From what we hear, the most stressful thing for workers is around communicating—what do I say, when do I say it, who do I talk to?—within this privacy legislation. Recognizing that and working on tools to help people know how to talk about this will help workplaces.
Often they notice a problem, but the worker hasn't said something. People with mental health conditions may not be aware that they're actually moving into an episode. Communication, I think, is a priority.
Another priority is to do accommodation planning better and do it as positive problem-solving, as opposed to discipline, which might say, “If you don't show up next time, you're out.”
Building awareness within the federal government in its workplace about episodic disabilities is important. Co-worker and manager training will also help people to work through these issues better and to know that they're coming back. It's something that does happen. These are good workers. They're often good workers for years, and then there will be an episode.