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By Michael Scutt, 19/01/2010 10:00 am

Yesterday Ian Barratt of Mind Strengths Ltd published his “Seven Top Stress Management Tips for Employees”.  Today I am publishing my “top tips” for employers hoping to avoid claims for stress at work from being commenced against them.   

First, some background. Stress at work is a complex and wide-ranging subject, touching on many aspects of employment and personal injury law. The claims will arise either under the law of personal injury (in negligence) or under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA) or, alternatively for constructive dismissal and/or discrimination.  All four could be raised in the same instance, although it is not possible for an employee to sue in negligence and unfair dismissal unless the circumstances leading to the injury are independent of the facts relating to the dismissal.  Although many employers may feel “under siege” from all the rights that employees have, they should note that the law is not kindly disposed towards employees in this area: stress at work claims are difficult and expensive for employees to pursue successfully.  

No employer can be immune from ever finding themselves facing a claim from an employee, but following the tips below ought to reduce the risk of a claim arising or, if one does, of being successful.  There are many legal aspects to allegations of “stress at work” and care needs to be taken when an employee asserts that the employer has, in some way, caused him/her to become unwell.  Most allegations will state either that the employer has overloaded the employee with work or not provided enough support/resource to do the job properly or that a line manager has bullied/harassed/victimised the employee.  

It is also not uncommon for employees to claim that they are suffering from “stress” when they fall into dispute with their employers or disciplinary/performance management processes are commenced against them.  

How to mitigate the risk of these claims arising?   

1. Adopt best practice  

The Health & Safety Executive publishes a great deal of information on the subject.  In particular it has devised “Management Standards” which “define the characteristics, or culture, of an organisation where the risks from work related stress are being effectively managed and controlled. … The Management Standards cover six key areas of work design that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health and well-being, lower productivity and increased sickness absence.” There are six management standards covering demands; control, support, relationships, role and change.  The TUC and ACAS also publish useful materials on stress at work.  

2. Be aware.  

Carry out risk assessments of the roles your employees are expected to undertake and the workplace in which the role is to be carried out.  This is not only integral to the HSE’s Management Standards but is a statutory requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety At Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW).  The HSWA applies to any employer with more than five employees and require “a written statement of his general policy with regard to health and safety at work of his employees”.  The MHSW requires a risk assessment “for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with” his particular statutory duties. Breach of this requirement can make an employer liable at civil law. However, a greater incentive for compliance is that an employer who does carry out a proper risk assessment is going to be better positioned to defeat a claim for stress at work than one who does not because the risk assessment process should uncover any obvious factors potentially giving rise to stress.  An employer will only be liable in negligence if his breach of duty of care to the employee was reasonably foreseeable.     

Take action before it is too late

3. Have a stress policy and adhere to it  

This might include providing employees with access to a counselling service or a telephone helpline. The courts look favourably on employers who do so, but the provision of such facilities won’t be enough on its own to rebut liability.  

4. Act fairly and consistently  

Stress claims can arise from incidents of bullying/harassment and victimisation.  Put in place policies promoting equality in the workplace – and enforce them.  Claims for discrimination can arise, apart from any other considerations over stress and there is no maximum cap for compensation unlike with unfair dismissal claims. We see many claims where the situation has been caused by fellow employees displaying completely inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, or line managers being “over-zealous” in trying to fulfil their roles. Ensure that line managers manage fairly and in a “human” fashion.   An employee suffering bullying at work from other colleagues or line managers may be able to bring a claim under the PHA for “distress” caused.  

5. Contracts of employment (1)   

Ensure that you have the contractual right (either in the contract of employment or the contractually binding section of the Employee Handbook) to require the employee to attend a doctor for the purpose of a medical report.  This can be a useful tool if the employee is off sick for any length of time because it means you can get a medical report from an independent expert rather than relying solely on the letters from the employee’s GP, who will often be very keen to be (too) supportive of the employee.  

6. Contracts of employment  (2)   

They should be drafted so that any entitlement to full sick pay (as opposed to statutory sick pay (SSP)) is in the discretion of the employer or, preferably, full sick pay will not be paid if an employee goes on sick leave immediately after having been asked to attend a disciplinary or performance management meeting.  Employees tend to become well again once they are not being paid.  SSP is payable in most cases (click here for main terms) for 28 weeks at the rate of £79.15.  Click here for more details on SSP.   Amending employees’ contracts of employment can be a complicated process, fraught with challenges of its own.  Please seek legal advice before deciding to do so.  

7. Act decisively  

If a stress at work problem looks like it might be rearing its ugly head, don’t ignore it.  Take legal advice as soon as possible.  

Related posts: Coming Soon … Miserable Monday  

If you are an employer or employee and need advice on your situation please contact me on 0207 464 8433 or at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk.  

 None of the above material (or anything published anywhere on this blog by me or anyone else) constitutes legal advice to you.  You should not  rely on it and if you need legal advice about your situation you should take specific legal advice on your own situation.  I am always happy to provide legal advice via Dale Langley & Co.

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By Michael Scutt, 18/01/2010 10:20 am

As promised last Monday, I am delighted today to welcome my first guest blogger, Ian Barratt (pictured, right) of Mind Strengths Ltd, to present his Seven Top Stress Management Tips on this third Monday of January, the allegedly most miserable day of the year. Ian is a qualified stress management consultant speaker and author.  His book “The Phoenix Strategy”, co-authored with Amanda Robinson was published last October.  Mind Strengths Ltd is a consultancy company offering workplace strress management , wellbeing and support services.  Tomorrow I will look at how employers can minimise the risk of being sued for stress at work by employees. 

 Today, Ian focusses on how employees can manage stress. 

1. Identify and write down your major stressors 

By taking time to find out what is causing you stress, you will be taking a big pro-active step towards managing your problem areas. Start by writing these down, no matter how trivial they may seem. Then, focus on the top 2 or 3 that cause you the most stress impact and work on a plan to deal with these one at a time. Never try to fix all the problems at once or in an unrealistic timescale. You should also now be able to let go of the trivial stressors as these are not so important. 

2. Establish some goals and objectives  

It can be very satisfying to set some personal goals and objectives to help you kick start the New Year. Make these meaningful and achievable as there is little point in setting personal goals that you either get bored with or you cannot accomplish. Make sure that you set your goals over short, medium and long term timescales to keep you fully focussed throughout 2010. 

3. Develop a Personal Relaxation Plan 

A relaxation programme can be as simple as deciding to walk more, to perhaps joining a gym. Even if you take exercise for just 20 minutes a day, this will help your physical and mental wellbeing. An often overlooked benefit of exercising is that our brains release endorphins, which have as “feel good” effect and gives us feelings of euphoria. If a more mundane relaxation programme is your choice of escape, try meditation, yoga or pilates – all of which will teach you a range of breathing exercises that are critical to relieving and beating stress. 

4. Give yourself some thinking time 

We all need some down time occasionally where we can think more clearly about circumstances and events that may be causing our stress levels to rise. Setting time aside to think about these problems will help you to rationalise what is occurring and provide some clarity to help you move forward. If this proves difficult, step outside yourself and look back in as an outsider. You may find this makes things easier as you are viewing the problems from the outside as a third party. Ask yourself “what would I do if I were advising someone else?” 

5. Be positive 

Many stress related problems can be made worse by low confidence and lack of self-esteem. When you are down and depressed, any issue, no matter how big or small, can have a negative effect on the way you feel. Having low self-esteem generally means that you have negative thoughts about the outcome of a particular situation, event or about yourself. Learn to convert any negative thoughts into positive thoughts and positive energy. Write down any problem areas and you will find that the whole situation becomes less threatening on paper. Change your thinking from “I can’t do” to “I will be able to do.” 

 6. Practice good time management 

Time management isn’t for everyone but even when you can apply some of the theory, you will see noticeable differences in the way you run your life and it will help you reduce stress. For example, making a list of your tasks at work is a great start but not very useful if you don’t know how long each task will take, so remember to do this too. Also, prioritise tasks and ensure that you have a clear picture of what you will be doing today and each day of the working week – and stick to your plan! 

7.  Keep a Stress Diary 

The Stress Diary is a fantastic way to keep track of what may be causing you stress and will help you identify any patterns that may be occurring. To make this a meaningful exercise, you should keep the diary for a minimum of 2 weeks as this will enable you to see any trends. Make a note of anything that causes you stress on a scale of 1-10 (10 being high) but only keep scores of 6 and above. Discard the rest as they should be minor stressors – you need to focus solely on the major stressors. You may find some of the findings surprising! Finally, work on a plan to eradicate the problem areas. 

The Seven Top Stress Tips have been compiled by Ian Barratt, founder director of Mind Strengths Ltd. Ian is a qualified stress management consultant, author and speaker, who specialises in identifying and managing stress and improving wellbeing at both a corporate and individual level. 

For further information, please contact Ian on +44 (0)1634 314090 or via email at ian.barratt@mindstrengths.co.uk.  The website contains some additional useful information and can be found at www.mindstrengths.co.uk.

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By michaelscutt, 01/09/2009 9:00 am

There are some things you just don’t expect to come across, like good weather at Bank Holiday weekends for instance, or Amnesty International being found by the Employment Appeal Tribunal to have discriminated against one of its employees on the grounds of race.  Yet that is what was found to have occurred in the case of Amnesty International v Ahmed that was reported recently. 

It’s an interesting case and not just because of the involvement of Amnesty in it. It states that the motivation of the employer in taking the action it did is irrelevant if the action taken is discriminatory in itself.  In this case Amnesty refused to appoint Ms Ahmed, a Sudanese lady, to be its Sudan researcher because it perceived there to be two potential difficulties with her appointment.  Firstly it was concerned that her impartiality might be called into question, especially given the sensitivity of the conflict in the Darfur region and because she was from north Sudan. Secondly,  Amnesty was worried for her safety and those working with her because of her nationality.  Consequently it decided that she should not be appointed to the role, despite the fact that she waa the best qualified for it.  A claim for race discrimination followed and Ms Ahmed succeeded.  Amnesty was held to have directly discriminated against Ms Ahmed on grounds of her racial origins.

A further argument by Amnesty that to have sent Ms Ahmed to Sudan would have caused them to breach health and safety law was not accepted by the EAT. 

The lesson for employers here is that any steps that might discriminate against an employee on the grounds of race (or sex) even when, as in this case, there might be seemingly sensible or benign reasons behind the decision, may well amount to discrimination.  Employers beware!

Thanks to Daniel Barnett’s case law update for bringing this to my attention.

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By michaelscutt, 05/06/2009 5:06 pm

Two recent cases before the Suffolk ET highlighted the risks that employer face when making redundancies.  In this particular matter, Obikwu v British Refugee Council and Ukwaja v British Refugee Council (BRC), two (black) immigration workers were selected for redundancy by their employer, the BRC.  The ET found in favour of both workers in April 2008, but it was only in the last few days that Mr Obikwu’s remedies hearing took place which settled the level of compensation to be paid to him. Ms Ukwaja’s case was determined last January.

They both worked at the Oakington immigration centre in Cambridge.  Plans were announced to close it in May 2006 but were subsequently suspended.  However five months after the decision to close it was put on hold both of the claimants were made redundant.  Their departure removed the only two non-white employees from the staff at the building.  Not surprisingly, both brought claims for unfair dismissal and race discrimination. 

How did this situation arise?  The ET held that the manager in charge of selecting candidates for redundancy, one Anne-Marie Leech, had “subconsciously” favoured colleagues with whom she was friendly.  The Claimants alleged that she was “consciously biased” against them (although the ET rejected that allegation), which was probably not surprising because Ms Leech hosted a party at her house (to which the two Claimants were not invited) and none of those people who did attend were selected for redundancy. It’s not clear from the newpaper reports whether Mr Obikwu and Ms Ukwaja were the only employees made redundant, or just the only two ethnic minority employees amongst a wider cohort.  The ET Chairman noted that white workers with less experience were selected to remain in employment over the two Claimants.  In the circumstances it is not surprising that they both won.

There are two legal issues raised in this case.  One concerns the need for employers to have fair and reasonable (and objective) selection criteria when choosing which employees to select for redundancy.  If an employer fails to make an objective choice then the affected employee may have a claim for unfair dismissal (if they have more than 12 months continuous employment experience at the date of termination).  The maximum compensation that an ET can award for unfair dismissal is capped at £66,200 plus a basic award of £350 per year of service. However, and this is the second legal issue raised in this particular case, if the employer selects an employee for redundancy on grounds of their race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin that will amount to an automatically unfair dismissal.  An employee who believes they have been discriminated against on grounds of their race will probably be advised to bring a claim under the Race Relations Act 1976 for compensation because, unlike the compensatory award for unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act (ERA), that award is not capped.  That can lead to a very substantial award being made, because the ET can also award compensation for injury to feelings, as well as loss of earnings and other financial losses.  There is also no 12 month qualifying period required under RRA claims.  The employee cannot claim compensation under the RRA and a compensatory award under the ERA.

Mr Obikwu was awarded £65,475 for unfair dismissal, racial discrimination, psychiatric injury and loss of earnings.  I haven’t seen how the award was broken down so it is hard to say what value the ET put on each head of claim.  However, in the case of Ms. Ukwaja, she was apparently awarded £30,000, which comprised £15,000 for injury to feelings due to racial discrimination, £8,349 for unfair dismissal, £5,000 for discrimination and £2,643 for interest on lost earnings.       

From a legal point of view there was nothing particularly noteworthy about these cases.  What caught the eye of the media though was the fact of a charity involved with refugees unfairly dismissing and racially discriminating against two ethnic minority staff: the BRC deserved to be censured for that. However, not everyone might agree with that:  I found one report of the cases on The Independent’s website and read some of the comments that followed the report.  Sadly, some of the respondents saw this story as an example of “another utterly baseless thought crime!  Another opportunity to redistribute monies to chosen victim groups, taken with relish” and “It’s a bit naughty taking a charity to court, surely the funds raised by the Refugee Council would be better spent on helping everyone in [the] developing world move to Europe than on handouts to disgruntled employees”.  No, actually.  The anti-discrimination laws exist for a reason; no employer is exempt.  The whole episode leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.