffering burnout,
higher attrition rates and, in a worst case scenario Tribunal or
court claims.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.