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Could Your Company's Woes Be Tied To Gray Skies?
November 20, 2009
The way you pay your employees, and limit their promotion opportunities in the recession, no wonder they look glum, you think to yourself. Actually, as hard as your company's recession survival strategies are on them, it may be more than that. They may have Seasonal Affective Disorder, and you may have workplace legal obligations to them because of it.
As autumn sets in, life sometimes doesn't get better. The crackle of fireplaces and the coming of the holidays isn't enough to pick up the spirits of some of your workers. They could be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), an extreme form of normal seasonal mood cycles, which can be associated with depression.
"While SAD is often triggered by the changing seasons, people who work long hours inside office buildings with few windows may experience symptoms year-round," says Susan K. Lessack, a labor and employment law attorney with Pepper Hamilton LLP. Observing that many employees could therefore suffer from SAD in their workplaces, she advises that "before brushing off an employee who complains of SAD as one who is just disappointed to see the end of summer, employers should consider whether the employee with SAD has a disability protected by law," under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the 2009 amendments that expanded the ADA's reach.
Lessack says if an employee with SAD has symptoms of depression or another medical condition, he or she may be disabled under the ADA and some state acts, provided the employee is substantially impaired in a major life activity as compared to most people in the general population.
"Mitigating measures taken to ameliorate the employee's depression, such as medication, psychotherapy or other treatment, are not considered in determining whether the employee has a disability. If an employee with SAD has depression and, as a result, is substantially impaired, the employee is entitled to protection from discrimination, and may also be entitled to a reasonable accommodation if he or she needs one to perform the essential functions of the job," Lessack notes.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently ruled a school district violated the ADA by not accommodating a teacher with SAD, after she was transferred to an interior classroom and her request for an accommodation of moving to a classroom with natural light was refused. The court said the school district had to provide the requested accommodation to the teacher unless the transfer would impose an undue hardship, which the evidence did not support.
That decision means an employer should take seriously an employee's request for some assistance to deal with his or her SAD in the workplace. As with any disability, an employer is responsible for speaking with an employee who requires a reasonable accommodation. The employer must seek a solution that enables the employee to perform the essential functions of the job without causing an undue hardship for the employer.
Depending on the severity of the employee's SAD, accommodations may include:
• Allowing a light box to be placed in the employee's office.
• Relocating the employee's workspace to an area with an increased flow of daylight.
• Permitting the employee extended breaks outside.
• Modifying the employee's schedule and shift arrangements,
and/or permitting an employee to take leave for treatment.
"An employee with SAD also may be entitled to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Depression, under certain circumstances, can qualify as a serious health condition under the FMLA," Lessack says, adding that if the employee's SAD constitutes a serious health condition, he or she would be entitled to up to twelve weeks of leave for treatment, doctors' appointments, and other medical assistance. "Further, an employer cannot discriminate or retaliate against an employee who requires FMLA leave due to SAD," she says.
"Depending on how it affects a person, SAD can be a serious medical condition," Lessack notes. "If an employee advises an employer he or she is suffering from SAD and needs a reasonable accommodation and/or an FMLA leave, the employer should take the employee's request seriously."
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