Stress at Work

If you have suffered an injury to health which is attributable to stress at work then you may be able to bring a claim for compensation.

The harm which you have suffered must have been reasonably foreseeable by your employer. Whether or not you are able to meet the threshold will depend on the circumstances in each individual case.

Likely factors will include:-

a) the nature and extent of the work done by the employee, for example is the workload is much more than is normal for the particular job? Is the work particularly intellectually or emotionally demanding for this employee? Are the demands being made of this employee unreasonable when compared with the demands made of others in the same or comparable jobs? Are there signs that others doing this job are suffering harmful levels of stress? Is there an abnormal level of absenteeism or sickness in the same job or same department?

b) has the employee already suffered from illness attributable to stress at work? Has there recently been frequent or prolonged absences which are uncharacteristic of the employee? Is there reason to think that these are attributable to stress at work, for example because of complaints or warnings from him/her or others?

The employer is only in breach of duty if he/she has failed to take steps which are reasonable in the circumstances, bearing in mind the magnitude of the risk of harm occurring, the gravity of the harm which may occur, the costs and practicability of preventing it and the justifications for running the risks.

Other factors which are relevant in deciding what is reasonable are the size and scope of the employer's operation, its resources and the demand it faces, i.e. the interests of other employees and the need to treat them fairly, for example in any redistribution of duties.

This area of law is complex and if you believe that you may have a claim for stress at work then you should contact us on 01925 650151 as soon as possible as there are strict time limits involved for bringing a stress at work claim, which we will be able to advise you on.

We will also be able to undertake an assessment of your claim to establish whether or not your claim has good prospects of success, in which case we may be able to take your case on a 'no win, no fee' basis.