In February 2002 four appeals involving claims against employers for stress-related psychiatric illnesses came before the Court of Appeal, which took the opportunity to clarify the criteria for dealing with such claims.
In three of the cases the employer had only been informed of the health problems after the damage had been suffered and they were successful in appealing against the original findings of negligence against them.
In the fourth case the key difference was that the employee had informed the employer of excessive job pressure before falling ill. In this case the employer's appeal failed.
In addition to answering the question of what "reasonably foreseeable" and providing guidelines for employers, the court also gave advice on what it was reasonable to expect from an employer.
In this, the court made it clear that employers are expected to support employees who are under work-related pressure. It spoke positively of the increasing number of employers who offer a confidential counselling service or Employee Assistance Programme for staff, saying such an employer is "unlikely to be found in breach of his duty of care towards his employees".
