Employment tribunal rules £93k compensation after breakdown

An employment tribunal has ruled that a Cumbrian probation worker should receive compensation of £93,000, a newspaper reports.

Steven Collingwood, 40, was so overworked that he suffered a breakdown and an earlier employment tribunal had ruled that he was a victim of harassment and disability discrimination during his time with the service in Carlisle, local newspaper the News and Star states.

Under the £93,000 payout, Mr Collingwood is expected to receive £7,600 for “psychiatric injury” and £16,500 for injury to his feelings.

At one point during the first employment tribunal, it was heard that he had a caseload of approximately 150 offenders. When eight offenders came to see him at the same time, the stress triggered the breakdown, the newspaper claims.

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“Within the space of four months, out of a team of nine people there was only myself and a probation officer left,” Mr Collingwood says.

Cumbria Probation Service chief officer Annette Hennessy, who joined after the incidents, states that she has taken steps to avoid similar situations in the future by working closely with employees and unions.

One way that could avoid the need for an employment tribunal is to use the assistance of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service to resolve problems in the workplace.