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Loving your job to death
Passion. Commitment. A desire to get the job done.
Doesn't this sound like the sort of inspirational speech that you might find the All Black Coach giving immediately prior to the final "grand slam test match"?
Curiously, it is a piece of text that could easily be drawn from almost any job description in New Zealand.
All employers want their workers to be committed to their roles. They seek employees who pursue their careers with vim and vigour - and who advance their company's cause with passion.
And when you think about it, who wants a worker who optimistically clock-watches until the tick of 5.00 pm - or who goes through the tasks required of his or her role with the personality and panache of a robot?
So, in general, employers like passionate employees who are willing to do what it takes to get the job done. But is there a limit to how far an employer may push a worker? And what happens where the employer ought to realise that an employee is working to the detriment of his or her own health?
Some answers to these questions are provided by way of a recent decision of the English Court of Appeal in Hone v Six Continents Retail Ltd [2005] EWCA Civ 922.
Mr Hone was the Manager of a bar and restaurant - and a very good one at that. He had worked for Six Continents since 1995 in a couple of different establishments. In 1998 he was named "Pub Manager of the Year" - a reflection of his dedication to his job (which often involved him working long hours).
Things started to go wrong for Hone after late 1999, when he was appointed the Licensed House Manager for the Moat House Bar and Restaurant in Luton (near London). At his own initiative, Hone worked extremely long hours in his job. He kept records (which were accessible by his employers) which suggested that he was working mainly between 89 and 92 hours per week, seven days a week. His lowest recorded figure was 82 hours in one particular week.
Hone should have been supported by up to four other employees - to whom work could be deputised, allowing Hone to work less. But that didn't happen. Two of these employees resigned - and a third had her role come to an end.
The Court accepted, however, that Hone was not entirely a victim of this circumstance - it accepted that Hone's personality was such that he willingly took work himself, even though some of it could have been assigned to others.
One gets the impression from reading this judgment that Hone - not unlike many employees in different jobs - was simply passionate about what he did, and wanted to work hard to make sure that he got his job done to the best of his ability. After all, how else could a man like this be Pub Manager of the Year?
Unfortunately, however, in May 2000 Hone collapsed at work following giddiness and chest pain. He also claimed to have suffered psychiatric injury resulting from stress.
His doctor told him that he was unable to continue work - and, as a result, he claimed against his former employer, seeking compensation for losses which he had incurred as a consequence of his unfortunate ill health.
The question for the Court was whether the employer could be held liable for Hone's loss. Should the employer have foreseen the possibility of Hone suffering this type of injury?
The Court found in favour of Hone. In essence, it concluded that, from the combination of different circumstances, the employer should have been aware of the prospect of this employee suffering harm.
The case did, of course, involve a combination of different events. And it should not be seen as an indication that employers will always be liable for health problems suffered by over-zealous or stoic employees. But at the same time the decision operates as a warning to employers - including in New Zealand - that employees who work long hours - often taking on multiple responsibilities in the workplace - can be particularly susceptible to harm. In those circumstances, employers should realise that they expose themselves to significant risk of liability.
Yes, indeed, there is still quite a bit of stress about stress.
