Law firms were this week advised to take on board official guidelines aimed at helping employers manage their employees’ stress.

Launched last month by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the voluntary management standards on stress are based on a ‘continuous improvement model’, featuring a benchmarking tool to help managers gauge stress levels, compare themselves with other organisations, and work with employees to identify solutions.


The standards define the characteristics of an organisation where stress is managed effectively and cover issues such as the demands on employees, the degree of control they have, and the support available to them. They were developed with input from businesses, professional bodies, unions, and other government agencies such as the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.


The HSE recommends five steps: identify the hazards; decide who might be harmed and how; evaluate the risk and take action; record your findings; and monitor and review.


It says that at more than 13 million days a year, work-related stress is the biggest occupational cause of working days lost through injury or ill-health. With an average of 29 days lost per case, it costs society about £3.7 billion a year.


In 2001/2, more than half a million individuals in Britain had work-related stress that made them ill.


Sue Nickson, head of employment at national firm Hammonds, said the guidelines apply to law firms as much as any other employer. Though she said many businesses are cottoning on to the need to support employees – Hammonds, for example, has a confidential assistance line staff can call when they feel unable to approach their line manager – she conceded that law firms may generally be slower to adapt than others.


Ms Nickson emphasised that this is not necessarily a ‘big firm’ issue – a sole practitioner working in a provincial town with a huge caseload can be as much under stress as a lawyer at a top City firm.


She added that ‘we will never get to the Nirvana situation’ where lawyers have stress-free jobs, but the key for firms is to identify those who may be vulnerable to stress.


HSE chairman Bill Callaghan said: ‘Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill. The standards highlight the components of good organisation, job design and management that keep stress levels in check and enhance productivity.’

Employers already have a duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees (Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974) and to assess for health and safety risks (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999). These duties cover work-related stress.