A new report reveals a big jump in mental health leave, showing how employee support programs can help people get back to work faster.
Between 2019 and 2024, overall employee leave increased by 30%, with mental health days off soaring by 300% — from just 2% of leaves in 2019 to 8% in 2024, according to ComPsych.
ComPsych CEO Paul Posey says the pandemic changed how companies handle time off, especially for mental health, pushing employers to rethink how they care for their teams.
With mental health becoming a bigger priority, 77% of employees now see mental health benefits as key to job satisfaction. And nearly all large U.S. companies have boosted their mental health support in the past few years.
The report also shows that employees who use assistance programs return to work about six days sooner than those who don’t.
This isn’t just true for mental health leave, but also for physical and parental leave, according to HRD. People who skip behavioral health services tend to take 12% to 15% longer off.
Dr. Jennifer Birdsall from ComPsych calls this great news, showing that investing in employee well-being pays off no matter the reason for leave — helping people recover and get back on their feet sooner.
