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Stress Awareness Week: When could stress at work become a legal concern?
November 3, 2026
By Owen John
This week marks International Stress Awareness Week 2026.
Our employment and HR expert, Owen, explores when stress at work can become a legal concern, and how employers can support employees suffering from stress.
Stress Awareness Week is a campaign led by the International Stress Management Association. The theme of the 2026 campaign is Rehumanising the Workplace. This encourages employers and organisations around the world to develop healthier and more supportive working environments.
Stress is a normal reaction to pressure or demands placed on someone. Some people thrive under a certain amount of pressure. However, when it becomes prolonged or excessive, it can have a significant impact on an employee’s wellbeing. Stress can impact an employee’s mental and/or physical health, resulting in performance in the workplace being affected.
If left unmanaged, stress can cause burnout (physical and emotional exhaustion), as well as mental ill health conditions such as anxiety or depression. Physically, stress can also increase the risk of heart disease, back pain, or flare-ups of digestive and skin conditions.
When someone is experiencing severe or long-term stress, their behaviour, mood, performance and sometimes even appearance can change.
Employers should look out for some of these common signs to identify when an employee is experiencing more serious pressure or stress:
If stress at work starts to cause long-term mental or physical symptoms for an employee, they could develop a health condition which is protected as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Typically, work-related stress wouldn’t be considered a disability as it is usually situational and shorter-term. However, when stress symptoms develop into a longer-term disorder such as anxiety or depression, they might gain Equality Act protection.
If an employee does meet the definition of disability, this means they are protected from discrimination and their employer has an important legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for any disadvantages they suffer as a result.
As part of their statutory health and safety obligations, employers in the UK have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work.
Employers with 5 or more employees are required to produce a health and safety risk assessment covering their workplace or working environment. The risks associated with stress should be assessed and mitigated in the same way as this general health and safety risk assessment.
When an employee’s stress goes unmanaged, this can lead to fall-outs between colleagues, complaints about workload, serious performance issues or conduct concerns.
If escalated, this could lead to a formal grievance, long-term sickness absence, or even an Employment Tribunal claim. An employee who feels their employer hasn’t supported them with stress, or has caused their stress through an unmanageable workload or targets, could choose to resign and claim they have been constructively dismissed.
Our employment law and HR experts can advise you on what you need to do to support and manage employees in this area. We also regularly deliver training to employers in relation to disability discrimination, reasonable adjustments, and managing employees.
Get in touch with Owen using our contact form, or via 02920 829 118 today to see how we can help you.
To speak to one of our experts today, please contact us on 02920 829 100 or by using our Contact Us form for a free initial chat to see how we can help.
