shutterbug

All of the following articles are from www.bipolarsurvivor.com

Work and Mental Illness - What Do We Really Know?
...NAMI Advocate, January/February 1998

Work is at the very core of contemporary life for most people, providing financial security, personal identity, and an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to community life. For individuals with severe mental illness, however, work has been a difficult and often unattainable goal.
The following are facts about the capabilities of this emerging workforce, facts that draw upon a broad base of reliable rehabilitation research.
Copies of the entire brochure and information on specific studies cited can be obtained from MRI, 6008 Wayne Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19144, 215.438.8200.

FACT: There are three million working age adults with severe mental illness in the nation's communities, of whom 70 percent (about 2.5 million people) are unemployed.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that there are a little more than three million adults ages 18 to 69 who have a serious mental illness. Estimates of unemployment among this group are startling: Between 70 percent and 90 percent are unemployed, a rate higher in the nation than for any other group of people with disabilities.

FACT: A diagnosis of serious mental illness is not a reliable indicator that someone cannot work, indeed, many people are able to work successfully despite their symptoms.
Several years of study report only a small relationship between a diagnosis and work capacity, or between psychiatric symptoms and work capacity. While it is true that some of the symptoms of mental illness - its often unpredictable nature and its impact on both cognitive and interpersonal functioning - make work a real challenge, these symptoms vary from person to person.

FACT: On-the-job accommodations that make it possible for people with serious mental illness to succeed at work are proving relatively straightforward and inexpensive to provide.
Recent surveys indicate that job accommodations for people with disabilities of all kinds are not difficult to make or costly to implement - 68 percent of all accommodations cost less than $500.00. The changes at work that people with serious mental illness request most often - alterations in the work schedule, modifications in job descriptions, clear communication patterns or additional training for supervisors - are generally low-cost or no-cost to employers and differ only slightly from options offered for other employees.

FACT: The great majority of people with a serious mental illness want to work. Recent surveys report that approximately 70 percent of those with significant psychiatric problems rank work as an important goal for themselves.
Many consumers receiving SSI or SSDI financial and medical benefits are often reluctant to give up their eligibility for what may be low-paying and low-benefit jobs. Nonetheless, about 71 percent of those people with serious mental illness who are asked about their future goals identify work - and the financial independence and social identity it provides - as a central and important ambition for themselves.

FACT: Innovative rehabilitation programs, which help people with the most serious mental illnesses, are placing more than 50 percent of their clients into paid employment.
A number of innovative programs that move clients into "real jobs for real pay" as quickly as possible - and then provide extensive supports for them either on-the-job or off-the job - are reporting considerable success. An in-depth analysis of supported employment outcomes, for instance, found 52 percent of people still working after a year. Intensive case management and individual placement and support models that emphasize employment regularly report significant increases in wages, hours worked, work tenure, and career advancement.

FACT: Employers who have hired persons with serious mental illness in the past are generally very positive about their experience.
Many employers throughout the country have hired people with serious mental illness. More than 70 percent of these employers report their willingness to continue working with rehabilitation programs that place and support people with serious mental illness. Employers who are involved with rehabilitation programs are less likely to share the public's concerns and fears about people with mental illness, particularly with regard to violent behavior.

FACT: Although job loss continues to be a problem, those individuals with serious mental illness who are working can be helped to stay on the job if they receive the additional support they need.
The reasons for job loss vary widely. In one study, only 12 percent of those people who left their jobs said they resigned because they didn't want to work, and only 15 percent had to leave for medical reasons unrelated to their mental health. The others who became unemployed faced a variety of problems - layoffs, problems with co-workers or supervisors as well as mental health problems - that led to diminished work capacities. Many of these problems might have been resolved without job loss if ongoing support had been available.

FACT: Because people with psychiatric disabilities are the largest part of the recent increase in persons dependent upon SSI/SSDI support, the nation can't afford to shortchange rehabilitation programs that help people with mental illness to work.
With growing numbers of persons with serious mental illness seeking SSI/SSDI support, far more emphasis needs to be placed on vocational rehabilitation programs that can help people to work and live more independently. People with mental illness can and want to work and rehabilitation programs can be successful in getting people onto the job and keeping them employed.

Accommodating Workers with Bipolar disorder
...Job Accommodation Network, www.jan.wvu.edu

Bipolar Disorder in the workplace - questions to consider
What limitation is the individual with bipolar disorder experiencing?
To what degree do these limitations affect the person and his/her job performance?
What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?
Have you consulted with the individual regarding accommodation needs?
what accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all resources such as the Job Accommodation Network being utilized to identify possible accommodations?
Has the person with bipolar disorder met with his/her supervisor to evaluate the effectiveness of existing accommodations and to determine if others are needed?
Have you provided education on psychiatric disabilities in the form of sensitivity training to supervisory personnel?

Accommodation ideas for persons with bipolar disorder
Note: persons who have bipolar disorder may develop some of these limitations, but seldom develop all of them. Also, the degrees of limitation will vary among individuals. Be aware that not all people who have bipolar disorder will need accommodations to perform their jobs and others may only need a few. The following is only a sample of accommodation possibilities. Numerous other accommodation solutions exist as well.

Maintaining stamina during the work day
- Flexible scheduling
- Allow longer or more frequent breaks
- Provide additional time to learn new responsibilities
- Provide self-paced work load
- Provide backup coverage for when the employee needs to take breaks
- Allow for time off for counseling
- Allow for use of supportive employment and job coaches
-Allow employee to work from home during part of the day or week
- part time work schedules

Maintaining concentration
- Reduce distractions in the work area
- Provide space enclosures or private office
- Allow for use of white noise or environmental sound machines
- Increase natural lighting or provide full-spectrum lighting
- Allow the employee to work from home and provide necessary equipment
- Plan for uninterrupted work time
- Allow for frequent breaks
- Divide large assignments into smaller tasks and goals
- Restructure job to include only essential functions

Difficulty staying organized and meeting deadlines
- Make daily "To Do" lists and check items off as they are completed
- Use several calendars to mark meetings and deadlines
- Remind employee of important deadlines
- Use electronic organizers
- Divide large assignments into smaller tasks and goals

Working effectively with supervisors
- Provide positive praise and reinforcement
- Provide written job instructions
- Develop written work agreements, including the agreed upon accommodations, clear expectations of responsibilities and the consequences of not meeting performance standards
- Allow for open communication to managers and supervisors
- Establish written long-term and short-term goals
- Develop strategies to deal with problems before they arise
- Develop a procedure to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodation

Difficulty handling stress and emotions
- Provide praise and reinforcement
- Refer to counseling and employee assistance programs
- Allow telephone calls during work hours to doctors and others for needed support
- Provide sensitivity training to co-workers and supervisors
- Allow the presence of a support animal
- Reinforce peer supports

Attendance issues
- Provide flexible leave for health problems
- Provide a self-paced work load and flexible hours
- Allow employee to work from home
- Provide part-time work schedule
- Allow the employee to make up time missed

Issues of change
- Recognize that a change in the office environment or of supervisors may be difficult for a person with bipolar disorder
- Maintain open channels of communication between the employee and the new and old supervisor in order to ensure an effective transition
- Provide weekly or monthly meetings with the employee to discuss workplace issues and production level


How Does Mental Illness Affect the Way I Function at Work?
...Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University
www.bu.edu

Mental illnesses may interfere with your ability to function at work - or they may have no effect at all. If your mental illness is affecting your ability to do things such as concentrating or communicating effectively, you're probably aware of it. Then again, you may not have made the connection between your disability and your problems functioning. Under the ADA, your employer only needs to provide accommodations for limitations that can be directly connected to your disability. You should document the types of functioning limitations caused by your disability to show your need for accommodations.

Here's a list of some of the limitations you may be experiencing. If you have a psychiatric disability, you may have trouble doing some of these things.* Please remember that since there are many different types of mental illnesses, this isn't a complete list - and that not everyone experiences all, or even any, of these limitations.

Here's how you might cope:
- Inability to screen out environmental stimuli, such as sounds, sights, or smells, which distract you. For example, you may have a hard time working next to a noisy printer or in a high-traffic area.
Possible solutions: Move the printer away from the work area; get permission to wear headphones playing soft music while you work; ask for high partitions to be installed around your desk.
- Inability to concentrate. You may feel restless, have a short attention span, be easily distracted, or have a hard time remembering verbal directions. For example, it may be difficult for you to focus on one task for an extended period of time.
Possible solutions: Break large projects into smaller tasks; ask for tasks to be assigned in writing; take short, frequent breaks to stretch or walk around whenever you feel your attention slipping.
- Lack of stamina. You may not have enough energy to work a full day, or you may find your medication makes you drowsy.
Possible solutions: Ask for a part-time schedule; ask for flex time or job sharing to be sure you're working only during your high energy hours; take a mid-day rest break.
- Difficulty handling time pressures and multiple tasks. You may have trouble managing assignments, setting priorities, or meeting deadlines. For example, you may not know how to decide which tasks to do first in order to complete a project by its due date.
Possible solutions: Break larger projects down into manageable tasks; meet regularly with your boss or a job coach for help prioritizing or estimating how long it will take to meet a deadline.
- Difficulty interacting with others. For example, you may be too shy to talk with co-workers at breaks, or you may have trouble figuring out, "how things go around here."
Possible solutions: Ask your employer to pair you with a co-worker who can introduce you around and show you the ropes.
- Difficulty handling negative feedback. You may have a hard time understanding and interpreting criticism. For example, you may get defensive when someone tells you your work isn't up to standards. It's hard for you to figure out what to do to improve, or you may believe trying to change is worthless.
Possible solutions: Ask that a job coach be present when you meet with your employer for feedback; offer your own perspective on your strengths and weaknesses; ask for specific ways to improve; ask to receive feedback in writing with an opportunity to discuss it later.
- Difficulty responding to change. Unexpected changes at work, such as new rules, job duties, or supervisors and co-workers, may be unusually stressful for you. For example, it may take you a long time to learn new tasks, or you may feel especially anxious around new co-workers.
Possible solutions: Ask your employer for advance warning of any changes; make a special effort to introduce yourself to new co-workers; ask your employer to notify new supervisors of your needs.
* Adapted from Mancuso, L.L. (1990) Reasonable accommodations for workers with psychiatric disabilities. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 14(2), 3-19.


What are Reasonable Accommodations?
...Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University
www.bu.edu

Introduction
Most employees and students need some adjustments to help them perform at their best. A parent who works full-time needs a day off to get a sick child from school, or an adult student needs an extension on a term paper because his job requires him to make an unscheduled trip out of town. Both employee and student have the necessary skills to do what's required if these adjustments are made.

For people with a disability, such changes are often critical to their success. Although some of the adjustments might be different from those that work for other people, they accomplish the same goal - allowing qualified employees or students to do the best job they can. These strategies are often just good business or educational practices. Reasonable accommodations are those adjustments within a work or school site that allow an otherwise qualified employee or student with a disability to perform the tasks required.

Employers and educators are not expected to provide opportunities to those who cannot do what is necessary. The laws do not require them to lower the standards of performance or change the qualifications needed to gain entry into a job or school program. What they are expected to do is be flexible about the way the work gets done.

Employers and educators are required to provide reasonable accommodations under 2 separate laws: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Enforcement Guidance on the ADA and Psychiatric Disability.

Reasonable Accommodations for People with Psychiatric Disability
It's usually easy to tell what kind of accommodation someone with a physical disability needs. Someone who uses a wheelchair needs a higher desk. Someone with visual problems needs to receive all written material in large print. But since mental illness is often invisible, it can be hard to tell what will help a person with a psychiatric disability do his or her job better.

The first step in identifying the accommodations you need is to know the demands of your job or course work. The second step is to figure out your "functional limitations" - that is, how your disability may make it hard for you to meet those demands. For example, your symptoms or the side effects of your medication may cause problems with memory, concentration, relating to others, managing or experiencing emotions, or organizing and managing your time.

Effective accommodations include changes in schedules, instructions, job tasks or other procedures, and ways the instructor interacts with you. Not all of these accommodations will work for everyone; each situation should be taken on an individual basis. Many people with psychiatric disabilities may not need accommodations of any kind.

Mental Illness and Psychiatric Disability
"Mental illness" describes a variety of psychiatric and emotional problems that vary in intensity and duration, and may recur from time to time. Mental illnesses become disabling when they interfere significantly with a person's ability to work, learn, think, care for oneself, or interact with others. Mental illness is not mental retardation or brain injury.

Benefits of Reasonable Accommodations
In our lifetimes, one in four of us will know someone who has experienced a mental illness - a family member, friend, neighbor, employee, manager, student, or teacher. Many talented people have made significant contributions despite having had a mental illness: President Abraham Lincoln, writer Ernest Hemingway, actress Patty Duke, Senator Thomas Eagleton, artist Vincent Van Gogh, scientist Isaac Newton, athlete Lionel Aldridge, and businessman Ted Turner, to name a few, have accomplished many things in spite of having a mental illness.

Reasonable accommodations may help you return to work or school from disability or medical leave sooner. Costs for treatment of mental illness may be reduced the sooner one returns to a productive role, and many people want to become productive again. For employers, the costs for providing accommodations are fairly inexpensive - most cost less than $500, and for people with psychiatric disabilities, the cost is usually less than $100. In fact, the Job Accommodation Network says that companies report an average return of $28.69 in benefits for every dollar invested in making an accommodation.

Often, these adjustments - flexible schedules, time off for medical appointments, or changes in communication, feedback and/or supervision - are not much different from the changes available to any employee or student. They can benefit everyone, not just the employee with a disability.
Sources: Job Accommodation Network; National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; President's Committee on the Employment of People with Mental Illness; Zuckerman, Debenham & Moore, (1993) The ADA and People with Mental Illness: A Resource Manual for Employers

Disclosing Your Disability to an Employer
...Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University
www.bu.edu

Only you can decide whether and how much to tell your employer about your psychiatric disability. On the positive side, telling your employer about your diagnosis is the only way to protect your legal right to any accommodations you might need to get or keep a job. However, revealing your disability also leaves you open to discrimination, which may limit your opportunities for employment and advancement.

It's a complex decision, and one you shouldn't make until you've thought it through. Here's what you might want to think about:

Preparing to Disclose:
Assess your job search skills to determine whether you need help from your therapist or mental health agency to:
- Initiate contact or arranging an interview with the employer
- Interview
- Describe your disability
- Negotiate the terms of employment
- Negotiate accommodations

Identify any potential accommodations your might need during the hiring process or on your first day of work
Explore your feelings about having a mental illness and about sharing that information with others - remember, no one can force you to disclose if you don't want to.
Research potential employers' attitudes toward mental illness and screen out unsupportive employers.
- Have they hired someone with a psychiatric disability before?
- Do they personally know someone with a mental illness?
- What positive or negative experiences have they had in employing someone with a mental illness?
- Do they show signs - newsletters, posted notices, employee education programs about mental illness, etc. - of encouraging a diverse workforce?
- Do they have a corporate culture that favors flex time, mentoring programs, telecommuting, flexible benefit plans, and other programs that help employees work efficiently and well?
- Does the job have certain requirements (e.g. child care, high security, some government positions) that would put you at a disadvantage if you disclosed your diagnosis?

Weigh the benefits and risks of disclosure
- Do you need to involve an outside agency to get or keep the job?
- Do you need accommodation or other employer support?
- When will you need this accommodation?
- Do other people in the company need similar accommodation?
- How stressful will it be for you to hide your disability?
If you decide not to disclose, find other ways to get the support you need.
- Behind-the-scenes support from friends, therapists, etc.
- Research potential employers who provide these supports to all employees.
If you decide to disclose, plan in advance how you'll handle it.
- Who will say it (you, your therapist, your job coach, etc.)
- What to say
- When to say it
Under the ADA, a person with a disability can choose to disclose at any time, and is not required to disclose at all unless she or he wants to request an accommodation or wants other protection under the law. Someone with a disability can disclose at any of these times:

· Before the hiring interview
· During the interview
· After the interview but before any job offer
· After a job offer but before starting a job
· Any time after beginning a job

We recommend disclosing sometime before serious problems arise on the job. It is unlikely that you would be protected under the ADA if you disclosed right before you were about to get fired. Employers are most likely to be responsive to a disclosure if they think it is done in good faith, and not as a last-ditch effort to keep your job.

Who to tell
· Your supervisor or manager, if he or she must provide or approve an accommodation
· The EEO/Affirmative Action officer or Human Resources staff, if no immediate accommodation is needed, but you would like the protection of the ADA
· The person interviewing you or Human Resources staff, if you might need accommodation during the hiring process
· The Employee Assistance Program staff, if you are already on the job, experiencing difficulties, and need help deciding how, how much, and to whom to disclose

When You Disclose
Decide how specific you will be in describing your psychiatric disability
- General terms: a disability, a medical condition, an illness
- Vague but more specific terms: a biochemical imbalance, a neurological problem, a brain disorder, difficulty with stress
- Specifically referring to mental illness: a mental illness, psychiatric disorder, mental disability
- Your exact diagnosis: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety disorder

Describe the skills you have that make you able to perform the main duties of your job
- qualifications
- technical skills
- general work skills
Describe any functional limitations or behaviors caused by your disability, which interfere with your performance
Identify the accommodations you need to overcome those functional limitations or behaviors
Optional: you may choose to describe the behaviors or symptoms the employer might observe and tell the employer what steps to take as a result
Point the employer to resources for further information
- Employment specialist, supported employment provider, rehabilitation counselor, job coach
- Doctor, psychiatrist
- Therapist, counselor, social worker
- Job Accommodation Network
- ADA Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers
You may find it helpful to prepare a script to read from. For example:
"I have (preferred term for psychiatric disability) that I am recovering from. Currently, I can/have (the skills required) to do (the main duties) of the job, but sometimes (functional limitations) interfere with my ability to (duties you may have trouble performing). It helps if I have (name the specific accommodations you need). I work best when (other accommodations)."
You could also add the following information:
"Sometimes you might see (symptoms or behaviors associated with symptoms). When you see that, you can (name the action steps for the employer). Here is the number of my (employment specialist, doctor, therapist, previous employer, JAN, etc.) for any information that you might need about my ability to handle the job."

unsure of

Wow
alot of information

thank you

Polly Anna

Wolfstarr

Jenna,

Great info, thank you!

Hugs

Live

Great info.

I, myself, have no plans to disclose ever to co-workers or employers (clients, I am an independent contractor) that I am mentally ill. I did that with last boss. He himself was seeing a shrink and his sister had committed suicide and he had an interest in humanitarianism that runs his life. Nevertheless, I sensed a wariness, a loss. I was perceived as less competent, more fragile and taken less seriously on the job. In our personal friendship which we still maintain he considers me astute and often encourages me to go back to college to be a psychologist.

One trait we share, Jenna, is insatiable research.
I have been researching the economic culture, just finished one about the erosion and instability of the professional middle class. The news is not good. I have been following this sociological change for a while now. Employment is more unstable than ever. Underemployment is endemic. The old rules don't count anymore. Starting out with a college education doesn't do what it used to do. In fact, it may not be worth the investment in a four year degree in many cases. Many graduates are in survival jobs. Experience doesn't hold its value anymore and with the downsizing etc trends once we hit middle age we are in a very precarious place ujnless we have invested well.

And admittedly what it all needs most is more people like you, idealists and activists.

shutterbug

Oh how right you are....in my current job, I am being paid the same as peeps who never went to school for journalism...just learned on the job (actually...they are "training" me...hahaha....so they think

It's sad that I struggle to pay my utilities and car payment each month. I don't even have any rent to pay and yet I still struggle. And I haven't even started paying back my $40,000 in student loans....and yet I still struggle.

The future looks VERY grim for me financially, but I suppose it's the price I chose to pay just to be able to do what I enjoy.

bikewench

Great post Shutter...

Lots of great info...

I've been self employed since I was 18..
but..
I have lost customers over my mental issues...

I mean.. some of them understand when I'm not coping and I'm all over the place...
but.. some people don't.

So.. I pretty much keep my personal info on a need to know basis... ;o)

when my behavior impacts ... I will explain.. try to prepare... make amends..
whatever it takes..
but.. I'm not walking around with an apology for my legacy...

Keep the good stuff coming Shutter...

historyteach

Got a question, here.
If I were to disclose something to human resources, or even to the principal, can they tell others? Am I opening up a can of worms if the rest of the faculty/staff finds out? And then there's parents and kiddies to consider. If they found out.
Thanks for any information on this issue.

Shalom!

shutterbug

just my opinion, but if you want things to stay smooth at work then don't disclose anything....I will tell peeps I have a brain tumer before I admit I have a mental illness again (and I hate to lie about things), but peeps just don't understand these days.

I wouldn't tell the principal, but if you have to tell someone then I would think the HR department would be best and I would make it clear to whoever you tell that you don't want anyone else to know.

I don't know if legally they can disclose to others you work with, but I'm sure they can disclose to your supervisors (i.e. the principal) ....and most peeps don't follow the law about these kinds of things anyway, because they really don't know the laws well and b/c...it's yummy gossip for some people to share behind closed doors.

If you do decide to disclose b/c there is a need then I would watch carefully and record ANY difference in any way that you might be treated after disclosure. Like EVERY small detail...and keep records...

You never know if your HR person or principal has had any negative impacts to their life by someone with the same diagnosis as you.....and trust me....that's NO fun to have to deal with.

I wish the world wasn't this way...and it actually didn't use to be. I was watching a thing on CNN last night broadcast at the NY Public Library on President Carter's wife and the author of "Lincoln's Melancholy" and he said that one president (Ford, I think) had a stroke and the White House put out a statement for the papers saying that what he had was a nerveous breakdown!'

Ironic isn't it! That back then a mental illness was preferrable to tell the public than a physical event!

Funny how things change in just a few short decades!

historyteach

Yea, I asked because when I was out on stress leave, I had to have my doc fill our a form for HR. Just wondering if it goes anywhere.
Thanks for the tip about recording treatment differences. I'll keep that in mind, and follow through.

Shalom!

Cindi R

Very interesting info..."in theory"...it sounds good but as stated above, in reality would I ever tell my employers that I'm depressed....I think not, they'ed wanna put me into some boring low stress job that I would hate.

shutterbug

Teach....if you really want to know....I would suggest calling a local attorney and asking them...or ask your doc the next time you go back. Theoretically, i don't think they (HR) can disclose to anyone else other than superiors. So....if you ever discover that anyone other than the principal and superintendant ever find out then I think you will have a legal case against them and could even possibly sue for public humiliation, among other things. So keep a watchful eye and tuned in ear....

Cindy....not disclosing is the best option I think if you can. In my previous situation...I didn't have much of a choice and didn't fully realize the impact it could have either. My work place peeps were more like my family than my own family and I thought they would understand....but even long after I was fired, my former best friend admitted that she had had some issues with my illness.

I'm in the middle of going through the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) with my case and it looks like a try at mediation is the next step, but I'm not going to let my former place of employment intimidate me into giving in without a pretty big settlement or taking them to court.

Anyway....be causious is the best suggestion I can give.

...even with "so-called" friends. Another best friend of mine....his ex-wife from a decade ago had been a really bad bipolar and addict and when i told him of my diagnosis....he ran and turned into a very horrible human being toward me with no explanation.

shutterbug

parking this site link here so I won't forget about it (it's a law firm talking about disability rights and discrimination of all kinds http://www.cordileone.com/pages/faqs.html#tips

shutterbug

Teach....maybe this will help:


http://www.allmentalhealth.samhsa.go...ce.html#social
Confidentiality Safeguards
Protection of an employee’s right to privacy is a key policy element of any Mental Health-Friendly Workplace. Two major factors guide that policy: the protections ensured by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and similar State legislation, as well as the specific wishes of the employee about how much information to share with his/her supervisor and coworkers.

State and Federal laws require a specific level of confidentiality for health information issues. In general, these laws stipulate that information regarding treatment—even the fact that one is receiving treatment—can only be released with the patient’s (employee’s) written permission.

To receive the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act as “reasonable accommodations,” the employee must be willing to disclose to the employer that he or she has a disability. The congruence between the formal statements of the business and the informal climate of the workplace with regard to its mental health friendliness plays a significant role in an employee’s willingness to self-disclose to request a “reasonable accommodation.” Interviews with employees who have self-disclosed reinforce the importance of flexible workplace practices, and supervisor and coworker support.

An employee assistance professional can be a consultant/resource for helping to create workplace policy and for training supervisors on Federal and local confidentiality requirements.

shutterbug

More info for me from http://www.allmentalhealth.samhsa.go...ce.html#social

Examples of reasonable accommodations for persons with mental disorders, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, could include:

Schedule modification
Allowing workers to shift schedules earlier or later
Allowing workers to use paid or unpaid leave for appointments related to their mental disability
Allowing an employee to work part-time temporarily (e.g., when first returning from an absence)

Job modification
Arranging for job sharing
Reassigning tasks among workers
Reassigning the employee to a vacant position
Modifications to the physical environment
Providing an enclosed office
Providing partitions, room dividers, or otherwise enhancing soundproofing and visual barriers between workspaces

Changes in policy
Extending additional paid or unpaid leave during a hospitalization
Allowing an employee to make phone calls during the day to personal or professional supports
Providing a private space in which to make such phone calls
Allowing workers to consume fluids at their work stations throughout the work day (e.g., if needed due to medication side effects)

Provision of human assistance
Allowing a job coach to come to the work site
Participating in meetings with the worker and his/her job coach or other employment service provider

Provisions of assistive technology
Providing a portable computer to enable an employee to work at home or at unusual hours
Providing software that allows the worker to structure time and receive prompts throughout the work day

Supervisory techniques
Offering additional supervisory sessions
Offering additional training or instruction on new procedures or information

source cited on Web site: 14 Mancuso, Laura L., M.S., C.R.C. “Case Studies on Reasonable Accommodations for Workers With Psychiatric Disabilities.” In Case Studies on Reasonable Accommodations for Workers With Disabilities(study funded by the Community Support Program, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, June 1993). Available online at http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/p...08/default.asp.

shutterbug

a research paper through the EEOC http://earthops.org/ada_ota.html

...By disclosing a psychiatric disability, an individual risks discrimination, teasing or harassment, isolation, stigmatizing assumptions about his or her ability, and the labeling of all behavior and emotions as pathological. The most pernicious aspect of stigma may be the way in which it undermines an individual's self-esteem and social interactions...

shutterbug

more info for me http://hr.blr.com/display.cfm/id/1724

Reducing Stress in the Termination Process


Background for Trainer

In cases of massive layoffs or downsizings, emotional upheaval is understandable, but even the termination of just one employee can have an emotional ripple effect. The best defense against stress is to have an idea of what to expect and a plan for dealing with it. Supervisors need to understand the reason for the dismissal and be comfortable that it's the right thing to do. They must be able to give the true reason to employee, be firm about it, and not get "off mission" in a way that could cause legal problems. Finally, they need to prepare for the emotional reaction to a termination, not just in the employee being let go, but in themselves and the employees who remain.

Regulations that Apply

Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Civil Rights Act Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1991, Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Immigration Reform and Control Act, Jury System Improvement Act of 1978, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1974

Typical Legal Problems/Lawsuits

There are excellent legal reasons to reduce the stress termination causes. Courts may award dismissed employees damages for:

" Emotional distress

" Abusive discharge

" Outrageous conduct

" Negligent evaluation

" Defamation

shutterbug

more...http://www.kscourts.org/ca10/cases/2000/03/98-1350.htm
from a gender discrimination court case won...

A. Emotional Distress Damages

The jury awarded Ms. Powell $300,000 for pain, mental anguish, and emotional distress. The district court found this award excessive and unsupported by substantial evidence, and reduced it to $50,000. Ms. Powell offered limited evidence in support of her emotional distress damages. Ms. Powell testified she was "very sad, very depressed, very upset" after her employment at COBE ended. She also testified the experience had a "major impact" on her entire family, she cried every day, sought help from a psychotherapist, and sought treatment from a physician for migraine headaches. Ms. Powell's psychotherapist also testified briefly, stating she observed symptoms of stress, anxiety, worry, depression, anger and a sense of powerlessness in Ms. Powell. In reducing the jury award, the district court found the scant evidence presented in this case analogous to the evidence presented in Wulf v. City of Wichita, 883 F.2d 842 (10th Cir. 1989). In Wulf, the plaintiff testified his job loss caused stress, anger, depression, and frustration; his wife testified the job loss caused severe emotional strain and financial difficulties. Id. at 875. We found this evidence wanting, and reduced an award for emotional distress of $250,000 to $50,000. Id. While the jury in the current case heard testimony from Ms. Powell's treating psychotherapist which seemed to corroborate Ms. Powell's testimony, the limited depth and detail of the testimony here is comparable to Wulf. For instance, the extent of the evidence offered in support of emotional distress damages filled less than five of the nearly 550 trial transcript pages required for the presentation of Ms. Powell's case. Neither the psychotherapist's nor Ms. Powell's testimony was developed to any significant degree. Given the facts of this case, the district court did not manifestly abuse its discretion by looking to comparable cases and reducing the jury's award to $50,000.(6)

B. Punitive Damages

Consistent with 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(1),(7)

the jury received instructions that punitive damages were appropriate only if COBE discriminated against Ms. Powell with "malice or reckless indifference" to her rights to be free from such conduct. In its order striking the jury's award of $200,000 in punitive damages, the district court relied on our language in Fitzgerald v. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co., 68 F.3d 1257, 1263 (10th Cir. 1995), to find insufficient evidence existed for the jury to find the discrimination in this case "malicious, willful, and in gross disregard of plaintiff's rights."

Subsequent to the district court's order, the United States Supreme Court clarified the test used when determining whether punitive damages are appropriate in a Title VII case. See Kolstad v. American Dental Ass'n, 527 U.S. 526, 119 S. Ct. 2118 (1999). The Court ruled "the terms 'malice' or 'reckless indifference' pertain to the employer's knowledge that it may be acting in violation of federal law, not its awareness that it is engaging in discrimination." Kolstad, 527 U.S. at ___, 119 S. Ct. at 2124. The Court also held a plaintiff is not required to make a "showing of egregious or outrageous discrimination independent of the employer's state of mind" in order to make a case for punitive damages under § 1981a. Id. However, the Court also recognized the traditional limits on vicarious liability for punitive damages and held "in the punitive damages context, an employer may not be vicariously liable for the discriminatory employment decisions of managerial agents where these decisions are contrary to the employer's good-faith efforts to comply with Title VII." Id. at 2129 (quotation marks and citation omitted).

Given the Court's pronouncements in Kolstad, many intentional discrimination cases may meet the "malice or reckless indifference" requirement of § 1981a. See id. at 2125 (listing limited circumstances where intentional discrimination would not give rise to punitive damages under the standard developed). However, just as apparent is Chief Justice Rehnquist's observation "that principles of agency law place a significant limitation, and in many foreseeable cases a complete bar, on employer liability for punitive damages." Id. at 2130 (Rehnquist, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).

The parties in this case did not have the opportunity to brief the implications of Kolstad on appeal, nor are we convinced the record is sufficiently developed for us to review the district court's grant of COBE's Rule 50 motion using the Kolstad standard. Therefore, we will vacate the district court's grant of the motion for judgment as a matter of law as it relates to punitive damages, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. As in Kolstad, we expect it may be necessary for the district court to determine the extent, if any, of COBE's good faith efforts to comply with Title VII.

shutterbug

more stuff...http://www.brgslaw.com/pub/elu/update_oct99.html

? Employer Paperwork. The U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") regulations under the FMLA require employers to advise workers seeking family leave that their time off will be counted toward their annual 12-week FMLA entitlement. This notice must be in writing. If the notice is not given, none of the time off counts toward the employee's annual allotment of family leave. Employers have complained that the DOL regulation goes beyond what Congress intended when it wrote the statute. Two federal appellate courts recently agreed. In one of the cases, the plaintiff, Michael Sarno, told his employer that he would take workers' compensation leave for an on-the-job injury. The employer informed Sarno that his absence would be treated as unpaid FMLA leave, but did not mention that it would terminate him if he failed to return to work after 12 weeks. Sarno was still disabled after 12 weeks. He told the company he could not return and was terminated. The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Sarno on his FMLA claim, despite the DOL regulation. The court reasoned that Sarno did not become entitled to more than 12 weeks' leave under FMLA simply because his employer failed to tell him his leave was limited to 12 weeks. However, the court cautioned that the result in this case might have been different if Sarno had relied on the employer's lack of information by remaining on leave. Because Sarno was still disabled after 12 weeks, he would have remained on leave regardless of what information the employer gave him. (Sarno v. Douglas Elliman-Gibbons & Ives Inc.) Likewise, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Alicia Cox in her FMLA lawsuit. Cox was demoted after returning from a 15-week pregnancy leave. The employer did not give Cox the requisite advance notice that her 13-week pregnancy leave would count against her annual 12 weeks of FMLA leave. The Eleventh Circuit ruled that since the employer complied with the FMLA by actually giving Cox the time off, it could not be faulted merely because it failed to notify her of this technicality. (Cox v. AutoZone Inc.)

And I really need to look at http://www.nau.edu/ihd/natcap/capref...ok/deh_txt.txt

shutterbug

http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/00dec2.html
December 18-19 -- "'Belligerent' Worker Is Covered by ADA, Says Federal Court". "A worker who suffers from major depression that makes her belligerent and hypersensitive to criticism has a right under the Americans with Disabilities Act to a reasonable accommodation from her supervisors, a federal judge has ruled." After she was fired from her job as a manager with the Unisys Corp., Tina Bennett sued arguing that she had been suffering from major depression which manifested itself in interpersonal difficulties. "U.S. District Judge Franklin S. Van Antwerpen found that when a worker's depression affects her ability to think and concentrate, she has the right under the ADA to get more feedback and guidance if it would help her perform her job. ... Bennett met the test [for impairment of 'major life activities'], Van Antwerpen said, since the evidence showed she was 'belligerent and displayed an unprofessional attitude,' that she had 'difficulty controlling her emotions' and that she was 'incredibly sensitive to criticism.' Bennett's supervisor testified that Bennett's peers felt that they could not approach her and have a meaningful conversation with her, Van Antwerpen noted, and her poor interpersonal skills were listed as a reason she was fired." Given her "evidence linking her behavior to symptoms of her mental disability," the judge ruled, a jury must be allowed to consider her claim for damages under the ADA. (Shannon P. Duffy, Legal Intelligencer (Philadelphia), Dec. 13).