Psychological Disabilities, the ADA, and the Stressed-Out Worker: Part 1

By Rachel Shaw, JD

CEO and Principal
Shaw HR Consulting

Work is stressful, but how do you know if mental illness is at the root of your employee’s stressful feelings, and what you can do about it? Do your employees need a reasonable accommodation or simply support to learn coping mechanisms to manage their life and work stressors?

Mental disabilities are legitimate and very real. You will have employees with mental illness who need the support of reasonable accommodations to fully and safely do their jobs. Other employees may be managing common life and work stressors and could greatly benefit from a referral to your employee assistance program (EAP). And unfortunately, some employees may claim a mental disability to ease a performance issue.

All three scenarios can be managed using the same key: a process that treats all employees the same to identify the right solution that will mitigate the impact on the work and work environment. So, how do you sort this all out?

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