A record number of teachers are seeking compensation for stress-related illnesses, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers reveals.
Workplace bullying, increasing workload, and abuse from violent and disruptive pupils are responsible for the surge in pressure on staff, the union said.
Last year the union’s legal department dealt with 67applications from members claiming that they had suffered from stress caused by unreasonable management conduct or workload. One member won damages of pound;100,000 for a stress-related illness.
A union spokeswoman said: “The increased teacher shortage causing increased pressure on teachers’ time is adding to the problem. The 67 cases were at national level but there were many more at regional level. And they are just cases where help is sought. A lot of teachers simply quit.”
The NASUWT said it had achieved a record sum in compensation for teachers last year, winning pound;5.87 million on behalf of its members through legal services and casework undertaken by the union’s regional officials.
Of this figure pound;2.9m was compensation awarded at employment tribunals and agreements on termination of contracts. A further pound;1.2m was secured in personal-injury claims secured on behalf of 84 members.
One of the largest sums awarded was pound;200,000 for a member who developed a work-related illness owing to the conditions in the school workshops.
The union won an additional pound;1,769,757 under Compromise Agreements sought by employers on termination of contracts.
It dealt with 157 cases in which compensation was agreed in return for giving up the right of recourse to law.
Joe Clancy
