Most the companies I have worked for have treated stress as a illness. i.e requiring self certification for short periods and doctors note for medium periods. For long term (i.e. 6 months) the terms and conditions of employment have usually stated that you drop to 1/2 pay.
However, the unions are very interested in job related stress (it is on the increase). I couldn't find any information of work related stress on my unions pages (MSF). But I would certainly advise reading the advice pages of a few of the UK trades unions to see what they say. I can post the web addresses of a few if you like.
From memory, those people who I have known been off for a reasonable amount of time due to stress (3 months+) have had a return to work interview and have been put on regular check ups with the company doctor and half days (for the first few weeks at least).
I don't yet know anyone who has sued their company due to stress!
Stress Info: Since posting on here I have received some excellent advice found by doing a search with google on the word stress. The Health & Safety Executive (hse) site and staff are very helpful; some of them are in a union called Prospect. Also see stressdoc and successunlimited sites there are many others offering books, courses and advice.
Stress Cases: There are a considerable number of well documented court cases showing that some people have been awarded £400k plus. The list of cases is growing all the time. One of the books on this subject is ‘Stress and Employer Liability’ (2nd edn 2001) Earnshaw & Cooper. Hope this is of help to anyone else seeking advice about stress.
Went to suggested web site found two courses of interest - found other courses of similar titles elsewhere also so will decide soon which ones to attend - they appear to be a good idea and will support and bring to life bokks I have purchased on the same topics. Thank you for your help.
