Bumper year for compensation

UK trade unions won a total of £320m in compensation this year for people who suffered illness or injury at work, a new report has revealed.

Legal officers took up more than 54,650 cases, including 2,700 where a criminal offence was alleged.

Complaints ranged from road accidents to stress, which was reported as a growing problem this year along with Repetitive Strain Injury and asbestos-related cases.

The total payout was the second highest on record, working out at an average of more than £6,000 per case, the TUC report found.

The cases are a sign that too often there are inadequate health and safety checks

John Monks
TUC

But TUC general secretary John Monks said the number of cases did not reflect well on working conditions in the UK.

"Union legal services remain the best and often only source of help when things go wrong," he said.

"But unions don't want as many cases as they are getting.

"The cases are a sign that too often there are inadequate health and safety checks.

"In too many cases, victims are offered no rehabilitation to get them back to fitness and back to work."

Most unions have started offering legal services for non-work related cases, including claiming social security benefits and representation in road accidents.

Settlements this year included £100,000 paid to a firefighter who suffered from stress and depression.

A bank worker who suffered health problems after she was the victim of an armed raid got £20,000, and a teacher injured in a car accident on the way to school won £7,000.