An employers group says workplace stress is not a medical condition and should not be listed as a cause of illness on a medical certificate.
The comments came after a recent Employment Relations Authority case where a diagnosis of workplace stress resulted in seven weeks of sick leave.
The Employers and Manufacturers Association's safety and industrial relations spokesman Paul Jarvie said the diagnosis of workplace stress was unhelpful and subjective.
He said guidelines issued by the former Department of Labour (DOL), now Worksafe NZ, would not accept stress as a diagnosis.
“DOL, and ACC won’t accept stress as a diagnosis, so why should other agencies?” he said.
“So really it's about having some level playing field, it's about saying if we're going to use the [term] workplace stress then let's define it,” he said.
Jarvie said a diagnosis should be more explicit and state what was causing the stress so the employer could help fix it.
He said because medical certificates were legal documents, there needed to be more rigour regarding how doctors filled them out.
Health and safety laws require employers to try and fix work-related problems if they are making staff unwell.
