Mental Health Issues in the Workplace: ADA and FMLA Compliance, Leave as Accommodation, Disability vs. Fear

Description

Employers are taking note of the rise in mental health issues among employees. Recent surveys of 409 employers in August 2020 found that 85 percent of employers were somewhat or very concerned about their employees' mental health. Only seven percent reported that they were not very or not at all concerned about mental health and wellness issues. Among the employers surveyed, 67 percent anticipate that employees will increase using mental health or wellness benefits in the coming months. Mental health disabilities are broadly defined under the DSM-5 and even more broadly in some jurisdictions' statutory definitions.

Employment counsel must prepare clients for responding to ADA accommodation requests and FMLA leave of absence requests. Counsel should assist clients in designing and implementing policies and procedures that balance workplace concerns with the rights of employees addressing mental health issues. Counsel should consider when leave may be requested (and granted) as an accommodation, when remote work is an appropriate accommodation, and how to distinguish generalized fear of returning to the workplace after working from home from a defined disability.

Counsel should also assist employers with ADA and FMLA compliance by taking bold action on mental health benefits via a multi-prong approach. Employers have to understand their employees' emotional well-being and design employee assistance programs to address those needs, including stress, domestic relationships, anxiety, depression, and financial issues. Employment counsel must work with clients to ensure that its company culture focuses on promoting the health and safety of employees and fostering a work environment that is diverse and inclusive.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the state of employee mental health in 2021, the compliance requirements for ADA and FMLA, how to address leave requests and accommodations, and the implementation of an employee assistance program that focuses on mental health in conjunction with corporate culture.