Stress at Work Claims
It’s not uncommon to feel stressed at work from time to time, especially if you work in a high-pressure environment. However, if workplace stress has had a significant impact on your mental or physical health, and your employer has failed to take steps to reduce stress, you may be able to claim compensation.
Our workplace stress solicitors in Bristol support employees across the UK with claims for work-related stress. If you have experienced stress at work, our expert team is here to help. Call us on
0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.
Can you claim against work for stress?
Work-related stress can have serious mental and physical effects. Many people dismiss the idea of workplace stress being serious, presuming that they must be weak or unqualified to carry out their role.
However, this is often not the case at all. Stress-related illnesses caused by work have steadily increased over recent years, and the impact on employees and workers is often under-rated.
Your employer has a duty of care to protect you from serious stress-related injury. They have a legal requirement to safeguard you and find ways to manage the effects of stress at work before it has a significant impact on employees.
If you believe that your employer has breached their duty of care and legal responsibility, and it has led to a mental or physical injury, you may be able to claim compensation for workplace stress.
Causes of workplace stress
Stress manifests in different ways from person to person and there is no one-size-fits-all approach when looking at what causes stress at work. However, there are some common causes of stress that employees can experience, including:
- Poor working conditions
- Failure of the employer to make reasonable adjustments
- Employer’s failure to take action following a return to work
- Failure of the employer to follow recommendations from an Occupational Health professional
- Exposure to trauma, e.g. a serious or fatal workplace accident
- Excessive workload with unrealistic expectations
- Lack of training
- Refusal of reasonable break and holiday
- Reports of stress and overload being ignored
- Bullying and harassment
- Sexual harassment
- Lack of support
- Poor management
Case study | £18,000 compensation for stress at work claim
Barcan+Kirby’s workplace stress expertise
Our workplace stress solicitors are highly experienced in supporting workers who have suffered stress at work. We can offer the clear, practical and sensitive support you need at this difficult time.
Our specialist team can guide you through the whole claims process, helping you find a way of moving forward whilst claiming the compensation you deserve.
The test to succeed with a work-related claim is not straightforward but our lawyers will help you assess whether in your specific case, there was a real risk of a psychiatric injury which your employer knew about or ought reasonably to have foreseen, and which they should have averted.
We offer an initial consultation with a member of our team. This is to discuss your options and how best to fund your claim. Whilst a ’no fee, no win’ agreement can be considered initially the case will be funded by you until evidence can be secured and assessed. The initial meeting is also an opportunity for you to find out more about us and how we can support you during this difficult time.
When you instruct us, we will assign you a dedicated lawyer, supported by our friendly team. Where necessary, we work with external experts, including medical professionals, barristers and charities, to help support your case and your recovery.
For an initial meeting, call 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.
Why choose Barcan+Kirby for your stress at work claim?
Our specialist lawyers have experience in helping employees with stress at work claims. We act for workers across the UK from our offices in Bristol and the surrounding area in Bedminster, Bishopston, Bristol city centre, Kingswood and Thornbury.
We are recognised by top legal directories, Chambers and Partners UK and Legal 500 for our personal injury expertise, and many of our team are members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
In addition to acting individuals in work-related stress claims, our solicitors can help with:
- Accidents at work
- Age discrimination
- Amputation and loss of limb
- Brain and head injuries
- Disability discrimination
- Employer’s liability claims
- Fatal injury claims
- Industrial disease claims
- Occupiers’ liability claims
- Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
- Psychological injury
- Religious discrimination
- Spinal injury claims
- Whistleblowing procedure
- Workplace discrimination
Stress at work FAQs
To prove that you have suffered a physical or mental injury because of workplace stress, our personal injury lawyers must be able to prove that your employer knew or should have known about your situation and that they failed in their duty of care to improve it. This is easier in some job types and industries than others; for example, in an office environment, communication is likely to be in emails and therefore readily available, whereas in a construction environment, conversations may have happened in person and there will therefore be no physical evidence.
No matter what your job type or industry, it is important to seek legal advice if you believe your employer has failed in their duty of care. Our solicitors will look at other ways to support your claim, such as obtaining personnel and occupational health records, instructing independent medical experts and looking at your GP records.
If you are stressed at work, it is important to speak to your manager and/or HR as soon as possible. Often, workplace stress can be reduced or resolved through a simple conversation and appropriate measures or adjustments.
Your employer has a legal responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 are designed to protect employees from workplace stress and to find ways to reduce this, such as:
- Giving you extra support
- Providing more flexibility in where you work
- Reducing or adjusting your workload and/or responsibilities
- Adjusting or reducing your hours
- Providing additional training
If work-related stress is due to bullying or harassment, your employer must investigate this. Most employers have an anti-bullying and harassment policy in place, and any complaints should be dealt with accordingly.
If your employer has failed to act after being informed of workplace stress, and you have suffered as a result, you may be able to claim compensation.
As with any other type of personal injury claim, the amount of compensation depends on your circumstances and the Defendant’s (your employer) response. However, for stress at work claims, our solicitors will assess general damages and special damages when valuing your claim.
General damages relate to the compensation for your injury (mental or physical). Special damages include financial losses incurred because of your stress at work injury. This could be a loss of income, past or future.
Yes, it is possible to be dismissed from your job while off work with stress. However, your employer has a legal duty to look at ways of supporting you before dismissing you. They must also give you a reasonable amount of time to recover and have duties and obligations under the Equality Act 2010 if you are considered to have a disability.
If you believe that you have been unfairly dismissed while off work with stress, our employment lawyers may be able to help. Get in touch to find out more.
Contact our stress at work solicitors
Feeling under pressure at work is not unusual, but significant stress that affects your mental and physical wellbeing is. If your employer has failed in their duty to support you at work, we’re here to help. To speak to our lawyers about making a stress at work claim, call 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.