Insights
5.02.22

The seemingly never-ending pandemic has affected all aspects of the workplace, with employee mental health and well-being becoming one of the top employee-related issues you need to deal with on a daily basis. The EEOC recently reported that approximately 30% of Americans with Disabilities Act-related charges it received in 2021 involved employees alleging discrimination based on mental disabilities. This statistic should not shock anyone given the statistics we previously recounted concerning employees’ reports on the impact the pandemic has had on their mental health and what they expect employers to be doing to support their mental health. So what can you do to address the mental health crisis sweeping the nation – not only to minimize the chances of getting sued but to positively impact the lives of your workforce? This Insight will offer a 10-step plan you can put into place to help you with this most important of topics.
What are We Dealing With?
Workplaces are seeing an increase in employees reporting new mental health concerns and pre-existing mental health concerns exacerbated by the pandemic, remote work, and now a return to the workplace. The increase in mental health discrimination charges are founded largely on employee anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some employees with mental health conditions who have been working from home for almost two years are overwhelmed with anxiety at the prospect of returning to the office. You are most likely seeing an increase in the number of employees asking to work from home on a permanent basis as an accommodation of their mental health conditions.   
The EEOC acknowledged in its pandemic guidance that employees with certain pre-existing mental health conditions (such as anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and PTSD) may have a harder time managing the disruption COVID-19 caused. The difficulties such employees may have had, coupled with the fact that symptoms of these conditions can be vague and highly individualized, can make it difficult for employers to navigate the accommodation and interactive process required by the ADA.
What Can You Do?
To reduce the risk of ADA claims and potentially liability, you should equip yourself with the tools necessary to navigate employees’ requests for accommodation related to mental health conditions. They can also help address situations where employees are struggling to perform their jobs because of mental health conditions. In addition to avoiding liability, you should be aware that their workplace culture and investing in employee well-being is a key tool to retain and recruit good employees.
There is a distinct difference in how you should approach promoting employee mental health and wellness and addressing mental health conditions in the workplace that require an accommodation. You should be careful that your efforts to support employee mental health do not pry into an employee’s personal medical information in violation of the ADA. To this end, we have outlined a 10-step approach for managing employee mental health in the workplace.
A 10-Step Plan for Addressing Employee Mental Health
Conclusion
If you have questions about best practices to support employee mental health or would like assistance in preparing a workplace mental health checklist suitable for your company, contact your Fisher Phillips attorney, the authors of this Insight, or any attorney in our Employee Leaves and Accommodations Practice Group.  We will continue to monitor further developments and provide updates on this and other workplace law issues, so make sure you are subscribed to Fisher Phillips’ Insight System to gather the most up-to-date information. 
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