Employers expect stress-related compensation cases to soar

EMPLOYERS are bracing themselves for a backlash of compensation cases as figures show more than 50% of people call in sick because of work-related stress.

Experts predict the number of stress-related compensation cases will soar as stress is now the second biggest occupational health problem in the EU after back pain.

It is already costing Irish businesses an estimated 200 million a year in lost working days but many employers are failing to put correct procedures in place to deal with workers' anxieties.

The Heath and Safety Authority (HSA) has warned that compensation cases would cost Irish companies a lot of money if they fail to take drastic measures to tackle the problem.

Chairman of the HSA Frank Cunneen said a new report on stress which found that between 50% and 60% of absenteeism was due to work-related stress was a huge problem.

"People experience stress when they feel an imbalance between demands placed on them and the personal and environmental resources they have to cope with them," he said.

"Stress is not a disease, it is the adverse reaction to excessive pressure," he said.

According to the research, 16% of male and 22% of female cardiovascular diseases in the EU were due to work-related stress.

Director of the Work Research Centre in Dublin Dr Richard Wynne said stress in the work place had doubled in the past 10 years, costing the economy about 200m.

"Of course stress-related compensation cases will follow suit in the next few years, it is only a matter of time before employers are hit by litigation cases," he warned.

A conference yesterday also heard thousands of people are losing their jobs because illness and injury in the workplace are not being dealt with properly. The Dublin conference, Jobs in Jeopardy Protecting the workability of ill and injured workers, was organised by Workforce Plus, under the Rehab Group. The group campaigns for a more active response to people who become ill, injured or disabled at work.

"Illness and injury represent a greater cost to the economy and to the individual worker in terms of jobs at risk than other redundancies," said Dr Donal F McAnaney, Rehab Group director of research and innovation.

Time is the enemy for many absent from their jobs through illness and injury. If a worker was absent for six months there was only a 50% chance of a return to work, he said. That declined to a 20% after one year and to a 10% chance of successful return to work after two years absence.

"This is the hidden catastrophe that is affecting Irish workers, hindering the profitability of Irish companies and burdening the taxpayer through increased welfare payments," Dr McAnaney said.

Regarding disabilities, he said there was a lack of awareness in Ireland among employers and insurers as to what could be done.

Another difficulty was "the ambiguity of responsibility" for the early rehabilitation of ill and injured workers, as it was not clear whether responsibility at government level lay with welfare or labour affairs.

The Government is spending over 400m this year on invalidity pension payments alone. "This a huge amount of money to be paid out to people who are still of working age," said junior minister Tom Kitt, who opened the conference.