‘Overworked’ manager awarded £110,000 settlement
Tuesday, 9th March 2010
A Staffordshire University worker has been handed £110,000 in an out-of-court settlement after raising concerns about his 65 hour working week.
Mark Bannister, 49, suffered undue stress after he was forced to take up the workloads of two employees. After one colleague committed suicide, and another on sick leave was not replaced, Mr Bannister was expected to churn out enough effort to compensate for staff shortages.
As a Programme Manager, Mr Bannister was responsible for organising courses for international students, but, as more overseas pupils applied to the university, he struggled under the workload.
With a previous history of anxiety attacks, he complained of developing stress and was forced to take numerous sick leave periods to cope.
Upon his full return, Mr Bannister instructed his solicitors, after words with his union, to pursue Staffordshire University for compensation, arguing that management failed to introduce measures preventing overworking.
However, whilst agreeing to the £110,000 payout, Staffordshire University has refused to accept liability for Mr Bannister’s ill health, claiming that the settlement was only reached due to “the cost of defending such allegations”.
Speaking after the award, University and College Union (UCU) General Secretary, Sally Hunt, added: “Members of staff being forced to pick up colleagues’ work is a real worry in higher education at the moment with 15,000 jobs at risk. Universities should be warned that we will be coming down hard on any that follow Staffordshire’s example in their treatment of Mr Bannister.”
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