Stress at Work Employee Rights UK:

Stressed at work should I quit?

Are you signed off with stress at work?

The HSE define stress as:

“The adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them.”

Work-Related Stress Grievance Letter:

If you want to raise a grievance letter for work-related stress and bring your grievance letter to the points of law UK, we have created three webpages to assist you:

  • 15 Steps to take before you write a grievance letter.
  • 20 Tips on writing a grievance letter to your employer.
  • Free grievance letter example for work-related stress, bullying / harassment, and discrimination, which you can send to your employer.

If you are looking for work-related stress legislation uk to understand your employers responsibility for health and safety at work, then this website outlines employment law for work-related stress under the auspices of The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and The Management of Health and safety at Work Regulations 1999.

What not to say to Occupational Health UK:

Please visit our webpage on what not to say to OH UK, which webpage outlines the steps to take when your employer refers you to their occupational health department.

Attending Sickness Absence Meeting Your Employee Rights UK:

Have you been invited to attend a sickness absence meeting and you are nervous and worried about what to say during the sickness absence meeting. Don’t be!

Amy & I have created a webpage to explain what to do if you have been invited to attend a sickness absence meeting or KIT meeting to keep in touch during your sickness absence for work-related stress.

Stress Risk Assessment:

The Health and Safety Executive have identified six possible causes of stress at the workplace to assist your employer in understanding the cause of workplace stress, and how to undertake a stress risk assessment for work-related stress. These six possible causes of stress at the workplace are known as ‘Management Standards‘.

As such, if you are signed off with work-related stress and want to know what your employer should be doing to manage workplace stress and stress in the workplace, click on the links below:

1. the demands of your job;
2. your control over your work;
3. the support you receive from managers and colleagues;
4. your relationships at work;
5. your role in the organisation;
6. change and how it’s managed.

We find that it is usually the ‘relationships’ at work which cause the most amount of work-related stress due to bullying and harassment or where a new manager comes along and wants to replace you with one of their cronies.

If you need a free letter of grievance example for work-related stress caused by bullying and harassment, then click here.

Work-Related Stress Legislation UK:

In the authority of Spring v Guardian Assurance Plc the Lords stated:-

“The changes which have taken place in the employer-employee relationship, with far greater duties imposed on the employer than in the past, whether by statute or by judicial decision, to care for the physical, financial and even psychological welfare of its employees”.

In the authority of Walker v Northumberland County Council (1995) the Court held that an employer can be held liable for mental injury to an employee caused by work-related stress. This judgement underlined the employer’s duty of care to provide safe systems of work in respect of occupational stress as well as other hazards, and to take steps to protect employees from foreseeable risks to mental health.

You can find more case law regarding work-related stress here.

Average Time off with Anxiety:

The longest time Amy & I have ever had a client signed off from work with anxiety was two years. The average time off with anxiety is between 3-6 months.

The problem we find with most employers, is that they are not willing to change what has led to your sickness absence unless you write a letter of grievance for work-related stress. Amy & I have created a grievance letter template to assist you in writing a grievance letter for work-related stress, bullying, harassment and discrimination. The template is only £12.

Perhaps this was best summed up in the authority of Donelien v Liberata UK Ltd UKEAT/0297/14/JOJ at paragraph 34:

“The real cause of the Claimant’s problems was workplace stress, producing adverse health effects, which could be remedied not by any medical treatment but only by changing the workplace in a way in which the employer had decided not to do, though the employee would wish, so that as long as the employer was determined to resist any change, the adverse health effects on the employee would be likely to continue.”

A similar position was her in the authority of Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust v Foster UKEAT/0552/10/JOJ whereas the employee went off sick with stress following a period of alleged bullying and harassment by his manager within the Security Department. The employee raised a grievance in connection with this treatment which was rejected by his employer. No other steps were taken by the employer to address his ongoing concerns. Eventually the employee was dismissed on capability grounds. The employee brought claims of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal, both of which were upheld by the Employment Tribunal. The Tribunal found that the requirement that the claimant should work within the Security Department placed him at a substantial disadvantage because of his disability, i.e. his stress, which stress was the result of working within the Security Department, and he could only be expected to return to work there once the factors which had caused his stress had been eliminated. There was no chance of that being done because the employer had never thought it necessary to explore, as part of the process to get the employee back to work, what had caused his stress in the first place.

This is why we say, if you are stressed at work, unless you raise a letter of grievance for work-related stress, your employer will sit on its hands and do nothing to resolve the work-related stressors, which caused your sickness absence in the first place!  Thus, chances are, your employer will do nothing to accommodate or facilitate your return to work, until such time as you lodge a work-related stress grievance letter. Otherwise, your employer will dismiss you due to capability and manage you out of the Company by undertaking a series of sickness absence meetings. Remember, the HR Department are not your friends! This is where Amy & I can assist you in drafting a letter of grievance for workplace stress. Reach out to us at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com or call during working hours 9-5 on 07775943414. We charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour, and then £50 an hour thereafter (or any part hour thereof). So, if you are signed off with stress, reach out to us.

Sickness Absence Capability:

You really do need to avoid going down the ill health capability procedure. The ill health capability procedure is a slippery slope to get rid of you on grounds of capability. Forewarned is forearmed! The last thing, which you need to add to your workplace stress, is your employer terminating an employee with mental health issues uk. This makes getting another job even harder. So, if you have been invited to a stage 1 sickness absence meeting, reach out to Amy & I at samestone@formalgrievance.com to arrange a telephone consultation.

Amy & I only help employees like you. We do NOT assist employers.

Having gone down the sickness absence route ourselves with our previous employers, we know the stress and anxiety, which you now feel, not least because Amy & I have already trodden the path, which you now tread.

Remember, you don’t have to be alone in going through your employment dispute with your employer. We took our own employers to the Employment Tribunal, and so we know what you are going through. If you feel you need assistance writing your grievance letter Amy & I can write your grievance letter for you.

We only charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour. During the initial consultation, we can talk through your employment situation, provide guidance, and support you moving forward if you want our help. Go on, don’t hesitate, pick up the phone and call us 07775943414 (9-5 UK) or email us at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com

Over the past 15 years Amy & I helped thousands of clients. Read our testimonials page.

Amy & I can write you a custom grievance letter for any of the following employment issues:

Reach out to us on 07775943414 (9-5 UK) or email us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com

We work 7 days a week because we know your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon!