Word: mentalities
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...path to such enlightenment, though, is never easy--and most employers need some clear road markers along the way. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 specifically prohibits any employer with 15 or more workers from discriminating against employees with mental or physical impairments, many managers have been quicker to install wheelchair ramps than to offer the kind of flexibility Wozny's boss did. That is why in March the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidelines to help employers navigate the fuzzy, sometimes unquantifiable arena of mental illness in the workplace. The guidelines, addressing recent case law, explain...
Irene Wozny, 40, is an attorney for the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation in Baltimore. She is fortunate enough to have found work she enjoys, but every so often she gets derailed by chronic major depression, a mental illness that can cause a loss of self-esteem, an inability to concentrate and a negative outlook on life. Wozny has been troubled by the disease for as long as she can remember. Last year she learned of an experimental program for depression run by the National Institute of Mental Health, but in order to participate, she needed to arrive...
Given that 1 in 10 Americans is likely to suffer from a diagnosable mental illness during the year, the stakes for employers are potentially enormous. Although the guidelines do not have any legal force under the law, refusing to follow them can be risky. The courts often look to the eeoc's analysis when ruling in discrimination lawsuits. So far, nearly 13% of all eeoc complaints under the disabilities law have involved mental illness, though some experts feel this number is leveling off. In a TIME/CNN poll last week, 62% said they believe employers should accommodate mental impairments...
...worker's run-of-the-mill bad attitude may be another's debilitating schizophrenia. "This is fraught with undesirable pitfalls," says Don Livingston, a Washington lawyer who is former general counsel at the EEOC. "It calls on employers to make enigmatic distinctions between personality traits and personality disorders. Mental-health professionals often find this an impossible task, and now it's being put before factory supervisors." Henry Saveth, an attorney at Foster Higgins, which represents leading corporations in employment disputes, is concerned that traits such as chronic lateness or poor judgment may be linked to psychological impairment. Says Saveth: "Employers...
...Affirmative Action, Equal Employment and Diversity at PG&E. "Companies feared that busloads of disabled people were going to beat down the walls seeking employment. It was not the case. What happened was that existing employees sought accommodations." And this a key point: there is already a lot of mental disability in the workplace. The ADA's goal is to remove the stigma of talking about it and coping with it. "Ideally, if you are an employer and you try to use this guidance for problem solving, you are going to avoid litigation most of the time," says Gary Phelan...