SISSY NATION (via The Other Brother):

Stressed-out workers receive help in Britain (Al Webb, 11/12/04, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Stress at work is now officially a hazard in Britain.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government last week introduced a tough new code of standards to deal with the problem.

In the nation's ever-growing "compensation culture," the risks of letting employees get too frazzled are evident: $135,000 here for a stressed-out mathematics teacher, $740,000 there for a depressed prison worker, $230,000 for an ordnance worker who suffered post-traumatic stress after he breathed in toxic fumes.

Mr. Blair's government is cracking down on all kinds of stress at work through a set of standards issued by its Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that could make it even easier for employees to sue their bosses for working them too hard or bullying them.

The code of six standards, which includes reducing job demands, increasing support and giving employees more control over their jobs, is voluntary -- but it gives workers a powerful new tool with which to crack down on their employers.

"You will see many more employees and trades unions blowing the whistle on stress," said Alan Bradshaw, director of In Equilibrium, a stress-management consultant.

What do you expect from soccer fans?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 12, 2004 9:45 AM