Employers have a duty to look after their workers’ well-being. It is irresponsible for business owners to neglect the health and safety of their workforce, and if there is an injury or illness sustained as a result of their negligence, then they will no doubt have to face the consequences in the form of a compensation claim.
Some illnesses are not as apparent as others, however. The issues of mental health are commonly not recognised and addressed in the workplace despite the fact that, according to the head of the cognitive behavioural therapy provider Rightsteps, Cliff Lee, “stress contributes to the largest category of employee sickness in the UK.” The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)’s annual sickness survey also identifies stress as the most common cause of long-term absence for manual and non-manual workers.
The Better Health at Work Alliance (BHWA) has warned of the costs of ignoring employee mental health problems. It reports that stress affects one in five of the working population and sets this against the fact that the common law places a duty of care upon employers to “take measures to control risks from work-related stress”.
As far as employers are concerned, the subject of mental illness can be a tricky because in many cases employees may fail to disclose that they have a pre-existing history of mental health problems. It’s therefore entirely reasonable in such circumstances for an employer to assume that the worker is perfectly capable of withstanding all the normal pressures of the job without requiring any additional support.
The director of the BHWA, Charlotte Cross, describes how stress is unlikely to be entirely due to a person’s job. Cross explains that “in many cases stress at work is usually caused by underlying social and personal factors (stressors) that reduce an individual’s ability to cope with challenges at work. These hurdles then become last straw style triggers or flash points for overwhelming stress.” So, although a person’s occupation is hardly ever solely to blame, awareness from employers is key to successfully combating the issue.
Whatever the industry, it is important for employers to take their workers’ mental health very seriously. If the proper measures are not taken or if the employer neglects an employee’s complaints of being put under too much stress, then it is possible for them to make a claim. Of course, prevention of the problem is far better than allowing it to escalate to this stage, and handling the situation delicately and with empathy will hopefully help alleviate the problems that any of your workers are experiencing.
However, in the event that such a claim is made against you, then employers’ liability insurance can protect business owners from taking full liability. It’s just another reason why having employers’ liability insurance is enforced as a legal requirement for all businesses with any sort of staff.