Burnout: 6 Careers Most Likely to Lead to Work-Related Stress

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A new study has revealed the industry’s most likely to lead to burnout among workers, as more than a third have said they have cried at work in the past year.

Vision Direct surveyed 2,000 people across the UK to find out what was causing people to break down at work. According to the figures, stress was the number one trigger that brought tears to work, while 27% of workers held burnout responsible.

Burnout

The study also revealed which age group is the most likely to cry at work, with more than a third (34%) of Gen Z respondents (born between the late 1990s and early 2010s) being said to have cried whilst carrying out their jobs. In comparison, only 7% of ‘boomers’ (people born between 1946 and 1964) admitted to crying at work.

Among industries, teachers and those working in education were found to suffer from burnout the most. Whilst people working in health care, social assistance and finance were also said to suffer.

Psychotherapist, Sonal Thakrar explained the psychology behind crying. She said:

“There are many different reasons why we cry, especially when we feel powerless or helpless, unable to solve a problem or when we have lost someone important to us.

“Emotional tears are released from our lacrimal glands. They help to communicate feelings when words aren’t enough. If our tears could speak, they would reveal the range of emotions that we carry.

“Crying can provide relief and gives us an outlet and way of expressing feelings such as sadness, rage, anger, frustration, fear and happiness.”

The Health and Safety Executive’s latest figures show that around 100,000 workers reported stress-related illnesses to the watchdog between March 2022 and 2023.

The statistics show the number of stress-related illnesses caused or made worse by employment, as well as evaluating the health, safety and environment. In some cases, if stress at work has been so severe it has amounted to cause you a psychiatric injury, you may be entitled to claim compensation for the damages.

At Oakwood Solicitors Ltd, we specialise in Stress at Work Claims and can assist you in making a claim.

6 Jobs Most Likely to Lead to Burnout

According to Vision Direct’s study, these are the industries causing burn out among workers the most:

Education
Health care and social assistance
Finance and insurance
Government and public services
Hotel and food services
Construction

What is work-related stress?

Work-related stress can be caused by several factors, and mental health charity Mind explains ‘stress’ is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. It usually happens when we are in a situation that we don’t feel we can manage or control.

At work, this might be due to having too many demands, changes, too much to do or too many decisions to make in the workplace.

Chronic stress can seriously affect your overall health and has the potential to deplete your energy levels, affect your confidence, and eventually lead to burnout.

What causes work-related stress?

Common causes of stress at work

Stress at work, or work-related stress, is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other demands placed on them.’

Each person who is suffering from Stress at Work may be doing so for different reasons. However, we have rounded up some common reasons that we see time and time again:

A lack of control of workload
High demands and lack of clarity about responsibilities
Fear of redundancy or changes
Poor line management and lack of support
Difficult relationships with colleagues
Bullying or harassment in the workplace
Workplace discrimination.

Symptoms of burnout

Some symptoms of burnout may include the following:

Feeling physically exhausted/having low energy

When you do not get enough rest you will feel drained all of the time and the smallest of tasks suddenly feel much harder to do then you a heading towards burning out.

Feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted

As well as feeling physically tired being burnt out can affect your emotional state and cause you to experience moodiness, sadness, anxiety, impatience and even outbursts.

Low immunity and frequent illnesses

When you are feeling run down it is much easier to contract illnesses such as colds and flu. You are also more susceptible to heart problems.

Becoming withdrawn

When you are physically and mentally worn out it can be easy to neglect those around you such as friends and family. It is usually because you do not feel as though you have the energy to interact normally with them.

Becoming more negative

A result of being burnt out can mean that your outlook on life becomes somewhat bleak. It can be difficult to look at situations in a positive manner if you are physically and mentally worn out.

Poor work performance and absence

Because of all of the above symptoms, you can find your performance at work suffering because you do not have the energy or the motivation to continue at your normal standards or because you simply do not feel able to go to work that day.

So what can be done before it gets to this stage? Here are some suggestions to maintain a healthy balance of work and rest.

Stress at work claims

If you are suffering from stress at work, you may be entitled to compensation from your employer.

To make a claim, the stress caused by the work issue must cause a period of illness, usually, this is a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety. A claim for stress itself cannot be made, only where the impact of the stress is significant and warrants a medical diagnosis.

Another element of claims for stress at work is that the employer in question must know about the issue. Often, employees under stress and pressure bottle up their symptoms and may feel unable to confide in anyone at work.

Although understandable, there is a legal requirement for a claim that the employer knows of the issue and has therefore had an opportunity to take action and help the employee.

When an employer knows that there is a work-related issue causing an employee to suffer stress at work, fails to take any (or any adequate) steps to help or support and the consequence of the failure to help is that the employee suffers from their mental health, a claim is likely to arise.

Each case is of course fact specific, but I hope that the above provides a helpful overview of the types of factors needed for a legal compensation claim.

Stress at work and the law

There are 2 main pieces of health and safety law which cover work-related stress:

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – puts a ‘duty of care’ on employers to protect their employees from the risk of stress at work
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – this requires all employers to make a ‘suitable and sufficient assessment’ of the risks to the health and safety of their employees at work.

This means that by law employers must:

Identify any risks to their employees’ health, for example by carrying out a risk assessment
Take steps to prevent or reduce work-related stress

Employers must also make sure they’re following the law on working time rules (Working Time Regulations 1998). This is because working long hours without regular breaks can cause work-related stress.

Stress at work – How to make a claim

To make a Stress at Work claim, you must legally prove that you have not only suffered workplace stress, but the stress meets the clinical criteria for a recognised psychiatric condition.

Employers have a legal obligation to make sure measures are in place to support staff from physical and mental harm.

If it can be proven that they have been in breach of the regulations, and you have suffered as a result, you could be entitled to compensation.

What steps should I take to make a claim?

If you are suffering from stress at work which is affecting your health, you may be entitled to claim compensation from your employer for the damages.

For a successful legal claim to be awarded, 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 this is proven, you would be able to claim compensation known as general damages – an award for the suffering and potential lost income

6-step guide to making a stress at work claim

Here is a list of points that should be taken into consideration if you believe that your case may be bad enough to seek the help of a Solicitor.

These first three are the most important, as they prove that you have followed the correct process and official records have been made as a result:

Concerns raised 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.

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’ appointment 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:

Sick note issued or medication prescribed by 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 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.

If you have covered the first three steps of this checklist and maybe recognise any or all of the last three, chances are you may be thinking about escalating things to legal action.

If you can get some free initial advice that many legal firms offer, they will ask you questions that include the above points and should be able to advise you on if you may have a claim.

A responsible Solicitor should also 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 long do I have to make a stress at work 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 for work-related stress?

The amount of compensation you are awarded depends on a case-by-case basis based on the severity of symptoms and impact on your life.

The section of the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines (JCG) covering psychiatric injury claims will be used a guideline, and 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 that 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 trialed 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.

Why use Oakwood Solicitors Ltd?

Claims for psychiatric injury arising from work-related stress is a very complex area of law. At Oakwood Solicitors Ltd, we have a dedicated and specialised team to help you.

With the majority of the team having a qualification in mental health (a TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems), we fully appreciate the difficulties those suffering from a mental health condition at work may face, particularly in the case of workplace stress.

Whether it’s an ongoing or a historic issue, we are here to help and will carry out a free initial assessment with no obligation to take a claim forward.

Work-related Stress: 6 Careers Most Likely to Lead to Burnout