Workplace Stress Compensation

In a work environment, there are three main causes of stress – harassment, bullying and excessive workloads. Any victimisation at work due to harassment and bullying is in breach of the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 and this “unwanted conduct” should form part of an employer´s health and safety policy. Inasmuch as both these stress-causing elements should not be present in an environment in which the employer has a “duty of care” towards his employees, it is factors such as excessive workloads that are more likely to produce a workplace stress compensation claim.

The main causes of stress in the workplace – and those most likely to lead to a workplace stress compensation claim – should be avoidable in a well managed environment:

• Excessively high workloads with unrealistic deadlines
• Insufficient workloads, leaving employees feeling undervalued
• Concerns about job security and lack of career opportunities
• Being asked to do a job with insufficient training or experience
• Multiple lines of management to report to
• Poor physical working environment

If you feel that you are being placed in stressful situations such as the above, normal company policy would be to speak with a manager or supervisor to have these stress inducing factors resolved. Every employer has a legal obligation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act to provide a safe environment for you to work in and, should you fall ill due to a stress related disease after having brought any stressful situation to their attention, you are entitled to make a workplace stress compensation claim.

Making a Workplace Stress Compensation Claim

Making a workplace stress compensation claim is much the same as any personal injury compensation claim inasmuch as you have to show that you have suffered some form of injury. Therefore, it is recommended that you visit your doctor´s surgery and ask him for a medical examination. Early symptoms of stress include depression, the inability to make decisions, the loss of your sense of humour, eating too much and still lacking enough energy to get things done. These symptoms develop over time into lower back pain, muscle tension and they cause a lack of sleep – ultimately resulting in heart failure as blood is pushed to the brain and away from other vital organs.

Once your doctor has confirmed that you do indeed have a stress-related medical condition, you should consult a solicitor about making a workplace stress compensation claim. Although a workplace stress compensation claim can be made by an individual through the Injuries Board Ireland, using a solicitor when you may be in a particularly fragile physical condition will be far more beneficial to you. Consider if you are already apprehensive about suing an employer, in a situation where you have been overpowered by their demands and now feeling unwell – how would you react if your employer denied liability for your workplace stress compensation claim or contested the assessment by the Injury Board Ireland?

To reduce the amount of stress that you may have to endure if you were tackling a workplace stress compensation claim by yourself, we have set up a free advice telephone service. You are invited to call our freephone telephone number and speak directly with an experienced solicitor, who will be able to offer you helpful and impartial advice and answer any questions you may have in respect of a workplace stress compensation claim. The service is completely confidential and there is no obligation on you to proceed with a claim once you have spoken with us.

Call us now on or if you cannot speak now please fill in the form on the left and we will call you back.

Our Promise to You:

What You Can Expect When You Call

Even though we have over twenty years experience of managing all nature of work related compensation claims, we never hear two issues which are the same, and therefore we would ask you to start from the beginning and tell us how you came to acquire your stress-related illness.

We would also need to know what symptoms you have displayed, the diagnosis made by your doctor and what treatment you are currently undergoing. No doubt your stress-related illness has also made a difference to your quality of life, your interaction with your family and your ability to work.

A lack of confidence often follows a stress-related illness, and the psychological factors as well as those related to the deterioration in your quality of life and potential loss of earnings would be integrated into any workplace stress compensation claim that we make on your behalf.

However, before we do that, we would make a preliminary assessment of your workplace stress compensation claim, advise you of the likelihood of its success, the length of time that it may take to process and, wherever possible, give you an indication of the level of compensation you could expect to receive.

You are, of course, welcome to ask any questions relevant to a workplace stress compensation claim and take away all the advice we offer to discuss with your family and friends. You are under no obligation to proceed with a claim and no pressure will be placed on you to do so.

Your next step should be to call our free advice service. The lines are open on between 8.00am and 10.00pm and if now is not a suitable time, please leave your contact details in the call-back form below and one of our friendly and helpful team will get back in touch when it is more convenient to you.