An Employment Tribunal decision this month means that HR and occupational health practitioners need to be more on their guard than ever about employees who are suffering from stress, especially if the employee has reported their condition to the employer.
The key message from the decision in the appeal, made by the employer, in Dickins v O2 is that firms will not be able to rely on having an Employee Assistance Programme, or phone counselling helpline, as a defence if an employee claims damages for stress-related illness.
This appears to overturn a previous case, Hatton v Sutherland, which suggested an employee who offered an EAP was not in breach of its duty of care.
Law firm Hammonds points out that the decision also means that if an employment tribunal or court decides that an employer is to any degree responsible for an employee's stress-related illness then they are liable to compensate the employee in full.
Another warning in the Dickins case is that the employee was referred to the occupational health service but never seen because the relevant paperwork was not completed. This underlines the importance of taking occupational health services seriously and ensuring that referrals to OH are followed through.
