Where an employee is experiencing stress related to excessive workloads, the presence of a workplace counselling service will not automatically serve to discharge the employer's duty of care in stress claims.
In New Southern Railway Ltd v Quinn [2006] IRLR 606 EAT, the Employment Appeal Tribunal holds that an employer's duty to take steps to "avoid" risk to a pregnant woman means that the risk should be reduced to its lowest acceptable level - not that it must be removed completely.
In Bunning v G T Bunning & Sons Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that the tribunal was correct to find the employer in breach of its obligation to carry out a risk assessment for a pregnant worker under reg.16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.