HSE Encourages Employers to Tackle Workplace Stress

As part of its Working Minds campaign, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called on employers to support workers’ mental health during Stress Awareness Month.

Employers are encouraged to focus on one of the campaign’s five Rs for each week of April. These are:

Reach…
Apr 14, 2025

As part of its Working Minds campaign, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called on employers to support workers’ mental health during Stress Awareness Month.

Employers are encouraged to focus on one of the campaign’s five Rs for each week of April. These are:

Reach out and have conversations;
Recognise the signs and causes of stress;
Respond to any risks you have identified;
Reflect on actions you have agreed and taken; and
Make it Routine.

Employers are legally required to prevent work-related stress to support good mental health in the workplace. According to the HSE’s most recent annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries, approximately half of cases of reported ill health in 2023/24, or 776,000 cases, relate to stress, depression or anxiety.

The Working Minds campaign brings together a range of tools and support to help businesses and workers, including free online learning and risk assessment templates. The HSE also provides a monthly newsletter to help employers support the Working Minds campaign beyond April.

Nurse Receives £41,000 Compensation for Constructive Dismissal

A nurse who was subjected to bullying behaviour by a colleague has succeeded in her claim of constructive unfair dismissal against the NHS trust she worked for. The nurse had begun working for the trust as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse in 2012. In September 2018, she disagreed with a colleague about the appropriate treatment of a patient, and he asked if she was questioning his competency. After she reported the incident it was confirmed that her clinical assessment had been correct. She claimed…

Pregnancy ‘Played a Part’ in Redundancy Decision – Discrimination Ruling

Maternity leave is every expectant mother’s entitlement and, if you feel that you have suffered pregnancy discrimination, you should contact a solicitor without delay. The point was powerfully made by the case of a woman whose pregnancy played a part in her employer’s decision to make her redundant. Having twice become pregnant, the woman took successive periods of maternity leave which together lasted over two years. Not long after returning to work, she became pregnant for a third time and…

Should the National Minimum Wage Be Paid During Induction Training?

Many employers require prospective employees to undergo induction training before they are taken onto the payroll – but, during such training, are prospects entitled to receive the National Minimum Wage (NMW)? The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) addressed that issue in an instructive decision. The case concerned a care professional who was offered a job by a company that provided home-based services for adults. She was required to carry out a week of induction training before she was given a…