Guidance for employers on managing work-related stress

Awareness of work-related stress has become prominent in the modern workplace. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) publishes an annual absence management survey, “health and wellbeing at work”, which monitors trends in absence management and considers health and wellbeing policies and practice. In 2022, with regard to stress and mental wellbeing, the survey found that:

• Two-thirds (66%) of respondents were concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees’ mental health (down from 82% in 2021).
• There had been a small reduction in activity to address workplace stress compared with 2021 and fewer organisations were taking action to increase awareness of mental health issues or to identify mental ill-health among staff who work remotely.
• The vast majority of respondents were taking action to support employee mental health at work, most commonly through employee assistance programmes, phased return to work or other reasonable adjustments, or access to counselling services.
• Just over two-thirds (68%) of respondents believed their organisation actively promotes good mental wellbeing (down from 77% in 2021). Around half believed they were effective in tackling workplace stress (52%) or in identifying and managing the mental health risks arising from COVID-19 (48%).

Understanding stress and mental health

The Health and Safety Executive defines stress as the “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them” at work.

All employers have a legal duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees to support mental wellbeing in the workplace. An employer must identify significant and foreseeable risks to an employee’s health to minimise the risk of harm arising in the workplace. An employer must consider any disabilities that an employee may have, affecting their ability to work.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 impose the following duties on employers:

1. Undertaking risk assessments – an employer needs to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the health and safety risks that employees are exposed to at work. This will allow employers to identify measures to comply with statutory requirements.
2. Applying the principles of prevention – where an employer implements any measures as a result of the risk assessment, the employer will need to consider the following principles:

• avoiding risks of undue stress;
• combating such risks at the source;
• developing a coherent prevention policy that covers technology, organisation of work, working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors relating to the working environment; and
• giving appropriate instructions to employees.

3. Providing information to employees – an employer needs to provide “comprehensible and relevant information” to employees about the risks to their health and safety identified by the assessment and the measures that will be implemented as a result.

Occupational health referrals and other support

Occasionally, an employer may require specialist advice from an Occupational Health expert regarding the impact of stress in the workplace. Alternatively, the employee may prefer that a report is obtained from their own doctor. Before obtaining a report from an employee’s own doctor, the employer is obliged to obtain consent from the employee, which also entails advising them of their rights under The Access to Medical Reports Act 1988.

Medical experts are often able to advise on whether any reasonable adjustments would be likely to improve the employee’s wellbeing in the workplace. Such adjustments might include:

• flexible working whether in changed start and finish times or working from home;
• allowing time off to attend therapy or counselling sessions;
• temporary change to duties (for example, changing shift patterns, reducing caseloads, reducing customer-facing work);
• redeployment to a more suitable role;
• increased supervision or support by manager, buddy or mentor; and
• identifying a “safe space” where the employee can take time out where needed.

For those employers seeking a less formal alternative to HSE risk assessments we would recommend considering Mind’s Wellness Plan. See a link to a guide and template here.

HSE Management Standards for work-related stress

The HSE has developed the Management Standards approach to managing the risks to employees from work-related stress. The Management Standards are six “main areas of work design” (demands, control, support, relationships, role and change) which, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity and increased accident and sickness absence rates. For a practical guide to applying the management standards, follow this link here.

External resources

Employers that do not have their own mental health resources may wish to use those created by Mind, the mental health charity. The site contains documents, guides, tips, videos, courses, podcasts, templates and information, all aimed at workplace mental health.

See link to the relevant web page here.

Please note that this information is for general guidance only and should not substitute professional legal advice. If you have specific concerns, we recommend consulting one of our legal experts.