And Who is Responsible for Employees’ Stress Levels?
Many years ago, before my career moved into managing stress, I worked for a large corporate company. I want to tell you about one of my colleagues there. Let’s call her … Jane.
The Stress at Work
Now Jane was well-liked, diligent in her work and very keen to do a good job, which she did. Jane was put on a project with very tight deadlines, and the whole team worked long hours under a lot of pressure for weeks. As the deadline approached, the team did not know if they could make it or not. Jane was determined not to let anyone down, so she worked weekends and pulled a few all-nighters.
A few days before the deadline, I noticed that Jane was not at work … nor the next day … nor the day after that. I asked where she was but no-one seemed to know. Her boss mumbled something about being off sick and hurriedly changed the subject.
The Aftermath
It was four months later that I next saw Jane. I took her aside for a coffee and she told me the story. She was working late one evening and found her heart racing, breathing shallow and fast, and her mind went into a sort of fog. She thought she was having a heart attack and called 999. The ambulance took her to A&E … it turned out that it was a panic attack. The next day she stayed at home, but the same thing happened there, and, to cut a long story short, she started developing delusions and was committed to a psychiatric hospital for several months.
Fortunately, Jane recovered, but was never the same Jane that I used to know. She no longer had the drive she had, always went home at 5 o’clock and cared less about her work. Quite rightly, she had prioritised her own mental health over her career.
The Big Question
The question I had was … whose fault was it?
Was it Jane’s fault for pushing herself too hard or was it the company’s fault for piling on more pressure than she could bear? The answer, of course, is that it’s not that simple. There was a combination of factors that pushed Jane over the edge.
But what should have happened? What would the story have looked like if things had been done properly?
The Employer’s Responsibility
Many organisations do not realise that they have a legal responsibility to protect employees from stress at work. This does not mean that they should avoid putting their employees under pressure from time to time; but it does mean they have a legal duty to protect them against the adverse effects of stress.
Employees feel over-stressed when they cannot cope with what they have been asked to do. Maybe the demands on them are too high, or they are not fully in control of what they are expected to deliver. It could be that they are not getting the support they need or they have difficult relationships with their colleagues. Or maybe they don’t understand their responsibilities fully or are not properly engaged when the organisation makes changes.
Whatever it is, the organisation has a responsibility – they can’t just hope that their employees can figure it out on their own. Organisations need to assess the risks of stress to their employees and, if the risks are too great, the organisation needs to take action. This is a legal requirement.
The Stress Checklist
Things that an employer needs to think about when considering their employees stress:
Are the demands you place on your employees causing them to be over-stressed e.g. too much work in too little time?
Do your employees have sufficient control over their work?
Have your employees enough support to be able to do their work properly?
Are the relationships that your employees have with their colleagues working well?
Do your employees sufficiently understand their role within the organisation?
Is organisational change effectively communicated to employees so that they know what to expect?
The Conclusion
Not everyone has the extreme reaction that Jane did. Thankfully, Jane got through it and took her time to get her life back on track – and didn’t think it was her place to sue the company she worked for. Not everyone is so lucky.
Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash
The References
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
This act defines the responsibilities of organisations to protect employees from stress at work https://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm