Compliance Stuff

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has increasingly emphasized that stress, anxiety, and burnout can contribute to accidents and reduced productivity, making mental wellness a significant part of its modern safety framework since the agency released a fact sheet on workplace mental health in 2024. 0:00 4:40 Quick Hits OSHA is making mental wellness a significant part of its modern safety framework. Employers may want to ensure that their safety and health management systems include worker input to ensure psychologically safe environments. Psychological risk prevention may include employee assistance programs, leaves of absence accommodations, and other accommodations to prevent and mitigate risk exposure. Psychological safety refers to the mental and emotional well-being of workers in the workplace, including well-being following traumatic workplace events, high-stress work environments, and employee substance use disorders. Improved psychological safety is dir...

This month’s  Friday Five  covers recent decisions on credibility pertaining to long COVID symptoms, weighing of disability evidence, overpayment accounting, preemption of state law claims, and a motion to compel discovery on financial incentives and other information. District of Vermont grants insurer’s motion for judgment on the record in long COVID case finding the plaintiff was not credible.   Plaintiff was terminated from his engineering position because “his engagement ended with his client.”   He submitted a claim for short-term disability (“STD”) and long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits, alleging inability to work due to symptoms of long COVID that pre-dated his termination .  The District of Vermont did not reach the question of whether the  de novo  or arbitrary and capricious standard applied because it found the plaintiff’s claim did not survive even under the broader  de novo  standard, due in part to the plaintiff’s lack ...

Corporate life is full of unspoken rules, awkward small talk, and the occasional “per my last email” power play. That’s exactly why  Demoted  is my favorite podcast right now.   Hosted by  Ross “Corp” Pomerantz  and  Natalie Marie ,  Demoted  gives voice to everything employees love to complain about in office culture.  Each week, the hosts invite listeners to anonymously share their Corporate Confessions—those hilarious, cringe-worthy, or just plain chaotic moments that define modern work life . They also answer real questions from real people trying to survive the professional world—from dealing with micromanaging bosses to figuring out if dating a coworker is ever a good idea.  One recurring theme that really stood out to me is how often employees express anxiety around using their paid time off. Many listeners hesitate to take the vacation time they’ve earned, fearing it will reflect poorly on their work ethic or hurt their chances ...

  The question of who can access paid leave for a mental health condition depends on several factors, from the place of employment to the place of work.  “Can I take paid leave to treat my mental health condition(s)?” It’s a question that comes up often for both employers and employees alike, especially in an age where people have become much more comfortable discussing mental health in the workplace.   And for good reason.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) , over 1 in 5 adults suffer from some form of mental illness, many of whom are completely debilitated as a result.   However, the question of who can access paid leave for a mental health condition depends on several factors, from the place of employment to the place of work.   Let’s take a look at the current landscape of paid leave as it relates to mental health in the United States at the federal and state level, and the direction employers themselves are headed to stay competit...