Employers' response to workers appearing to suffer from mental illness: a recent supreme court judgment, the law and the administration

In 2012, the Supreme Court of Japan overturned a case of forced resignation on grounds of unauthorized absence by a worker who was deemed to have taken extended leave from work owing to mental illness. In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that the response to workers in this situation should be to consider dispositions such as leave of absence, based on the result of examination by a psychiatrist, and then to monitor subsequent progress; taking disciplinary action without having attempted this was not appropriate as a response by an employer. There are various ways in which such workers can be made aware of their illness, the employer can prevent their condition from worsening, and the skills of managers, supervisors, and others can be improved. These include (i) medical examination provided by the employer, and the use of Health Committees pursuant to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and (ii) promoting education, training and information provision to managers, supervisors and workers by employers, as indicated in the 12th Industrial Accident Prevention Plan. Besides these, the recent Amendment of the Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities provides that workers with mental illness should be included in the basis for calculating the legal minimum employment rate, and obliges employers to provide reasonable accommodation for these workers. This could have a positive impact on solving the problem of poor knowledge by management and workers on the response to workers who appear to suffer from mental illness.