In a previous post, we discussed the fact that mental health issues have garnered much greater awareness in recent years. While this is a positive development for those suffering from mental health disorders, it also poses some challenges for employers and HR professionals.
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Specifically, they need to be able to know what triggers an obligation to accommodate such disorders while at the same time avoiding abuse of such accommodations by employees who do not truly suffer from a legitimate disorder.
First, we’ll look at what triggers accommodation. Let’s consider three situations.
Employees Clearly Tell You They Have a Mental Health Disorder
This is the easiest case. Many people suffering from mental health disorders have taken various steps to control their disorders, such as therapy or medication. They may proactively make their employers aware that they have a condition.
Employees’ Statements Imply They Have a Mental Health Disorder
Sometimes employees might realize something is wrong but may not realize it is a recognized mental health disorder. According to Rachel Shaw, principal consultant and president of Shaw HR Consulting: “Something as innocuous as an employee saying ‘I’m stressed’—or as clear as ‘my meds aren’t working like they should’—could be a quiet call for help that an employer needs to address,” she says.
Observation of Employee Behavior Suggests a Mental Health Disorder
Perhaps the most difficult—and uncomfortable—triggering situation for HR professionals is when an employee doesn’t tell them anything but the HR professionals observe behavior suggesting potential mental health issues that might require accommodation.
“The onus to approach is often on the employer,” says Shaw. She notes that if employee behaviors signaling possible mental health issues go unnoticed, the employee could feel unheard, worsening the relationship with the employer. Ultimately, this could lead to poor performance, missed work, disciplinary action, and even termination.
With growing awareness of mental health disorders, HR departments need to not only be aware of the challenges many employees face but also avoid two opposing pitfalls:
- Failing to recognize conditions that should trigger accommodation, and
- Failing to identify situations where employees are attempting to game the system by feigning a condition they don’t have or for seeking an accommodation for a condition that does not necessarily require accommodation.
Here, we’ve looked at the first pitfall. In a follow-up post, we’ll take a look at the second.