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Read more articles in: Amanda Hyam, Blog, Employment Law
21 October 2026
Burnout has been one of the most frequently used words thrown around online to comment on the pressures faced by employees in the workplace.
Although periods of pressure are inevitable, sustained excessive workloads, poor management practices and a lack of support can leave employees feeling emotionally and physically drained.
If left unmanaged, burnout can lead to sickness, discrimination claims, and even breaches of employer health and safety obligations.
While burnout is not a recognised medical condition, it is generally understood to be emotional and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress, often developing gradually over time.
Due to its gradual appearance, it can often be tricky for employers to spot the signs of burnout.
Employers should watch out for persistent fatigue, reduced productivity, increased mistakes, withdrawal from colleagues, reduced engagement and increased sickness absence.
ACAS also identifies signs such as appearing anxious, tired or withdrawn, as well as changes in work quality, as signs to look out for.
While burnout is not a recognised medical condition, employers have the duty to protect their employees’ mental wellbeing at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
This means that employers must spot the signs of workplace stress and take reasonable steps to address them.
When stress is identified in the workplace, employers may want to consider undertaking a stress risk assessment to identify the areas that are causing the employee stress and then mitigate them.
Another consideration should be the Equality Act 2010. This is because burnout can develop into medical conditions such as anxiety or depression, which are protected characteristics under disability guidelines.
If this is the case, employers must make reasonable adjustments such as adjusting workloads and allowing flexible working.
A failure to make reasonable adjustments can expose employers to disability and discrimination claims.
Employers must ensure that they are working with their employees to create a culture where they are not afraid to come to them with concerns.
Management should be trained to conduct regular meetings with employees to discuss wellbeing and foster an environment where discussing workload concerns is appropriate.
In addition, workloads should be monitored to ensure that excessive demands are not causing burnout among employees.
Employers should review:
If stress risks are identified, employers can take practical steps forward to reduce them.
Employers may want to implement occupational health referrals, employee assistance programmes, workload adjustments, flexible working arrangements or phased returns to work to spot and stop employee burnout before it snowballs into a legal dispute.
At Mander Hadley, our employment law team advises employers on managing stress-related absence, conducting workplace investigations, handling reasonable adjustments, responding to grievances and reducing the risk of discrimination or unfair dismissal claims.
We can also review workplace policies and procedures to help businesses create healthier, legally compliant working environments.
For support with managing employee burnout, get in touch with our talented employment law team.
