Workplace stress

Last updated: 6 Dec 2021

The Health and Safety Executive (Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety) gives a broad definition of work-related stress as a reaction “to excessive demands or pressures, arising when people try to cope with tasks, responsibilities or other types of pressure connected with their job, but find difficulty, strain or worry in doing so.”

Workplace stress

The Health and Safety Executive provides guidance on the causes of workplace stress, the signs of workplace stress, how employers should deal with workplace stress and how employers can tackle workplace stress. The NHS provides guidance on the symptoms and feelings of stress and where to go for support.

Workplace Stress and Coronavirus

During the Coronavirus crisis, employers continue to have a duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare at work of all employees. If an employee has failed in its duties towards its employees, this may lead to a potential claim for occupational stress.

What to do if you are stressed at work

If you are struggling with workplace stress you should speak to your manager. If you feel like you can’t talk to your manager about your problem, speak to someone else – this could be someone in your human resources department, a trade union representative if you have one.

Your employer has a duty of care to consider the impact of stress in the workplace and a legal obligation to ensure your health, safety and welfare as an employee. Where this hasn’t happened and your mental or physical health has suffered as a result, you may be entitled to make a work-related stress compensation claim.

Your employer may have its own procedures on how to deal with issues of workplace stress. You should check your employer’s policy, if they have one. Before making a claim, your options for resolving the situation include:

• Making an informal complaint by talking to or writing to your employer
• Making a formal complaint to your employer – ‘raising a grievance’
• Using mediation (where a trained mediator will try to help you and your employer reach an agreement about how best to deal with your situation)

If you feel that these options are not suitable or you are not satisfied with your employer’s handling of the situation you can seek advice on your options.

If you are suffering from depression or another stress-related condition, your condition may amount to a disability and you may be protected from disability discrimination.