Member Article

Managing stress in the workplace

Stress affects everyone differently. Some with mental health conditions display obvious and quite debilitating signs of stress, others manage to mask their anguish from the world by going about their work with little or no visual clues. Add to that the stigma mental health problems bring with them and employers can often feel like it is impossible to tackle this taboo.

Here we offer our tips on how employers can seek to support employees suffering with stress at work, adhere to their general duty of care towards the health and wellbeing of all employees.

1. Get to know your staff. You’re not expected to know the intricacies of your employees’ personal lives but having some level of personal knowledge will allow you to identify changes in behaviour.

2. Watch out for potential red flags. These will vary but common red flags may include low mood, increased irritability, decreased productivity or uncharacteristic changes in behaviour.

3. When a red flag is identified, have an informal discussion with the employee. Sit down with the employee in a private setting to let the employee know there are concerns and support is available.

4. If the employee has not sought medical support, try and encourage them to visit their GP. Many people suffering with stress will not seek assistance for fear of being signed off sick.

5. Consider what support you can offer. This will depend on the type of role the employee undertakes but support may include temporarily reducing hours, decreasing workload, adjusting targets or providing additional training.

6. If an employee will not openly discuss their stress with you, consider asking for their to sent to refer them to an occupational health specialist or for a report from their GP.

7. Monitor staff with regular review meetings. Ensure the employee feels they can speak with you about their concerns and seek help when they need it.

8. If stress at work in a common problem for your business, consider implementing a stress at work policy so employees know how you will approach the issue and how they can seek assistance from you as well.

Mental health in the workplace is a minefield. At SCE Solicitors, we can help you balance the needs of your business with your duty of care towards your employees. If you would discuss tackling stress at work, implementing a stress at work policy or any other employment law issue, please contact me on 01133 50 40 30 or at mandy.walton@scesolicitors.co.uk.

SCE Solicitors is a boutique employment law practice based in Leeds which advises clients nationwide. Please note that the information in this blog is to provide information of general interest in a summary manner and should not be construed as individual legal advice. Readers should consult with SCE Solicitors or other professional counsel before acting on the information contained here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by SCE Solicitors .