Stress at work can happen to anyone, at any time. So you must make sure that work doesn’t endanger your employees’ health. Only place reasonable demands on your employees relating to both the jobs they do and their general day at work—that means from the moment they arrive to when they leave. But the main issue is the question of what is reasonable. You may have the best intentions of helping your people, but your legal duty goes beyond intentions. For example, you may assume that one of your employees has a manageable workload. But without knowing exactly what your employee is going through, your employee could be suffering. And if an employee resigns because of work-related stress, he or she may make a constructive dismissal claim where the maximum compensation award is two years’ salary. That’s why it’s important to hold risk assessments and put in place standard health & safety processes. It’s the best way to keep an eye on how your people are coping while demonstrating that you are only making reasonable demands to them. Here’s a quick checklist of how to identify and manage a stressed employee:
- Define what ‘stress’ is.
- See how employees normally work under pressure.
- Find out whether an internal or external problem is causing stress—there may be problems at home rather than at work.
- If a risk assessment leads to a work-related stress diagnosis, make a written support plan to help your employee.
- Think about other ways to improve the situation. For example, employ more staff or reduce workloads.
One of the easiest ways to look after your people is by giving them access to the benefits of the Health Assured Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). It’s an online and in-person support network on hand 24/7, 365 to keep your people at their best. So if an employee needs confidential advice about work-related stress, they can get it immediately via the EAP. And with an EAP constantly working to help you look after your staff, you see improved morale in the workplace with fewer people taking days off for stress-related illnesses. To learn more, please visit Health Assured.
