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‘Personal judgment’ needed in taking mental health days
By and large, health ailments are our own business, and lawyers and legal staff shouldn’t feel the need to disclose their reasons for taking a day of sick leave, according to a senior human resources professional.
Jerome Doraisamy
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly on the condition of anonymity, a senior human resources professional at a national law firm said taking a day of leave is a personal thing, and no one should feel the need to justify themselves in such circumstances.
“I have my personal leave entitlement, which covers sick and carer’s leave, and I need to be able to exercise my personal judgment and rights.”
Such personal judgment does not mean that any lawyer should ever feel ashamed of needing to take a mental health day, she noted.
But there does need to be a recognition of the fact that stigma has not yet been fully removed from the equation, and thus, if one is not taking leave to the extent of requiring medical certificates, there should be no onus to disclose illness of any kind, whether it be stress or the flu.
“I wouldn’t consider our firm to be particularly sophisticated in that area,” she flagged.
The “vast majority” of law firms are not yet at the level of proper empathy and understanding with needing days off for mental health reasons, the professional argued, and enacting such change is especially difficult for larger firms that have more moving parts.
But individuals can make their own decisions about how best to use their employment entitlements, she suggested.
“Within the confines of leave entitlements, be they statutory or contractual, I think lawyers are grown-ups, who should be considered and treated as such, and they should be able to use sick days as they need them without feeling they have to describe what their issues are, whether they be emotional or physical,” the professional argued.
Removal of self-stigma is also a crucial factor, she added.
“[Lawyers must] understand that sometimes a day of refresh is important, and they need to exercise their own judgment about what they need and when.”
But the taking of mental health days will also sometimes need to be accompanied by consideration of why the taking of such leave was necessary in the first place, she noted.
“If lawyers have a regular need for a mental health day, they should be looking within and asking why they need those days, whether they’re genuinely happy, is there some thing about their work structure that requires a conversation with one’s employer, and is it a band-aid solution to take occasional sick days?”
In such circumstances, the professional noted that lawyers would have to evaluate their personal needs in the context of their jobs.
“If you need individual mental health days just to keep getting out of bed every day, that is likely an indication of a bigger issue, and I would say that person should get proper medical support,” she concluded.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
