Duty of Care

Employers are bound by statutory health and safety legislation and by their common law duty of care - The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992. It is through a breach of their civil law duties that employers may be most vulnerable to litigation for endangering the health of their employees through stress.

Lady Justice Hale (now a Law Lord) stated in 2002 "an employer who offers a confidential Counselling service, with access to treatment, is unlikely to be found in breach of duty."

Health and Safety Executive

The Management Standards approach has been developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to reduce the levels of work-related stress reported by British workers. The overall aim is to bring about a reduction in the number of employees who go off sick, or who cannot perform well at work because of stress. We want employers to work with employees and their representatives to implement the Stress Management Standards and introduce a process of continuous improvement. This will be good for employees and good for business.

The Management Standards approach gives managers the help they need to achieve these aims. It demonstrates good practice through risk assessment, allows measurement of the current situation using surveys and other techniques, and promotes active discussion with employees to help decide upon the practical improvements that can be made.

What are the Management Standards for Work-related Stress?

The Standards and supporting processes are designed to:

• Help simplify risk assessment for stress
• Encourage employers, employees and their representatives to work in partnership to address work-related stress throughout the organisation
• Provide the yardstick by which organisations can gauge their performance in tackling the key causes of stress

For more information visit www.hse.gov.uk/stress