Understanding mental health leave: A guide for employers & employees

If your company values its employees' well-being and recognizes its key role in a successful business, offering mental health leave is the essential next step towards a healthy workplace and a thriving enterprise.

What Is Mental Health Leave?

Mental Health Leave is taking time off from work to address mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, or burnout, that require more prolonged absences than a couple of days. It can be short-term or long-term, and it may require medical documentation. It differs from a mental health day primarily in its duration. A mental health day is, as its name suggests, a day, maybe two, long break to prevent work-related stress or anxiety from worsening into burnout. Mental Health leaves are extended absences from weeks to months due to more serious conditions.

Depending on the company policy, it may or may not be formally distinct from sick leave. It differs from sick leave, which is typically taken due to physical illness, injury, or medical appointments. However, they are at times used for mental health when companies do not have specific Mental Health leave or employees fear stigma by disclosing mental health issues.

Are Mental Health Leaves Common?

Traditionally, mental health-related absences have always been taken under general sick leave. Even when research began exploring the psychological effects of work in the late 1900s, no policies were implemented until much later. It is only in the early 21st century that some sort of legal framework for mental health conditions and requirements started to appear. But it is really in the last two decades that mental health leave has begun to be distinguished from general sick leave in the more progressive workplaces. in 2024 in the UK, mental health conditions where the third most given reason for sick leave (9.8%)

Why is it essential to differentiate Mental health leave from sick leave?

Differentiating mental health leave from general sick leave helps improve employee support, legal clarity, stigma reduction, and workplace culture, making it more likely that mental health issues are addressed effectively. Indeed, it is essential for the employer to understand the profound repercussions untreated mental health challenges can have on their team and company. Conditions such as burnout often touch some of the most productive employees. Without early and proactive actions and support, these individuals will have to take long-term leave of absence if not leave the company altogether in order to properly recover, creating real ripple effect for those staying behind in terms of workload and team culture. Hence the necessity to clearly differentiate sick and mental health leave.

They address different aspects of employee health and may require distinct approaches in policy, communication, and support:

• Recognition and Validation: Differentiating mental health leave acknowledges mental health conditions as real and serious health issues on par with physical illnesses. It helps reduce stigma and validates employees' mental health needs openly rather than categorizing them under generic "sick leave," which is, as we saw, traditionally associated with physical illness. When mental health leave is recognized distinctly, it sends a strong message that the employer values overall employee wellbeing, contributing to a more supportive, stigma-free workplace culture. This can encourage employees to seek help earlier and be honest about their needs. While treating all leave as generic sick leave can perpetuate the idea that mental health issues are less legitimate or just excuses.
• Tailored Support and Accommodations: Mental health leave often involves variable symptoms, privacy concerns, and potential need for ongoing support or reasonable adjustments at work. Employers who recognize mental health leave separately are more likely to provide appropriate resources such as counseling, flexible return-to-work plans, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), or Digital Mental Health platforms such as Siffi, explicitly tailored to mental health challenges.
• Policy Clarity and Legal Compliance: Explicitly distinguishing mental health leave helps create clear policies that comply with legal obligations (such as the Equality Act 2010in the UK) to treat mental health as a disability when applicable and provide reasonable adjustments. This clarity helps both employers and employees better understand their rights and responsibilities.
• Tracking and Resource Allocation: Differentiating allows companies to track mental health-related absences more effectively, which can help them understand the needs and develop more targeted interventions.

When there is no statutory mental health-related leave, it is not only challenging for the employee, but it also introduces complexity for the employer, who may not know how to properly separate the two and act accordingly. When there are no official governmental laws, developing your own company policy is a great first step towards greater clarity in terms of administrative duties and inclusivity for employees.

The Benefits of Mental Health Leave

The benefits of mental health leave are numerous, both for the employee and their employer. Mental Health leaves help:

• Reduce stress and burnout: Time off allows employees to step away from work pressures, de-stress, and recharge before it is "too late".
• Improve self-worth: Prioritizing mental health sends a message to employees that their wellbeing is valued, fostering a positive sense of self-worth and reducing self-criticism and unhealthy perfectionism.
• Improve work-life balance: Mental health days contribute to a healthier work-life balance, allowing employees to manage personal and professional responsibilities more effectively.
• Reduce absenteeism and presenteeism: Allowing employees to address mental health challenges proactively can decrease long-term sickness absences.
• Increase productivity and focus: Employees returning from mental health leave are likely to be more focused, attentive, and productive, leading to improved performance and reduced errors instead of working while unwell, which would decrease productivity.
• Build a stronger company culture and morale, which helps attract and retain talent: Offering mental health leave and fostering open communication around mental health demonstrates a commitment to employee wellbeing, boosting morale, loyalty, and employee engagement. Those companies are more likely to attract talent and retain their employees who value mental health support.

As we saw in our introduction, despite the benefits, not all companies currently offer mental health leaves.

What If There Are No Mental Health Leave Policies in Place?

In situations where an employee requests a mental health leave and no specific policy is in place, HR must address the request with empathy and maintain confidentiality. They should also show as much flexibility as possible to signal that the company values employees' mental health. The request should be seen just as legitimate as any other sick or personal leave. However, it is a signal for the employer, while respecting privacy and confidentiality, it should be documented appropriately and viewed as an opportunity to initiate a dialogue and address the gap in existing policies.

How Companies Can Create Mental Health Leave Policies

Assessing

As always, the company should begin by assessing the situation through an evaluation of current practices and organizational needs. They should also research the various regulations in their industry or country to ensure compliance.

Designing

The second step is designing the policy, ensuring it aligns with legal standards and that the language is inclusive and specific to mental health. It should clearly state what is considered mental health leave, the process and eligibility requirements, as well as the confidentiality measures in place. Finally, it should list all existing resources.

Communicating

The final step is to communicate the policy, not only through training managers and HR, but also by integrating it into communication packages, onboarding processes, and interview sessions, as well as regularly reminding staff about the support and policies surrounding mental health.

Tips for Employees Using Mental Health Leave

The first thing to keep in mind is that this type of leave is best used for early intervention.

That means that employees should be able to reach out as soon as they experience difficulties such and anxiety, stress, chronique fatigue, sleeping issues, Inability to concentrate, irritability, appetite change or emotional overload that do not go away with their usual coping mechanism or the regular short breaks (mental health day, weekends, holiday) and that start impacting their work and personal lives.

For employees in these situations to feel safe to come to HR, there should be no stigma in using them even if you do not "seem" on the verge of burnout; on the contrary, mental health leaves are proactive and preventive. Make sure you are familiar with your company's policies and your rights. Be honest and professional, all while ensuring you feel comfortable and safe.

As we all relax and recharge in different ways, there is no "right" way to spend your leave, but here are a few tips and recommendations that generally help:

• Seek support and make use of internal and external resources to plan and make the best out of your leave
• prioritize sleep
• avoid work-related activities/topics, or tools that can trigger stress (such as computers and social media).
• spend time in nature (walks, hikes, gardening, sitting outside)
• Practice gentle exercises (such as stretching and yoga)
• Practice mindfulness and meditation
• Find creative outlets
• connect with others
• treat yourself
• declutter/organize
• reflect

Or anything else that helps you relax and improve your wellbeing. The goal is not to be productive but to acknowledge your needs.

A thoughtful, stigma-free, and proactive approach to mental health leaves benefits for both employers and employees. Putting dedicated and clear policies in place early on, just like for "traditional" sick leaves, will help employers create a healthy work culture and employees better navigate their mental health at work.