Stress At Work & Rights of Worker

The advice that is being given here to the person in question includes seeking legal advice. At the moment it seems the employer has not made an issue of the stress leave but if it was brought to court then the doctor who wrote the sick cert would be questioned and other people in the same office will be called as witnesses. In this context the stress levels and absenteeism levels of others in the same environment are relevant. If everyone else is happy and not stressed out then I would be slow to kick up about it.
Your friend also has to take into account that their employer is running a business and as such has a duty to the business and the other people who work there to put the best people in the best positions. If the position that your friend was working in is too stressful for them it doesn’t seem unreasonable to move them to another position, especially if their wages etc are not affected.
Has your friend requested a meeting with his/her manager to sort things out/ seek reassurances in an informal setting?
Given that it may not be possible to employ additional staff to reduce the workload on your friend what solution have they proposed?
I repeat that less than one hour average overtime a day should not cause a stress level that requires 4 months off work so that is not the problem.

Well thank god I dont work for you. If you go to the H&S website you will see the effects of stress on the modern office. At the end of the day the company only look after themselves but they do have certain obligations to adhere to.
Also they may take into account constructive dismissal and judging by your comments you may end up in court yourself
I would rather you give advise and not just a rant

Click to expand...

For the record we are in business nearly 40 years, are non-union and have never had a days strike or a single walk out.
We have been taken to court 3 times in the last 15 years and have won each time.
Every one here works hard and expects everyone else to pull his or her own weight.

Hi IrishGunner.

I hope your friend/colleauge resolves this issue to his/her satisfaction.

I recently had a similiar situation with someone on my team. As far as Im aware there is no way someone can be "demoted" formally (pay cut etc) in this scenario however it does mean that opportunites and promoted going forward are limited.

You mention your friend is happy in their job. I think I really would advise this friend of yours to reconsider his/her position in the company. This companies rythms are not going to change. Suffering from anxiety can be very frightening and clearly the environment this person works in aggrevates it. In 2 years time or 18 months time this person could easily be back on sick leave. This is no way to lead a life. In short I feel he/she should look for a job where this stress can be allivated. Easier said than done I know but this is the ultimate solution.

cas.

They may seek to get legal advice.
They just feel that although there is no change in wages etc that with this 'demotion' they would feel 'undermined' in relation to any other opportunities that may arise
I agree with you that they should move to a less stressful position but they feel the position offered would cause just as much stress. They do have a meeting with their manager & Personnel Officer to try and sort things out
I agree they are concerned about the 'business' but they are not happy with the companys offer.
Hopefully some compromise can come out of it and that the company see both sides of the coin as 'stress' is a new word in the workplace in the tiger economy of Ireland

Hi! As a public services employee working for an employing hospital whose Occupational Health Department up till recently held 'there was no such thing as stress' (and is now delivering seminars to employees on how to handle it!) I resonate with this issue.

The question appears to be one of 'objectivity' versus 'subjectivity' - fact versus feeling. The employer appears not to be hearing this employee's statement that his/her workload has increased appreciably and s(he) can't keep up (and is subsequently experiencing 'stress' i.e. a sense of failure, hopelessness, exhaustion, depression........)

So three things; as previous posters said, the employer cannot demote without the employee's agreement. If the employee were to return to work and immediately begin a 'time-and-motion' exercise on his/her work which could be presented in black-and-white to management in support of the claim that the work has increased to an un-do-able proportion then management must respond by putting help in place! This exercise would also address the issue brought up by a number of posters about the 'subjectivity' of the sense of stress. Monitoring his/her workload in this way gives the employee a factual picture of how the day's work is done, what takes how much time, etc. This can be very helpful and revealing and move towards a solution of the problem if and when management put help in place.

Hope your friend will be OK. Stress is real, it is insidious and it makes life miserable but there are ways to address it.

Hi

In the end they decided to take the less senior role and agreed with Personnel that this will be reviewed in 6 months time
It can be difficult for an employee to mention 'legally I am entitled' as they want to stay in the company and dont want any complications
However in this case a compromise was reached with both parties happy with the outcome

Thanks to all those who advised and to those who do not think Stress is real well you dont know until you have experienced it