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11 June 2009 / Ian Barratt
Issue: 7373 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Stressed out!

Ian Barratt explains why employee wellbeing is rising up the work agenda

 

Over the past few months, we have noticed some key indicators emerging that support our view that stress is manifesting itself in new ways as a result of the recession. Many legal firms have been making staff redundant for some time now, particularly where they once had large conveyancing teams. As many firms continue to cut costs, it is left up to the remaining employees to drive the business forward to profitability.

And that’s precisely where the problem lies. In any downsizing operation, the employees who are lucky enough to keep their jobs inevitably take on more work, certainly put in longer hours to get the additional tasks done and some may sacrifice their work/life balance in the process. In the work that we have undertaken with clients during 2009, the legal sector has been badly hit with this type of scenario.

As solicitors are now starting to get busier and taking on more cases, the headcount is not changing to reflect

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NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

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