May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but let’s be honest: How often do employers treat it like more than a feel-good HR post?
Misinformation, overlooked legal requirements, and outdated assumptions may be putting you at risk, especially when it comes to supporting neurodivergent employees like those on the autism spectrum.
Reality check: Autistic employees who can perform their job duties are protected
Here’s your reality check: Many autistic and other neurodivergent employees are able to perform the functions of their jobs, with or without reasonable accommodations.
These employees are protected by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, and the New York Human Rights Act.
This means:
- You must provide reasonable accommodations for mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions.
- You cannot allow stereotypes or assumptions to influence workplace decisions.
Failure to get this right places your company at risk of a disability discrimination lawsuit.
What is a reasonable accommodation?
Mental health accommodations don’t have to break the bank. In fact, if a requested accommodation poses an undue hardship on the company, the accommodation is not reasonable, and you do not need to provide it. However, you must engage in an interactive dialogue with the employee who requests the accommodation to determine if a reasonable, effective accommodation can be made.
Common examples of reasonable accommodations include:
- Flexible hours for therapy or medication management
- Quiet workspaces or headphones for those sensitive to noise or overstimulation
- Task modifications or clarity aids for executive functioning challenges
- Visual schedules or other communication supports
It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. The key is to have an interactive dialogue with the employee and document the process.
What gets employers in trouble
Most lawsuits don’t come from the employer’s flat-out refusal to provide a reasonable accommodation. They come from:
- Managers who “didn’t know” the ADA or equivalent state law applied
- HR policies with no clear accommodation process
- Job descriptions that don’t clearly define the essential job duties
- Performance reviews that penalize neurodivergent behaviors rather than outcomes
The cost? Settlement payments, legal fees, bad press, and losing highly skilled employees you didn’t know how to support.
What you can do right now
Here’s your checklist for what to do right now:
- Train your leadership: Supervisors and hiring managers are your first line of risk and need to know how to handle employee disclosures of a mental health condition.
- Review job descriptions: Do they list essential functions or outdated expectations?
- Update your accommodation process: Make it easy, private, and consistent.
- Audit your policies: Be sure mental health and neurodivergence are mentioned in your equal employment opportunity, anti-harassment and non-discrimination policies.
- Stop misinformation at the door: Share reputable resources and be clear about what your company does and does not tolerate.
Make this Mental Health Month count: Update your policies and ask your team how they’re doing.
Questions about your policies or risk exposure?
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This blog is for informational purposes only. It is not offered as legal advice, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. Consult with competent local employment counsel to determine how the matters addressed here may affect you.
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