AIBU to think taking a “Mental Health Day” is a bit wanky?

[Throwawaytheatre]

Honest disclaimer: I’m not trying to minimise mental illness... I’ve suffered with depression myself and attempted suicide three times since I was 16.

I work in management in a corporate environment. Over the past couple of years I’ve seen a rise in my staff (and I hate to say, it does tend to be the younger ones) taking what they call “mental health days”

Now if your mental health is so bad that you cannot get out of bed, come into work and do your job (or at least reduced duties) then you have my upmost sympathy. And when you come back, I would expect occupational health involved and a support plan to help you manage your illness.

But... you shouldn’t take a day or two off - which will have a detrimental impact on the rest of the team - just because you are bit tired or stressed. Especially as in my industry, you don’t work weekends and so are never more than five days away from your next day off.

I firmly believe that if you are capable of being in work, you should be in work. You are an adult, with contractual obligation and responsibility that you get paid to fulfil.

To further clarify; I’m talking about when members of my team call in sick for one day (often a Monday or Friday) and upon their back to work interview tell me that they were just “mentally exhausted” or “needed to recharge”, when I suggest the route of occupational health or support they don’t want that - they agree there is nothing we need to change to support them.

I had one young lady take three days sickness, go to Disneyland Paris which was plastered all over Facebook; and then upon return tell me it was a “mental health break”. She had not diagnosed condition and no intent on seeking any medical assistance she just “needed a break”

Prompted by a member of my team texting me this morning to say they will be having tomorrow off as “it’s been a stressful week, and [they] don’t feel they have fully recovered over the weekend.”

I agree with the OP but it's difficult to draw the line between needing short notice annual leave for a break, and a taking mental health day.

@Throwawaytheatre I’ve not read the whole thread so this may have been suggested already. Especially as you are in management, I would try to see if your employer a would be willing to create a policy on this. My brother’s work has mental health days. The policy is 3 days per year in addition to annual leave and can be obtained once an individual has passed their probation. The mental health days are not to be used with any annual leave, so that two week holiday still comes out of your annual leave. However, you can use it for a Friday if you have a wedding at the weekend for example or to go do a hobby or even lounge around at home. Staff are encouraged to take all their mental health days and all their annual leave. If there is an absence outside of this, it goes through the HR channels. So if someone has used their 3 mental health days and then has another mental health day, this then goes on their sickness leave and should be a mandatory meeting with occ health.

My employers have never had mental health days but I’ve used them. In my current job, it’s mostly been my annual leave. Fortunately, we can book annual leave at short notice. I’ve also tacked a day onto my sick leave when I was off with a bad cold. I think time to recharge is important, not because it’s trendy but because it can stop bigger problems. I’ve had to take a mental health sick day in my old job because I hadn’t taken the time to recharge, I ended up ringing my manager on the verge of having a panic attack convinced I’d die if I got in the car and drive to work. I think my manager though I was suicidal and it took a little while to convince him that I didn’t want to die but somehow I knew I would die if I drove that day. This was 2013, so before it became trendy and employers were encouraging of supporting mental health. I was prepared to use it as leave but my manager told me that I was sick, my mental health is just as important as my physical - being on the verge of a panic attack and not able to drive should be seen as the same as having a migraine and not being able to drive.

A policy of three random days is the way to go.

Where I work we get three emergency days a year. Sometimes if you have a child throwing up all over you you have no choice not to go in. I nearly had to take one yesterday but DH was working from home. I haven't had a day off sick in 5 years . I think they way you are treated at work goes a long way towards your mental and physical health.

I think a duvet day would be better han mental health day and would have far less stigma. Sometimes we all just need a day in bed. I have young dc so I can but dream...

Oh and when I say stigma I mean people scared to take it or feeling they have to justify having it. A duvet day would be better.

The grads / young staff are ambitious and I haven’t seen this behaviour

Ah yes, because only unambitious people have mental health issues

@ItIsWhat

Why have you deliberately misconstrued what I said? Or did you really not understand my point?

If my colleague has a duvet day I have to go in instead. The work still needs to be covered.

Much better to term it a mental health day - as it is a day off sick - no-one minds covering for a sick day at no notice - but covering because someone fancies a day in bed..... don't we all...

BeyondMyWits I dont agree as I think duvet days are needed for mental health. People could take them only if needed and enough cover. Anything else would surely be sick leave wouldn't.

it^

People could take them only if needed and enough cover.

I managed a team who had a 24/7 rota to cover, if one of them weren’t at work I needed to arrange to cover their shift - the service would stop if there weren’t enough staff. I’d be mightily pissed off if I was called to cover a late shift because someone fancied a “duvet day”. If you’re too unwell to be at work it’s a sick day, if you fancy a rest and a break it’s annual leave (which staff could swap cover for at short notice if need be. I anticipate the same issue with duvet days and annual leave, if someone can’t take annual leave at short notice, I can’t imagine them calling it a duvet day would make it any easier to take a day off at short notice.

This is the trouble than isnt it. People will judge mental health days the same when short staffed: 'oh she was fine yesterday' etc.

Its prob better they just give an extra day's annual than.

I think the general consensus is that whilst genuine diagnosed mental health conditions should be treated as seriously as a physical illness , workplaces just don't have the capacity for employees to take days off if they are tired or need a break. That is what annual leave and non working days are for.

If an individual is finding that weekends are just as stressful, then a visit to a GP is in order.

Work isn't all kittens and rainbows, sometimes it's tough, busy, and yes..temporarily stressful.

They might do some people a lot of good but is completely open to snowflakes taking the piss. Don't know how your enforce it though and agree it could cause people who actually need help to go under the radar.

Work isn't all kittens and rainbows, sometimes it's tough, busy, and yes..temporarily stressful.

Whilst I agree with this I think it can easily spill over into something more which isn't a MH crisis but means that the stress is having a significant impact on the persons mental wellbeing and their work. A short time away can sometimes be enough to regroup.

If an organisation is concerned that there is a "snowflake taking the piss" they need to performance manage that person rather than assume that everyone is taking the piss.

I'm not a great believer in 'duvet days' or 'mental health days' tbh. If an organisation can fund an additional three days AL for all staff (which they must have costed to introduce the policy) then just give everyone an extra three days.

This is generally much more convenient for colleagues, as leave is planned so easier to work around.

Outside this, if someone is unwell either physically or mentally they should take time off for sickness.

If the frequency or level of this breeches company policy, that should be managed as per absence policy.

Just following organisational policies seems a much more sensible way to proceed rather than speculating about who's taking the piss and who is genuine.

Work isn't all kittens and rainbows

Of course it's not. But sometimes you need more time off than a weekend can give you. People shouldn't have to use their annual leave for mental health crises!

If someone in work was having a migraine and it started to get worse, you wouldn't tell them "you can take tomorrow off but you'll need to use up a day of annual leave to get better. If you can't do that, then you'll need to come in. It doesn't matter that you can't move properly without being sick or that you can't look at a screen, you still need to come to work".

It's the same with MH issues. If someone is struggling to the point that they're in tears in the workplace, then the correct route is to give them a day off under the company's sickness policy.

I think calling it a "mental health day" makes people think of indulgent days under the duvet watching Neighbours and eating Malteasers, when in reality it's nothing like that.

Adaline,

If people got a migraine on a lot of Mondays, a talk with HR would be warranted and they would be well within their rights to ask for medical evidence of the underlying condition and what long term treatment plan was in place. Why would that not be ok for MH days?

OP is following the managed absence policy and she clearly feels that certain people are taking the piss, despite she herself having has significant MH issues.

If people got a migraine on a lot of Mondays, a talk with HR would be warranted and they would be well within their rights to ask for medical evidence of the underlying condition and what long term treatment plan was in place. Why would that not be ok for MH days?

Where have I said it wouldn't be okay for MH days?

Any absence with a particular pattern should be investigated by HR regardless of the alleged reason for it. But one or two people taking the piss shouldn't lead management to thinking everyone is taking the piss.

larrygrylls where do you get that OP is following the managed absence policy?

I don't think she's posted since her OP which was moaning about individuals rather than her saying about managing them.

The Disney break would’ve been treated as a disciplinary matter where I work: the employee would have it recorded as unauthorised annual leave and given a “line manager warning” in writing.

Yes, and that's the way to deal with these situations. Not use them to formulate assumptions about other people and moan about them on a parenting website.

Yes, it’s all manageable within the usual sick absence management practices.

Eg return to work chats each time, recording all absences (and dates - quickly shows any Friday/Monday patterns), considering sick absence action if absence hits the organisation’s “trigger points”, offering support/adjustments if needed.

I’ve been signed off work for 4 weeks by the doctor for generalised anxiety disorder. I feel guilty everyday I’ve been off but I know it is necessary, I was near true burnout or a breakdown in all honesty.