Paid Leave Covers Mental Health Days But Stigma Still Clouds Use

Days off for mental health needs usually are included under employers’ paid time off policies as well as leave laws for those workers who have coverage, a point recently reinforced by US Labor Department guidance.

But there’s more work to do for employers to reassure employees they can take mental health days or longer-term leave without repercussions—and perhaps more importantly to ensure that workers’ mental well-being is supported in their day-to-day jobs, according to policy advocates and human resources consultants. It’s a need the pandemic brought into the spotlight with employees suffering burnout or worse, as Covid-19 exacerbated already ...