Employment Seminar
The Employment Department held an Employment Law Seminar in April which provided information on topical issues. The topics covered included:
- Stress at Work
- Bullying and Harassment
- Smoking at Work
Below is a brief synopsis of the seminar material. If you would like further information, please contact Bethan Southcombe on 0117 945 3084 or e-mail employment@metcalfes.co.uk
Stress At Work
What is stress?
The Health and Safety Executive defines stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them".
Why is stress talked about so much today?
- The increasing focus on the individual in the workplace
- Combined with a growing awareness of the importance of health and safety and environmental issues
Why should employers worry about stress?
- Approximately one in five people say that they find their work either very or extremely stressful
- Over half a million people report experiencing work-related stress at a level they believe is actually made them ill
- Each case of stress-related ill health leads to an average of 29 working days lost
- Latest figures estimate 12.8 million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety in 2004/5
- Work-related stress costs society between £3.7 and £3.8 billion a year (figures based on 1995/1996 prices)
- Stress can affect people mentally - in the form of anxiety and depression - and physically - in the form of heart disease, back pain and alcohol and drug dependency
- Employers have a legal duty to assess the risk of work-related stress and to take measures to control these risks
- The government aims to work with employers, employees, trade unions and others in achieving a 20% reduction in the incidence of work-relates stress by 2010
Why do we need to tackle stress?
- Bristol Stress and Health at Work Study (SHAW)
- One in five people indicated that they found their work either very or extremely stressful
How is stress caused?
- Organisational or individual factors
What form does stress take?
- Anxiety and depression
- Heart Disease
- Back Pain
- Gastrointestinal illnesses
Employer's duties
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, to take measures to control that risk
Can stress be cured?
What's the government doing about stress?
Benefits of tackling stress
- Quality of working life
- Management of change
- Employment Relations
- Attendance and sickness
Case Law
In the case of Barber v Somerset County Council [2004], the Court of Appeal held that the local authority was in breach of its duty to its employee to take reasonable care to avoid injuring his health where it had become aware that his difficulties at work were having an adverse effect on his mental health, but had taken no steps to help him.
The Court of Appeal in this case also provided guidance on the relevant principles to consider in claims of occupational stress.
Practical Points
Management Standards Approach developed by HSE
Aim
To reduce number of employees:
(a) off sick
(b) who cannot perform well because of stress
How
In short use of risk assessment, the assessment of current situations e.g. using surveys and other techniques, promote active discussion with employees to help decide upon the practical improvements that can be made
Six key areas
If six key areas not properly managed then associated with:
(i) poor health and well-being;
(ii) lower productivity; and
(iii) increased sickness absence
What are the six key areas?
- Demands e.g. workload, work patterns and work environment
- Control - how much say someone has in the way they work
- Support - e.g. encouragement sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues
- Relationships - promoting positive working relationships and dealing with unacceptable behaviour e.g. bullying
- Role - do people understand their role?
- Change - how it is managed and communicated
How to assess current performance of the company
Use existing information e.g.
(i) Sick absence;
(ii) staff turnover; and/or
(iii) staff surveys/discussion
Discover a problem - what next?
Work with employee to find practical solutions.
Human resource development
Some companies, recognising that employees are their greatest asset, are introducing human resource development (HRD) programmes to:
- ensure that employees have the skills and knowledge needed by the organisation
- encourage the personal development of individuals
- help employees to be well motivated and adaptable
- HRD usually involves planned activities - such as secondments or special projects - offering opportunities for development. Individual development programmes may be agreed which set out the training and experience required.
Consider flexible working
Flexible working takes many forms including part-time working, flexitime, staggered hours, job sharing, shift working and homeworking.
Flexible working can help employers to:
- maximise available labour
- increase productivity
- reduce absenteeism, sickness and stress
- increase employee commitment and loyalty
- increase the organisation's ability to cope with change
Involve employees
- in decision making
Teams
- Team responsibility for individual projects
Performance Reviews
- Main objective - to review individuals performance and potential
It's good to talk
- Regular meetings can held defuse stressful situations and address underlying problems
- Try to identify any personal stress i.e. money worries, illness, bereavement, family problems etc
Supportive
- Individuals may be more willing to admit to suffering from stress
Employee assistance programmes
- Confidential personal counselling services sponsored, and usually paid for, by employers
- Professional counsellors to discuss with individuals their work or non-work related problems
Provide information
The basic principles of good communications are:
- clarity
- objectivity
- timing
- relevance
- Openness
Bullying And Harassment
What is bullying and harassment?
- Harassment - unwanted conduct affecting the dignity of men and women in the workplace
- Bullying - offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient
Why do employers need to take action on bullying and harassment?
- poor morale and poor employee relations
- loss of respect for managers and supervisors
- poor performance
- lost productivity
- absence
- resignations
- damage to company reputation
- tribunal and other court cases and payment of unlimited compensation
The legal position
- Discrimination and harassment - sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age
- Definition of harassment - "unwanted conduct that violates people's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment."
- unfair dismissal
- health and safety
- Who is responsible when harassment happens at work?
- Employer's responsibilities
- Individual responsibilities - Case law - four important cases which have an impact on all employers
- Michael Barlow v Borough of Broxbourne [2003]
- Viasystems (Tyneside) v Thermal Transfer (Northern) Ltd [2005]
- William Majrowski v Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Trust [2005]
- The most recent case is that of Helen Green v SB Group Services (UK) Ltd [2006]
Practical Points
What employers need to do
Employers need to do the following five things to tackle bullying and harassment:
- Write a formal policy
- Set a good example
- Maintain fair policies for dealing promptly with complaints from employees
- Set standards of behaviour
- Be supportive
What actions are needed to tackle harassment?
6 year limitation under Harassment Act
Smoking At Work
- The Health Act 2006
- Smoking bans already exist in:
- the Republic of Ireland since March 2004
- Scotland since March 2006
- Wales since the 2nd April 2007 - Will come into force in England on the 1st July 2007
- "Smoke-free premises" are defined under the HA 2006
- Ban covers premises that are "enclosed" or "substantially enclosed" and, where premises are only partly used as a workplace
- Definition of "enclosed"
- Definition of "substantially enclosed"
- Private dwellings
- Working from home
- Vehicles
- Exemptions
- Implementation
- Criminal offence
- "No-smoking" signs - Failure to comply with the law
- Penalties and fines set by the Department of Health - Complying with the new law - minimum actions to be taken:
- Display "No Smoking" signs in smoke-free premises and vehicles covered by the law
- Take steps to ensure that staff, customers/members and visitors are aware that premises and vehicles are legally required to be smoke-free
- Be prepared to inform anyone smoking that he/she is committing an offence and to take any other reasonable steps to prevent them from smoking
- It is also recommended that employers develop a written smoke-free policy - Outdoor smoking shelter
- Support staff
Contact
Judith Ellery Head of Employment
Angelina Rigby Partner
Bethan Southcombe Solicitor