Harassment at Work.

Bullying and Harassment.

Employers are normally liable for the acting's of there employees. It may be possible to obtain an award of damages against an employer who being aware of the harassment does nothing or is ineffective in dealing with it.

Long term harassment may lead to stress related illnesses and would give rise to a claim against the employer. Finally, sexual and racial harassment may also be criminal offenses and would support a claim for constructive dismissal in Employment Law.

British Workers have been reported to have the highest stress levels in Europe. Research has shown that one third of workers reported significant levels of stress.

British Courts have long recognised that continuous exposure to stressful workplace circumstances may lead to a successful award of damages against the negligent employer.

Stress may be the result of exposure to the demands of the job, it may be because of bullying and harassment or it can arise from one singular important or profound event. Stress can therefore arise from an accumulation of events or from a single one.

An example of continuing stress is the harassed and overworked employee who perhaps deals with the public all day, is under-resourced, understaffed and given too much responsibility or little support in the workplace.

Stress often arises where the employee has little control or input over his day to day activities, who is isolated and undervalued. This is stress by overloading. If an employer is aware that the workload is intolerable or should be aware that it is excessive then the employer may be liable in damages.

The employer may also be liable if the employee takes the employer to an Industrial Tribunal.

Another example is the emergency services worker who is exposed to highly stressful or threatening and emotive experiences such as disasters. Typical examples of this are the Herald of Free Enterprise and the Hillsborough disasters.

The Working Time Directive should allow employees who are exposed to long hours to claim it has caused them stress. Stress however may well be unrelated to hours worked and indeed part-time workers can be effected as easily as full time ones'.

Remedies for stress are elusive and what may assist one person may be of little help to another.

Some studies suggest that employers should allow for regular breaks during the day and allow employee participation in the organisation of work routines to minimise stress.

Recent research has cast some doubt over the effectiveness of counseling in alleviating stress or assisting workers to cope with disaster type situations. Workplace stress should should be assessed by employers and a failure so to do may serve as evidence of ambivalence toward employee health.

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