Nearly half of workers believe that their employers don’t view it’s okay to take off for mental health reasons, which is why many do not take more mental health time off. (Photo: Shutterstock)

It’s January. The days are short and gloomy and the holiday season is behind us. Are you finding that more employees are calling in sick (federal agencies aside)? No, it’s no a seasonal flu going around. More likely, your employees are among the roughly one third of those who say they’ve taken a mental health day to stave off burnout–but don’t want to admit that’s the reason.

According to the University of Phoenix’s Job Burnout Poll 2018, more than half of U.S. working adults have experienced job burnout. To combat, 34 percent have called in sick to take a mental health day in the past 12 months, taking an average of 2.5 days. A majority (61 percent) say they have taken at least a day for physical ailments, taking about 3.5 days.

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Katie Kuehner-Hebert

Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a freelance writer based in Running Springs, Calif. She has more than three decades of journalism experience, with particular expertise in employee benefits and other human resource topics.

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