May is Mental Health Awareness Month – and it’s an ideal time to review your programs that support your employees’ mental health as well as protect employees with mental health conditions and psychiatric disabilities from discrimination.
OFCCP requires that federal contractors and subcontractors set a 7% utilization goal for individuals with disabilities. Contractors with 100 or fewer employees can apply the goal to their entire workforce while larger employer should apply that goal for each job group. Employers are required to invite applicants and new hires to self-identify whether they have a disability.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five American adults experience a mental health condition each year. During my time as OFCCP Director, I found that most companies weren’t close to meeting the 7% goal – most were at 3 or 4%, with many employees with non-apparent disabilities not electing to self-disclose. We found that in the case of psychiatric disabilities and mental health conditions, employees didn’t disclose because they were afraid of stigmas and stereotypes and potential career ramifications. If companies were able to create an environment where employees were comfortable disclosing mental health conditions or other non-apparent disabilities, they would more easily be able to meet the 7% goal. These non-apparent disabilities can include depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD and PTSD, to name a few.
I encourage all companies, not just federal contractors, to implement EARN’s (Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion) four A’s of a mentally healthy workplace as discussed in their mental health toolkit. The information below is courtesy of EARN:
ONE: Awareness. Build awareness and a supportive culture. This includes stress management training; anti-bullying programs; creating a work environment that connects to the outside world; and tactics to increase enhanced mental well-being.
TWO: Accommodations. Provide accommodations to employees. This includes flexible workplaces such a telecommuting or working from home; flexible scheduling options such as job sharing; use of leave related to mental health, treatment or recovery; and use of breaks according to individual needs rather than a fixed schedule.
THREE: Assistance. Offer employee assistance. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are paid for in full by the employer but are provided confidentially; employers do not know which individual employees access EAP services. They help employees with situations including stress, substance abuse and major life transitions and have shown to reduce medical costs, turnover and absences.
FOUR: Access. Ensure access to treatment. Does your health plan:
Going further, federal contractors – and all employers – need to be proactive to make sure that employees who disclose mental health conditions and psychiatric disabilities are not discriminated against. This includes keeping information confidential if a supervisor needs to provide accommodations and keeping an eye out for other employees or supervisors bullying or making jokes about an employee’s mental health or psychiatric disability. Employers need to ensure that employees have opportunities for advancement in line with other employees.
More generally, to create an environment where employees feel free to self-disclose non-apparent disabilities, employers should create awareness and inclusion campaigns to show that these employees will be supported and will receive any accommodations that are needed. By doing so, employers will see the rates of employee self-identification rise.
In short, it’s not enough for federal contractors to simply have a basic Section 503 compliance program. They need to specifically mention that mental health and psychiatric disabilities are part of the program and then take the appropriate steps to create a mental health-friendly workplace.
Learn more:
About the author:
Craig E. Leen, former Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the U.S. Department of Labor, is a member of Circa’s Board of Directors.
