IS ANXIETY CONSIDERED A DISABILITY AT WORK?
PRESENTED BY PAYSTUBMAKR.COM
Anxiety Effects On Society Statistics. Close to one of every worker in the USA suffers from anxiety at his or her workplace; this means that there is no Workplace that has no any level of employees that are suffering from anxiety. There are many different ways that stress is manifested starting with excessive tiredness, lack of attention to small details and uncontrolled behavior. Those are some of the symptoms that can ring the alarm bells of an anxiety problem; it is something that causes the employee a lot of suffering and have a negative effect on the workplace and the productive work results.
The employee that is suffering from anxiety may not realize that he or she has a mental health condition. The HR staff should not diagnose an employee; they can help by sending the employee to get some help by calling to EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. Witch have mental health professional people for this.
An employee that is under this condition may be eligible for legal protection.
Here are some tips about what you may need when you deal with an employee that experience anxiety in your workplace.
Read here What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? ADA is made for workplaces that have more than 15 employees, and it does not list the conditions for qualified people protection. You can read in it’s Guide to Disability Rights Laws:
“An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.”
If you feel some anxiety before meeting at work and you can overcome it by taking a deep breath, ADA would not qualify you as disabled. An employee that is overwhelmed by panic will be treated as disabled.
How to get qualified as an anxiety disabled
You will have to see a doctor to check your affected employee and a medical form filled and signed. Remember that the different states have different laws about the information you can ask and get from your employee. Disability has a legal aspect that you should involve your attorney in the process to avoid complications with the employee and the authorities. Ask ADA questions
How to resolve the accommodation
Once it’s evaluated that the employee has a disability, he or she needs an accommodation. The Doctor can have a suggestion for you as an employer to consider. When you are sure about the worker’s disability you can interact with him to find what accommodation can be good for the employee. It must be reasonable for the company and comfortable for the employee.
The unreasonable accommodation
If your employer uses to be a writer that hear the boss words and make a note of it using a keyboard for all the day and now he or she will ask to work in the accounting department, it is not a responsible request as this employee have no training in accounting. It could work the other way around; an accountant could be moved to the writing job as it is expected that an accountant can use the keyboard almost the same as a writer.
Responsible Accommodation
Another kind of accommodations can be working from home or flexible start time, changing some work tasks or reporting to another supervisor than the present one.
Every kind of business has its different available option. A Bakery that starts very early in the morning could not accommodate its employee with later starting in the morning unless it is an administrative job instead of sale or cashier. This is an example of a responsible request.
Your HR department role
HR department must help the employees that are qualified as Anxiety Disability cases according to the law and the ADA rules. The right approach is to be positive and helpful with the employee. To look for the best solution for the employee and not to try to deny the employee’s request for accommodation.
Your workforce has to be proactive with a high level of satisfaction at work, and it must feel safe about his health and mental health. Your workplace has to have a nice atmosphere and calm people. A successful accommodation of your employee that suffers from anxiety advisability will make your workforce feel safe and secure.
Train your managers
You and your managers can learn a lot by reading here: Anxiety and Stress in the Workplace Tell your mid-level management to take care of anything that causes stress in the workplace. Keep good communication with your workforce, and it will avoid a lot of stress causing issues. Knowing how you take care of anxiety disability will drop down the chances of having more anxiety disabled employees.
Your workplace should be a place of happy working people, keep stress levels down and take care of those that are stressed and need help and accommodation