Overview of the webinar
Employees suffering from mental illness can be a challenge. Mental illness is not easily recognizable. Unfortunately, there is still a stigma that surrounds mental illness, and there is a reluctance to come forward to ask for help. Maybe your employee doesn’t have a mental illness but has a few “quirks” that makes him different from others. Employers can do a lot to assist employees in overcoming the stigma of mental health issues and can provide many resources in this endeavor. Employers should also not forget about employees’ legal rights when they are dealing with mental illness.
Area Covered In The Webinar
Understanding mental illness
Overcoming the stigma of mental illness
Mental illness and the Family and Medical Leave Act
When mental illness is a serious health condition under the FMLA
Mental illness and the Americans with Disabilities Act
When can you discipline for misconduct when the misconduct was caused by an underlying mental illness?
What mental illnesses are virtually always a disability under the ADA?
Handling suicidal comments at work
When can mental illness be considered compensable under workers’ compensation laws.
Why should you attend?
The World Health Organization reports that an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year globally to depression and anxiety, costing companies worldwide $1 trillion in lost productivity. Employers say that the number of complex mental health diagnoses amount their workforce – such as PTSD, bipolar disorder and attention-deficient/hyperactivity has risen significantly. Furthermore, in the past several years, there has been an undeniable shift in employees’ attitudes towards the role of work in their lives, with growing numbers of individuals unwilling to sacrifice their mental health for a job or opting out of potentially hazardous opportunities despite a challenging economic environment. Employers who do it right know that they have to be cognizant of employees’ mental health issues and also have to be aware of these employees’ legal rights.
About the speaker
Years of Experience: 30+ years
Susan Fahey Desmond is a principal with Jackson Lewis PC which has offices across the United States. She has been representing management in all areas of labor and employment law since her graduation from the University of Tennessee School of Law in