Work-related stress and the law
Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work
Whether work is causing a health issue or aggravating it, as an employer you have a legal responsibility to help employees.
In practical terms, that means doing a risk assessment and acting on it. See the resources section for examples and templates, along with step-by-step guidance.
Legislation
The need to protect workers from work-related stress, depression and anxiety falls under sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Like any other hazard, employers need to do a risk assessment and act on it.
Mental health, just like physical health and safety, comes under your general duty as an employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of your workers and people who are affected by their work.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 explain how to comply; requiring a ‘dutyholder’ to assess the level of risk from workplace hazards.
Where a risk is identified, the dutyholder should take all reasonably practical measures to remove, prevent or tackle the risk to reduce it as far as possible.
Schedule 1 gives a hierarchy of approaches to avoid or prevent the risk as the first level of intervention, then measures that will tackle any remaining risk and, only then, measures that support workers that may still be adversely affected.
Reasonable adjustments
Stress, depression and anxiety may be, or may lead to, a disability within the terms of the Equality Act 2010 . Dutyholders may also need to consider any reasonable adjustments that will get the worker back into work.
Flexible working
Flexible working can better suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.
All employees have the legal right to request flexible working – not just parents and carers.