An employee may suffer a psychiatric illness as a reaction to excessive pressure or harassment at work.

Employers owe their staff a duty of care to safeguard their health. The employer may be in breach of the duty of care if they required an employee to work in an environment which posed a real risk of causing illness and the employer knew (or ought to have known) that they were exposed to that risk. Consideration needs to be given to whether the employer knew that the employee faced difficulties which were so severe as to create a risk of an imminent psychiatric illness. The harm therefore needs to be foreseeable.

Consideration will be given to whether the employer did everything which was reasonable in the circumstances to keep the worker safe from harm.

We understand that it may be difficult for employees, in particular during the current recession, to consider pursuing a claim against their employer for work related stress. However, it is often the case that pressure on employees increases at times of economic hardship and employees are expected to take on additional work which may amount to a breach of the duty of care owed to them.

We are happy to advise you on how we can assist with pursuing a claim and will not notify your employer of the claim without you being fully aware of the nature of the claim which is to be pursued.

If you think you may have a claim, contact us now.