I've been reading posts on an online site about mental health in the workplace. The posts started by someone talking about wanting to move to 4 days a week from 5 for their mental health. I did this nearly 4 years ago. The advice on the site is all about talking to human rights or mental health association etc... first to find out your rights before broaching it with an employer. There is also someone who wrote about taking some sick time and then being fired as soon as she got back to work.
All of this makes me sad, really sad. I'm glad my experience was so different, my employer was very supportive and I really haven't had a lot of trouble at all. I know that this is not the same in so many places and that makes me sad. Honestly, I am a WAY better employee at 4 days a week. And, in my view, it's a win-win. I get paid 80% of my full-time salary and I have about a 90% workload. It's a trade-off I accept to have the day off. The thing that is so wrong about this is that if it were a physical disability, the advice would probably be very different. Sigh.
It says to me we need to continue talking and talking and talking and talking. If people are having these kinds of experiences then there is so much more education to do out there. Mental illness is not something to be afraid of. And people with mental illnesses can be productive and valuable to organizations. Sometimes we need a little accommodation, but then how is that different from people with physical disabilities, or people with kids who need to vary their work hours to manage that, or people who have spouses or siblings or parents they care for and need to vary their work hours? We all have lives outside work that need to be dealt with, it really makes be sad and angry that mental illness is not just one thing on the list, but seems to be different somehow.
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