Question of the month

I wish I could know my employee’s diagnosis!
A manager asks:

One of the employees that I supervise is returning to work after being on sick leave for six weeks. I’ve been told that I have to accommodate him because he has a disability, but I don’t know what the diagnosis is, and I know I’m not allowed to ask. It would be so much easier if I knew so that I can use accommodations that have worked for other people with his condition. I feel like my hands are tied.
From,
My Hands Are Tied

MHW responds:

Dear Hands,

You are seeking information so that you can successfully accommodate your employee as he returns to work. This is great, and you are on the right track because information is one of the things you need to help your employee return to work and regain productivity. So MHW would suggest that you think a little differently about the information you need, and where you’ll get it.

First, we want to share three good reasons why MHW suggests that you don’t rely on the diagnosis to come up with accommodation strategies:

A mental health related diagnosis often changes over time, either because the condition itself changes, or because the initial diagnosis is not accurate. People with mental illnesses receive on average four diagnoses in their lifetime! This means you may be educating yourself about symptoms and conditions that do not actually exist in your employee.

Secondly, a diagnosis is not helpful in knowing what your employee’s job-related limitations are because you could have ten people with the same diagnosis and they would each have very different symptoms and accommodation needs. What works for one person with depression for example, may not work for another. Therefore, the diagnosis does not help you plan an effective accommodation.

Finally, if you are focused on the illness, it is harder to focus on the person. And it is the person in front of us, the employee, and their particular needs and abilities that we need to focus on.

Ultimately, it is the employee who can give us the information we need about their limits, their strengths, their capabilities and their challenges so that we can assist them in finding a way to remain a productive and contributing member of your workforce. The diagnosis might satisfy our curiosity, but does little to help us with workplace solutions.

Your employee is your greatest source of information regarding accommodations.

See Ask your employee what they need for the next steps in finding the right accommodations for your employee.

Sincerely, MHW

Send your questions to info@mentalhealthworks.ca. We will choose one question each month to feature here.

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