Mental Health FMLA Leave: How to Handle It With Compassion

According to statistics cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), up to "one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness.” Not only that, but “workplace stress has been reported to cause 120,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.” Mental health leave shouldn’t be an afterthought for your HR team. It should be treated with the same care and importance as leave for a serious injury or physical health condition.

But navigating mental health under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) raises plenty of questions. Here’s what HR teams need to know about mental health FMLA leave and how to handle it with compassion and sensitivity.

Does FMLA Cover Mental Health Conditions?

The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for qualifying reasons, including an employee’s own serious health condition or that of a family member.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), FMLA regulations apply to physical and serious mental health conditions, as long as it’s an ongoing or chronic condition.

This means a single mental health episode may not be covered, but a serious mental health condition that requires continuing treatment — such as an overnight stay in a medical care facility — would be covered. These conditions might include:

• Schizophrenia
• Severe anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Bipolar disorder
• Major depressive disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Eligible employees can take continuous or intermittent FMLA leave to seek medical treatment or to care for a family member with mental health issues.

Mental Health FMLA vs. ADA

The Family and Medical Leave Act allows an employee to take a leave of absence (LoA) for medical reasons, including mental health conditions — but it isn’t the only recourse for employees with mental health challenges. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) entitles employees with a disability — one that affects major life activities — to seek reasonable accommodation that allows them to perform their job duties.

ADA accommodations usually include things like a separate workspace or a flexible schedule but could also include time off work. The ADA may be a better fit for some mental health conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or when FMLA doesn’t apply.

Why Mental Health FMLA Matters

Allowing an employee to take time off for mental health care isn’t just a matter of FMLA compliance. It also supports employee well-being and improves employee retention. Employers can support their employees’ mental health by:

• Offering health benefits
• Providing employee counseling
• Encouraging self-care and work-life balance

In some cases, it’s not an employee’s medical condition that qualifies them for FMLA, but that of a family member:

• FMLA provides up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave to care for a covered servicemember injured during active duty military service. This might include a traumatic brain injury or PTSD.
• FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to care for an adult child with a mental health condition that interferes with their daily activities.

3 Ways to Ensure Sensitivity and Mental Health FMLA Confidentiality Requirements

Assessing an employee’s eligibility for mental health leave under FMLA may require a request for medical records from their health care provider. But keeping an employee’s mental health condition confidential — and treating their request with compassion and sensitivity — is important too. Here are three FMLA confidentiality rules to follow.

1. Keep Medical Records Separate

Employees are required to keep medical records separate from other personnel files — this includes medical certifications for mental health conditions. Some records may also be protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Use a platform like Pulpstream to store documents safely and securely in the cloud — and allow employees to upload sensitive documents directly to their account.

2. Avoid Disclosing Sensitive Information

Most employees don’t need to know that one of their colleagues is entering a treatment program or just got out of inpatient care. At most, they might need to know the duration of an absence for scheduling purposes or what type of accommodation an employee with a disability requires.

By keeping information confidential and only sharing it on a need-to-know basis, you’ll respect employees’ privacy and comply with FMLA and ADA requirements.

3. Request Information Tactfully

When you do request information from an employee with a mental health condition, ask questions like “How can we help?” or “What support do you need?” rather than ask for details of their condition. This allows them the opportunity to disclose a disability that you may not have been aware of, without violating their privacy.

If you determine that a mental health condition should be covered by the ADA rather than FMLA, engage in the ADA interactive process to select an accommodation.

How Digital Workflows Can Reduce FMLA Stress

Keeping up with leave laws can be stressful for your HR team — and it’s no better for employees who need to take mental health leave and have to jump through hoops to make it happen. If you’re a covered employer under FMLA, it’s time to digitize your leave of absence process to ensure compliance and reduce workplace stress.

Here are the ways you can benefit from using digital FMLA workflows.

Consistency

The last thing an employee needs when dealing with a serious mental health issue is bureaucracy. There’s no avoiding FMLA forms and medical certifications, but you can make the process easy on them by providing clarity and consistency.

Pulpstream’s leave of absence automation platform standardizes workflows so your employees know what to expect when they submit a leave request. This is especially important for chronic conditions that may require multiple periods of leave over time. Send out automated updates when it’s time to submit a recertification.

Confidentiality

Employees may be reluctant to submit a mental health FMLA request if they have to ask for it directly or if they suspect their coworkers will find out. They may be worried about their manager treating them differently or being overlooked for a promotion. In some cases, an employee’s mental health episode may require disciplinary action.

Pulpstream’s cloud-based tools allow you to handle FMLA leave requests confidentially and collect supporting documents securely. Plus, you can manage employee benefits, offer counseling, and deal with other common employee relations issues.

Compassion

Mental health FMLA may overlap with other personal issues, such as a death or illness in the family or a military deployment. If an employee isn’t eligible for FMLA or has used up all 12 workweeks, you may be able to offer bereavement leave, paid time off (PTO), or another type of leave depending on your personal leave policy.

Pulpstream helps HR teams assess eligibility for different types of leave, track leave balances, and ensure compliance with all of them. By streamlining your LoA process with Pulpstream, you can put your employee’s needs first and respond to incoming leave requests with sensitivity and compassion.

Manage Mental Health FMLA Requests With Pulpstream

The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to take time off work for qualifying physical and mental health conditions. This includes chronic conditions like PTSD, schizophrenia, and anxiety, as well as eating disorders and depression. They can also take time off to care for a family member with one of these conditions.

Pulpstream’s cloud-based platform simplifies the process with configurable workflows and a custom rule engine. Use it to manage mental health leave under FMLA, track ADA accommodations, streamline the return-to-work process, and more.

Get a demo today to see how it can help!