Employers are seeing more mental health issues in their workforce than ever before. COVID has enhanced mental health concerns even more. Each year, 1 in 5 adults is stricken with a mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health), making mental illness an everyday reality for many of your employees. Yet only 1 in 3 people seek help with their illness. The ADA, HIPAA, FMLA, and most states’ human/civil rights departments dictate how employers deal with employees with mental health problems. Privacy laws create challenges for employers to determine how serious a situation is and whether an employee poses a danger (though those with a mental illness pose no more risk of violence than those without a mental illness).Examples of the most common psychological disorders include major depression and dysthymia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, and an array of personality disorders. Those individuals with depressions have 2.5 times the risk of on-the-job injury. Workplace depression results in 200 million lost days annually. The disease is common, debilitating, and the number one cause of disability worldwide. Employers lose an estimated $52 billion annually in loss of productivity and insurance payments.In 2016, the EEOC resolved 5000 disability-based claims dealing with mental health conditions, costing employers approximately $20 million. With the increase in claims came an EEOC newly released Guidance on Mental Health Discrimination, which is addressed to employees informing them of their employment rights under the ADA. At one point, the EEOC received 6000 complaints dealing with long-COVID alone.Workplaces can and should play a significant role in minimizing their employees’ mental health risks. Employee stress levels continue to rise as more and more employees spend more and more hours at work without an increase in pay or benefits. Burnout and depression, particularly among millennials and millennial women, are reported more than any other generation.Who Should AttendAll employees HR professionals and managersWhy Should You AttendTo differentiate mental health from mental illnessTo discuss the most frequent mental health conditions with emphasis on depression, anxiety, and personality disordersTo identify the demographic groups most at risk for mental health issuesTo examine the myths of mental illnessTo differentiate between personality traits and personality disordersTo list the signs of possible mental health issuesTo explore the costs of mental illness to U.S. businessesTo outline U.S. mental illness statisticsTo define “current”, “past”, and “perceived” disabilitiesTo explain mental illness as an ADA-protected disabilityTo describe the interactive process required by the ADATo explore the accommodations required by the ADATo examine the role of the workplace in creating a healthy environmentTo combat the negative stigma of mental illness in the workplaceTo generate a workplace culture of well-being