Stress and Settlement Agreements
Settlement agreements are often used after allegations of workplace stress have been made.
What is stress?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as the “adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them”. Whilst in itself stress is not an illness per se, it may rise from or lead to other illnesses such as depression, anxiety or heart disease.
Employers have a number of legal obligations in relation to stress in the workplace which arise from various legal sources including healthy and safety legislation, disability discrimination laws, a common law duty of care, restrictions on working hours and in relation to unfair dismissal. The fact that there is no single piece of legalisation which deals with stress related absence makes it quite a complex area for employers and often they are not sure what they should and should not do when an employee is off sick with stress.
Stress can be a risky area for employers as it can give rise to a number of potential issues and/or claims if not handled correctly. For example an employee could have a claim under/for:
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Stress during disciplinary proceedings
It is not uncommon for employees to go off sick with ‘stress’ during disciplinary proceedings. Employers must then balance the need to deal with the disciplinary proceedings swiftly and the health and wellbeing of the employee being disciplined. The employee may well be too ill to attend a hearing. Employers must also carefully consider whether stress may have actually been the reason for the employee’s conduct giving rise to disciplinary proceedings.
Contact during stress related leave
A period of absence related to stress will be treated as a period of sickness absence under a company’s sickness absence reporting procedures. It is standard for such policies or contractual clauses to reference the need for regular contact during any periods of absence.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are signed off work with stress and have been presented with a Settlement Agreement please do contact a member of the team who would be delighted to help you through any queries that you may have. As is clear from this article, there are many issues to consider and you should certainly ensure that you understand all of your options before signing any settlement agreement.