As corporate cultures around the world begin to adopt a more holistic understanding of individual well-being, companies of all sizes are promoting better mental health practices in the workplace. One example is giving employees a certain number of days off to help them relieve stress and renew their vitality.
If you too are experiencing signs of depression or anxiety or feeling burnt out due to constant work pressure, it’s probably a good idea to take some time off. But how do you take this up with your HR? For one, it’s important to know that not all companies or schools recognize mental health days as a distinct type of leave, such as ‘sick leaves’ or ‘vacation days’. Either way, your organization may or may not ask you to provide medical proof of your mental condition.
That’s exactly why you might need a Doctor’s Note like this one. Our editable Note template not only highlights how a given mental health condition affects your ability to optimally work, but it also identifies how long the treatment will take, and therefore, how long you should be allowed to be absent from work or study.
Now, let’s see what’s inside our Note in more detail:
Doctor’s Information
Right at the top-left of the template, provide details of the hospital or psychological treatment center handling your case, along with its postal address and website link. The idea here is to make sure that the information provided can be correctly attributed to a responsible & registered medical center.
Contents of the Note
In the first blank space, provide the name of the individual suffering from mental health issues.
This is followed by a formal diagnosis in the second blank space where the doctor (either a psychologist, psychiatrist, or a General Physician), will identify the specific mental health condition being experienced by the individual in question.
Acute depression, anxiety disorders, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are some examples of types of mental illnesses that may have a negative impact on a person’s thinking, feeling, behavior, or mood – and hence, their productivity at work.
In the third blank space, the doctor shall specify the time (say, X number of days or weeks) it shall take for the patient to be fully treated. This duration will form the justificatory basis of your leave application for employers as it indicates the time it will take for you to become productive again.
We also provide another space at the end for contact details in case your employer wants to double-check and confirm any details recorded in the note.
In the placeholders at the bottom of the page, you must type out the name of the doctor endorsing the note as well as their medical qualifications.
At the end, make sure to add a dated signature from your doctor, verifying that the information included in the Note is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and expertise.
What Does The Law Say?
As of the time of writing, there is no specific federal law in the U.S for private companies or offices when it comes to mental health leaves. However, if your employer is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act, you may be legally entitled to take days off on account of your mental health. Otherwise, the number and types of paid leaves you can get will vary from employer to employer, and will usually be agreed upon at the time of hiring.
That said, employers and educational institutions still have a general legal and ethical ‘duty of care’ to provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees, which includes addressing mental health concerns.
Remember, it is important for HR managers and departments to promote work-life balance and prevent employee turnover within the company.
Wrap Up
Our Doctor’s Note for Mental Health template is useful for employees or students who need a formal document as evidence of their impaired mental health.
Feel free to use this standardized Note to inform your employers about your need for some time off to focus on your psychological and emotional well-being. This note can be used for both daily work and academic settings by employees or students who need time off to look after their mental health and well-being.
Our editable Note template can be downloaded in PDF and Word formats!
