A person with a mental disorder does not have to inform their employer about their illness. But what if it is exacerbated at work and the patient becomes delusional, starts behaving „strangely”, shouts curses, or accuses others of something they did not do? Can the employer then give notice?

Information about our health is sensitive data and we do not have to disclose it to anyone, including our employer. Perhaps most often, due to social stigma, mental disorders are most often not disclosed at work.

According to the report „The Workforce View in Europe 2017” prepared by the international company ADP, only 8.3 percent. of Polish employees decide to inform their supervisor that they are struggling with a mental problem.

“Whether an employee’s health condition allows them to work in a given position is decided by an occupational medicine physician, not the employer. But it is known that not always an employee will >>admit<<, even to an occupational medicine doctor, to his or her mental illness. It may therefore turn out that such an employee will receive a doctor’s consent and will go to the workplace as an employee capable of performing work in a specific position, which may have further consequences” – says lawyer Aleksander Kuźniar, a long-term labor inspector of the National Labor Inspectorate, data protection inspector.

Let’s start by explaining that psychosis is a serious disorder of the central nervous system, which consists in a defective or completely lost contact with reality, the occurrence of delusions, i.e. incorrect thoughts that cannot be corrected and act in an alienating way, i.e. to put it simply: the patient cannot convince yourself that it is not.

Another symptom is hallucinations, i.e. incorrect perceptions, which are most often visual, taste or auditory hallucinations (with auditory being the most common) and may be imperative in nature, i.e. commands to do something or comment on a given situation.

“A patient in acute psychosis is a person who interprets reality in an inadequate way. If he does office work and is not aggressive, there is no risk that his behavior will cause any major trouble or damage. However, if we are dealing with a professional driver, pilot, machine operator in motion, traffic controller or a person in a managerial position who can make important financial, legal or personal decisions for the company, it can be a problem” – says Prof. Piotr Gałecki, head of the Department of Adult Psychiatry at the Medical University of Lodz, national consultant in the field of psychiatry.

It is worth noting that delusions or hallucinations overlap with the state of a person’s mood. When the patient is in a depressed, depressive mood, he will make decisions „no”, he will believe that nothing will work out, there is no chance of success, etc., possibly losing solutions that are beneficial for the company. However, the euphoric state – hypomania or mania – is equally dangerous – such a person then thinks about himself: I am wonderful, I have a lot of wonderful ideas in my head, everything will work out, so I act and, for example, employ five new people and open three branches in another city, leads to risky transactions. This has some consequences.

“The sick person did not deserve this, it just happened that they got sick. People in a psychotic state often behave bizarrely. They may then break social norms, e.g. insulting others. What if it happens in the workplace? Theoretically, the employer has the right to take consequences against them and, according to the Labor Code, they can remove such a person from work, and even dismiss them under Article 52 of the Labor Code – the so-called disciplinarians.

Art. 52. Termination without notice due to the employee’s fault

The employer may terminate the employment contract without notice due to the fault of the employee in the event of:

1. a serious breach by the employee of basic employee duties;

2. the employee commits a crime during the term of the employment contract, which makes it impossible to continue employing him in the position held, if the crime is obvious or has been confirmed by a final judgment;

3. loss of authorizations necessary to perform work in the position held due to the employee’s fault.

Having no medical knowledge, the employer is then guided only by the Labor Code, which is why the sick employee can pursue his claims in the labor court, explaining that he did not control his conduct

“And in fact, acute psychosis makes the patient unable to control his behavior and recognize the meaning of the acts he commits during psychosis (e.g. destruction of property or aggressive behavior), which is the basis for recognizing him as insane and discontinuing the case in the proceedings criminal,” says Prof. Gałecki, who is also appointed as a court expert.

Art. 31 of the Penal Code: „No crime is committed who, due to mental illness, mental retardation or other disturbance of mental activities, was unable to recognize its meaning or control his conduct at the time of the act.”

There is no legal basis for the employer to refer an employee for earlier periodic examinations due to deterioration of health, e.g. disturbing symptoms at the workplace. The only exception here is the headmaster, who, in accordance with the Teacher’s Charter, may refer a teacher for check-ups at any time.

Unofficially, however, it is known that employers of other professions also use this option because it is needed. Psychiatrists confirm this.

“Usually, the doctor refers the patient to a psychiatric consultation, after which a diagnosis is made, and on this basis he decides what to do next. An additional issue is whether the patient wants to be treated, whether he is taking medications and what medications, because, for example, some medications preclude driving” – points out Prof. Gałecki.

Source of information: Service Zdrowie

Source:https://www.seka.pl/epizod-psychotyczne-w-place-pracy/

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.