Workers suffer - 1.8 million workers suffer from work-related stress

Home » News & Knowledge » 1.8 million workers suffer from work-related stress and anxiety, study finds

Most people will have experienced Stress At Work to varying degrees – from making mistakes which have led to a telling-off, personality clashes, or having too much to do.

But in some cases, Stress At Work is a permanent fixture in a worker’s life, which can lead to ongoing mental health problems.

Recently, Stress at Work has been a major talking point in the news, as the Health and Safety Executive revealed that 1.8 million UK workers suffered from work-related ill health in 2022/23, with nearly half experiencing stress, depression or anxiety.

Workers suffer

But experts are urging for this to change, and say that people who are happier in their job are more likely to be engaged and perform better.

Common causes of stress at work include demanding jobs, a lack of clarity about responsibilities, difficult relationships with colleagues and a fear of redundancy or changes. But, it is your employer’s responsibility to ensure you are protected from stress at work and minimise the risk of stress.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer must ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees by identifying and assessing the threats of work-related stress and also taking reasonable steps to mitigate and control these risks. This may include ensuring workers feel supported, have enough information to carry out their roles successfully, and do not feel overworked.

Work-related stress can lead to serious mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety if it is not identified and mediated by your employer.

In some cases, if you have experienced work-related stress, you may be entitled to claim compensation after sustaining a psychiatric injury.

Work-related Stress – When can I claim compensation?

We have broken down the steps you should consider before making a stress-at-work compensation claim:

Raise concerns with line manager and/or human resources

You have reached the point where the stress has affected you enough to report it to your manager or HR representative.

If your company response was either unsatisfactory or non-existent

The issue has been officially recorded by your employer, but the solution they offered was either inadequate or the matter was disregarded altogether.

Doctors’ appointments made and stress recorded by GP

You felt it necessary to consult medical help due to stress, and your symptoms were logged in your patient record.

These final three points are things that may help your case going forward:

A sick note issued or medication prescribed by a doctor

Your doctor deemed it necessary to prescribe medication to help manage the symptoms of stress or sign you off work with a sick note at some point.

Diary of work events and circumstances kept by the employee

You have had the foresight to log anything that may have contributed to the stress you have been experiencing – late nights either at work or working out of hours at home, sleepless nights, lists of additional tasks, etc.

Work affecting personal life or time outside of work

Things have reached a point where you are forced to focus on work matters, or worry about them regularly outside of working hours in personal time and are thus affecting your everyday life.

Making a stress at work claim

For a claim to be successful, you must legally prove that you have not only suffered workplace stress but that the stress meets the clinical criteria for a recognised psychiatric condition

If you have experienced the first three steps of this checklist above and recognise any or all of the last three, chances are you may be thinking about escalating things to legal action. At Oakwood Solicitors Ltd, we can offer you free initial advice and consider whether you may have a stress-at-work claim.

We will be able to tell you whether you need to take additional steps or if they believe that you are trying to take action too early, as it is in both of your interests to only escalate things when necessary and with the best chance of success.

How to make a stress at work claim

Before deciding if a claim is the best option for you, it’s important to seek initial legal advice. Oakwood Solicitors Ltd offers a free initial assessment and would be happy to examine any documents you have and discuss whether we think that action could be taken.

If you find a solicitor who believes that your claim has merits, it is important to consider the impact on your health that moving a claim forward may have. Litigation can be stressful and may have an adverse effect on your health.

We are not doctors, so we cannot give you medical advice – but we do have a duty to advise you that pursuing a claim will be a reminder of the stress that led to your psychiatric condition whilst it is ongoing.

Should I make a stress at work claim?

The only outcome of a successful claim is financial compensation. You may see litigation as a way of getting answers, but most cases settle out of court, meaning that many questions may remain unanswered.

Doctors’ advice may be that you will only be able to make a good recovery from your illness once you can move on from your issues. Litigation may therefore delay your recovery. Any decision to proceed must be your own, in conjunction with medical advice.

If you agree to proceed with a claim, our team will be happy to explain the process in further detail with you.

How long do I have to make a claim?

Claims for psychiatric injury are subject to strict time limits, and you must have commenced proceedings within 3 years of your date of knowledge that you have suffered an injury as a result of work-related stress. Usually, we advise that this time limit runs from the first time you seek medical advice from your GP, but limitation is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

There may also be separate allegations that can be made under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 Act. Such allegations would be subject to a 6-year limitation period.

If you are unsure about your own time limit, we would be happy to help advise you if we are able to support you with a claim.

How much compensation will I get?

The section of the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines (JCG) covering psychiatric injury claims has four compensation brackets:

Severe – The most extreme of cases, where the outlook for someone’s recovery is extremely poor (£54,830.00 – £115,730.00).
Moderately severe – Symptoms amount to a disability affecting someone’s life in a permanent or long-standing way, preventing a return to comparable employment (£19,070.00 – £54,830.00).
Moderate – Symptoms have affected daily life, work, and relationships but where medical evidence opines that good progress towards recovery will be made by the time of trial. The extent to treatment will assist recovery, alongside future vulnerability to relapse is also assessed (£5,860.00 – £19,070.00).
Less severe – Usually where the duration of symptoms are less than twelve months, and the extent to which the symptoms have affected someone’s daily activities and sleep is low level (£1,540.00 – £5,860.00).

Most cases of this nature fall within the moderate or moderately severe categories. The court considers similar trialled cases to determine where a case may fall regarding the compensation bracket.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cases – the court has additional separate guidance from the above.
Special damages – Can cover out-of-pocket expenses such as lost earnings, travel, medication and treatment costs, etc.

Claims for both past and anticipated future losses can be made. This list is not exhaustive and is very case-specific.

1.8 million workers suffer from work-related stress and anxiety, study finds