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Life is stressful enough with everyday domestic living, so do we really need the extra burden with added work stress and are the tables finally being turned as most employers feel vulnerable to being sued for causing stress?
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By Bob Sherwood, Legal Correspondent More than 80 per cent of employers feel vulnerable to being sued for causing
workplace stress, even though a landmark appeal court decision has strengthened
their legal defences.
Steven Stanbury, managing director of Work Stress Management, the consultancy that conducted the survey, said few employers were aware of the Court of Appeal ruling this year that boosted their position. The survey is timed to coincide with national stress awareness day. Meanwhile, employees were increasingly aware of their rights - and prepared to fight for them. "Employers are right to be worried, although even we were surprised by the scale of concern," he said. "But there is more they could be doing." |
The survey found that 66 per cent of employers did not have stress management policies in place. Only 29 per cent knew about recent Court of Appeal guidance on stress-related claims. In February, the Court of Appeal overturned three damages awards against employers - two cases involved teachers and the other a factory worker - ruling that stress-related claims should only succeed where it was "reasonably foreseeable" that a worker could suffer a harmful reaction to workplace pressures. Last year 6,428 companies were forced to pay damages for workplace stress, with an average payout of £51,000. That was a 12-fold increase in the number of employees who successfully sued their employers in 2000. Separately, the Trades Union Congress said work overload was the main cause of stress at work, and yesterday set out data showing the worst sectors. Central government topped the list, with 72.5 per cent of union safety officers saying they were worried about the effects of stress on colleagues. Banking and finance was second, with 72 per cent. The TUC said stress was highest in the white-collar heavy south-east, where 60.5 per cent of union officers cited it as a problem, and lowest in East Anglia, where fewer than half of safety officers were concerned.
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Going
are the days of hearing, seeing and speaking nothing to rid this ever growing
problem. In findings of a survey of 5,000 employers published today. It found
that 32 per cent felt "very vulnerable" and 48 per cent were "moderately
vulnerable". Only 18 per cent thought they were at "no risk at all".