Sickness at work
In the event of a sudden or gradual escalation of sickness the first step is to explore - and exclude - any physical, chemical or similar possible causes of sickness. As those possibilities are excluded consideration can extend to include potential psychological causes.
Note that psychologically induced illness is far more common in organisations than is popularly expected - probably more common than any other cause of illness.
Psychological problems - they’re normal
Any typical community population already contains a proportion of individuals who are psychologically unwell at the time - be it depression, phobias, psychoses etc. This is normal - just as there are people who are physically unwell at any one time.
These same people with minor physical or mental ailments get up in the morning, have breakfast, get dressed - and go to work - taking those problems with them. Unless you psychologically screen every person upon recruitment and then daily walking in the door, you cannot avoid having some mentally unwell people around you during your working day.
And for today - it may be you.
The greater the number of people around you, the greater the likelihood of you dealing with someone who is not able to work to their best capability or capacity.
Don’t worry - it’s normal. It’s only when the numbers become unusually high, or a particular person seems to be fighting a really tough time, that alarm bells should ring.
Initial advice when one person comes to your attention: Do nothing and say nothing to the person until you get internal policy advice and/or appropriate external advice (beginning with legal). Be cautious about ‘being nice’ and making allowances - it can back fire. Your only authority is manage the person’s performance - not the person, nor their health.
Until this page is fully written, consider looking at the following background material.
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