Bipolar Employees: HR's Legal and Practical Accommodation Roadmap

Bipolar Employees Webinar Recording

With the ADAAA's final regulations, new physical and mental impairments are considered disabilities, including impairments related to an employee’s mood and emotional state. This has opened the floodgates to new litigation, employee demands, and workplace conflict.

Bipolar disorder, also called manic depression or manic-depressive disorder, affects 1 in 20 Americans. Although treatable with medication, it's considered a lifelong condition. Bipolar employees may exhibit racing thoughts, poor judgment, impulsive behavior, irritability, and many more issues that affect their ability to function at work, which poses a serious disability accommodation problem for employers.

Are your workplace policies and practices ready for the ADA's expanded scope? Learn how to recognize the symptoms that employees diagnosed with bipolar disorder may experience, as well as the legal and practical obligations you have for accommodating them.

Participate in this interactive webinar, and you'll learn:

• What really is bipolar disorder, including the number of people affected, signs of the disorder, medicinal side effects, and other indicators employers should be aware of
• Limitations employees with bipolar disorder may experience
• Types of workplace accommodations a doctor may recommend for someone undergoing treatment
• How to tell if someone who is bipolar may be disabled under the ADA
• When an accommodation may be considered an undue hardship
• How FMLA impacts employees with bipolar disorder and those caring for family members with the diagnosis
• When bipolar disorder is considered a serious health condition entitling an employee to block, intermittent, or reduced schedule leave under FMLA
• How to deal with performance issues and safety concerns when and employee is on treatment medication
• Documentation required for FMLA leave
• How to handle privacy issues, such as what constitutes medical information and how to ensure HIPAA and GINA compliance
• Practical steps employers can take to help bipolar employees manage their workloads, meet deadlines, reduce distractions, and boost performance
• How much information you can legally disclose to supervisors and coworkers about an employee’s condition
• What you may request to prove that an employee is disabled
• How to effectively –- and legally -- handle attendance-related issues

In just 90 minutes, learn the best practices for reasonably accommodating employees with bipolar disorder. Register now for this interactive event risk-free.

This webinar was recorded on Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Bipolar Employees: HR's Legal and Practical Accommodation Roadmap

About Your Speakers:

Attorney Susan G. Fentin is a partner in the labor and employment firm of Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., which has represented exclusively management interests for more than 40 years. She is experienced in teaching master classes on both the FMLA and ADA. Her practice concentrates on labor and employment counseling, advising large and small employers on their responsibilities and obligations under state and federal employment laws, and representing employers before state and federal agencies and in court.

Tom Wootton is the author of "The Bipolar Advantage," "The Depression Advantage" and "Bipolar In Order." He developed new concepts that he integrated into the first Bipolar In Order workshops in 2002. Since that time he has developed a series of workshops dealing with depression and bipolar disorder. He has been considered a leading consumer advocate and speaker and has been giving talks to consumer groups, mental health leaders, and doctors.

Maureen Duffy, Ph.D., is a practicing family therapist, consultant, educator, and author with over 25 years of experience. She is the co-author of two books, has published over 40 book chapters and journal articles and has presented her work nationally and internationally. She is on the Editorial Boards of The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, The Journal of Systemic Therapies, and The Family Journal and is an editor of The Qualitative Report. Maureen is the relationship education coordinator for Bipolar Advantage and was a recent keynote speaker for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Pennsylvania Annual Conference.