Stress at Work Claims

Stress can affect all aspects of your life, and as such, the symptoms can often be multi-dimensional. A little day-to-day stress is natural and most often necessary, but when it becomes prolonged and combines with other things like lack of sleep, it can have a huge effect on your health.

You may have been ordered by your employer to work from home due to local lockdown enforcement. This sounds excellent to some, and indeed – some people have the flexibility to work from home already.

Where this can become an issue, though, is when that choice is removed. Some people don’t have adequate resources to work from home long-term.

This could be down to a lack of simple equipment, such as a suitable desk or chair. Such factors would be catered for in an office, as you would be provided with them and a workspace assessment will have been carried out.

Then there is the fact that some people require more physical interaction than others, or their home isn’t a suitable environment to work from long-term. This can have a lasting effect on mental wellbeing.

If such issues have been raised with your employer but you feel that their response has been unsatisfactory, it may be worth seeking legal assistance.

High levels of stress over a period of time runs the risk of damaging mental health to the extent that medical intervention is required. Employers have a legal obligation to take measures to support both the physical and mental wellbeing of staff.

Common stress at work claims can include:

• Workplace bullying – Physical or verbal abuse, being belittled, excluded, malicious pranks, aggressive and passive-aggressive treatment, etc.

• Harassment at work – Threats, physical, verbal and sexual assault, attacks on ‘protected’ characteristics, and some of the behaviours listed under workplace bullying.

• Lack of training – Pressure of doing a job and do it well, having been offered insufficient or zero training.

• Excessive workload – Having far too much work for one person to manage. This can affect both and personal life.

• Denial of rights – Such as toilet, coffee or lunch breaks, permission to attend medical appointments, unreasonably required to stay after hours, etc.

• Unfairly applied policies or procedures – Selective enforcement of rules, unreasonable demands, or being singled out to do something when you are unable to do.

• Having mental health issues ignored – When your employer has full disclosure about a mental health condition, yet they don’t make satisfactory adjustments to accommodate your needs within the workplace.

Compensation is pursued in the county courts against an employer who has failed in their legal duties to keep their employee mentally safe at work despite being aware that risks were present, causing harm to that employee’s health.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.