November 2002

ACM SERVICES TO MEMBERS EVALUATION

As reported in the previous edition of ACM News, one of the Association’s objectives during 2001/2002 was to conduct a survey of the existing membership to identify which services they valued, which should be developed and which should be discontinued. A summary of the responses and action taken is given below.

Overall members appeared to be very pleased with the level of service provided by ACM. The main areas for improvement were highlighted as national pay negotiations, influence on national policies and insurance discounts. Members valued all of the services provided by the Association and indicated that they appreciated tangible items to show for their membership such as the Reflective College Manager publication. Some members commented that they were unsure of the effectiveness of ACM in influencing national policies, they did not feel there was a lot of support at local level and members in Wales and Northern Ireland felt that more support could be given to them.

Positive comments were made about the level and quality of information that ACM produced, the caseworker service and support received. Members indicated that they would like management development materials/publications and skills training to be available and over half said that they would be willing to pay extra for these services. 15% of members that responded indicated that they had considered joining ACM Council, the main reason for not joining was insufficient time.

Stressed out, but do I have a claim against my employer?

Work related stress is a serious issue for many ACM members. Indeed, our helpline receives frequent calls about the matter. At ACM we encourage members to raise the problem with their employers and seek changes to prevent or avoid stressful conditions. However, members who leave their employment as a result of stress often ask about the possibility of a claim against their employer.

Although there is no specific law on stress, employers have duties under various statutes including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Working Time Regulations 1998. There have also been a number of successful civil actions seeking compensation for work related stress. Recently the Court of Appeal made some important judgements that have implications for anyone considering such a claim.

For a successful claim you have to show firstly that your employer has a duty of care and that this duty of care has been breached and secondly that you suffered damage (ie injury and loss) as a result of the breach. It has to be said that suffering from stress itself is not the basis for a claim. You must have suffered a psychiatric injury or developed a psychiatric condition.

Of most importance is the need to make sure your employer is told about your stressful working conditions at the earliest opportunity. This is because a court will consider whether the stress was foreseeable in relation to you as an individual. Put another way, your employer can assume you are able to cope with the normal pressure of a job unless told something specific about the job or about you that gives cause for concern. If you fail to tell your employer then it will be difficult to show the court that your employer’s duty of care was of an unreasonable standard.

It should also be noted that an employer who offers a confidential advice service such as counselling is less likely to be found negligent unless unreasonable demands are placed on an individual where the risk of stress related injury was clear. This doesn’t mean an employer simply has to set up a counselling service to be protected against compensation claims. A reasonable employer should still introduce effective policies (like those described in this leaflet) and carry out regular risk assessments.

In deciding upon injury and loss, the court will need to be shown that the breach of duty of care made a genuine contribution to the psychiatric illness. Unfortunately, the existence of other stressors such as bereavement, divorce, physical illness etc will make it very difficult to establish a direct link.

So making a claim isn’t quite as straightforward as it might seem. If you have suffered a psychiatric illness and believe it has been caused by work related stress then please contact ACM (hopefully you’ll have contacted us long before things get that bad). We will look at the background to your case and if there is a reasonable chance that you may have a claim, we will refer the matter to our solicitors for detailed consideration.

For more information on stress please contact the ACM helpline 0116 285 4055 (helpline@acm.uk.com).