ABSTRACT
Employers need to recognize the civil liability implications of stress at work. In the last decade the number of stress at work claims in the civil courts has increased dramatically. These claims tend to attract considerable publicity with out-of-court settlements being splashed across newspaper front pages. Trade unions have also taken this issue on board and it is conceivable that the number of claims will continue to rise. Statistics produced by the Trades Union Council indicate that there were 6400 trade union-backed claims in the year 2000, compared with 519 similar claims in 1999. On the other hand, many claims have failed due to the difficulties in resolving the issues of ‘foreseeability’ and ‘causation’ outlined below.
