Workplace Stress and Best Practice

Fiona Martin, Director and Head of Employment at Martin Searle Solicitors, discusses workplace stress and how it's a serious employment issue.

Workplace stress is a serious employment issue – affecting one in five of the working population from the most junior and newest recruits, to those at director level. The consequences when workplace stress is handled poorly is reduced efficiency, additional sick pay and skilled staff leaving the businesses.

Defining stress, the reaction people have to excessive pressures and demands, is tricky. A person’s breaking point depends on factors like their personal resilience and what else is happening around them such as illness and bereavement. 

Unfortunately, mental health issues come with a range of negative connotations, and those who suffer are easily labelled as “Work time wasters” and “slackers” when in fact they have a seriously debilitating illness.

Sadly, embarrassed silence often pervades when it comes to signing a card with a supportive message to a colleague who has been off on long-term sick leave. 

We frequently advise and represent both employers and employees to prevent discrimination, and the most common failure is to make reasonable adjustments. This is direct disability discrimination.

The inappropriate way employees are sometimes treated by experienced members of the HR profession is shocking. Threats of dismissal for gross misconduct when an employee who has serious mental health problems was found self-harming in the workplace is just one recent example. It is hard to see how anyone would treat someone suffering from, let’s say, cancer in this way. Likewise, I see employers fail to adjust their capability policies, and witness HR people failing to address whether an employee has been afforded the protection they are entitled to under the Equality Act. 

This must change which is why we have invited Jane Cattermole from the Employment Support Retraining Agency (ESRA) to speak about workplace stress at our next HR Matters event on 2 July. 

Anyone with personnel responsibilities are invited to attend our HR Matters event in Brighton to learn more about Workplace Stress. 

Anyone involved with HR and personnel issues will gain useful tools to tackle stress in the workplace fairly and efficiently, and how to properly support those suffering from stress so they can stay return to work.

For more details and to register see here: http://www.ms-solicitors.co.uk/?p=8412 

Martin Searle Solicitors are sponsoring our Summer Social Supper in the Park. For more information visit here.

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