After over two years spent struggling to endure a pandemic that continues to impact many aspects of daily life, many Americans are feeling isolated. According to the 2022 The State of Mental Health in America report from Mental Health America, a nonprofit dedicated to mental health, nearly 5% of adults report experiencing serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 people from the previous year. And according to the report, over half of adults (56%) with mental illness do not receive treatment, leaving more than 27 million Americans with mental illnesses untreated.

The campaign. The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) launched a new campaign at the end of March dubbed “Mental Health at Work: What Can I Do?” The campaign featured a PSA and a host of resources aimed at reducing the stigma often associated with discussing mental health at work. The core message? Every person in an organization, from managers to coworkers, has a role to play in promoting every employee’s mental health and well-being.

In addition to the PSA, the campaign provides an outreach tool kit with language to help companies promote mental-health practices, workplace mental-health resources, including a resource library, and a guide for company leaders and managers to support employee mental health.

The big picture. A 2021 BuzzFeed article featured stories from workers who had negative perceptions of how mental illness was addressed at work. One respondent said, “I feel like the ‘we are here for you’ comments my admin make are just empty promises. When they said it last year, it sent my anxiety into a tailspin because I know they can’t truly handle my anxiety and PTSD.”

Taryn Williams, the assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy at ODEP, believes workplaces are becoming more accepting of mental illness and the subject isn’t as off-limits as it used to be, in part because mental illness can impact anyone.

“We’re hearing that mental health is a concern, especially in light of the stresses brought on by the pandemic,” Williams told HR Brew. “I can say that we’re hearing this as an issue across all industries and companies of all sizes…It’s everywhere.” Keep reading here.—KP

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @Kris10Parisi on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Kristen for her number on Signal.

Welcome to our regular HR advice column, Ask a Resourceful Human. Here to answer all of your burning questions is Erin Grau, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Charter, a media and services company that aims to transform the workplace. Erin has over 15 years of experience at the intersection of talent and operations in global organizations and startups, including The New York Times and Away. You can sign up for the free Charter newsletter about the future of work here.

This week’s question comes from a reader who’s wondering if her company’s PTO policy is insufficient. Got a question related to HR or work in general? Let us know at [email protected]. Anonymity is assured.

I work for a small, family-owned company who just recently put together an employee handbook. I feel their PTO/vacation is too lean. Only one week of vacation for the first three years; two weeks for years three through 10; and after 10 years, you get three weeks, three sick days per year, and six paid holidays.

In the past, I have worked for larger companies that offered 10 days vacation, seven days of PTO/sick days, and 10 paid holidays. What is the norm these days?

You’re right: Your company’s paid time off is lower than the national average, particularly for newer employees. According to SHRM, in the US, the average number of annual vacation days is eight to 22 days, with seven to 19 sick days, four personal days, and eight paid holidays.

So yes, push for an increase in the number of days if you can, but don’t stop there! Keep reading here.—EG

Got a question about HR? Let us know at [email protected]. Anonymity is assured.

HR departments recently gave AI a performance review, and they’re not exactly exceeding expectations.

SHRM randomly sampled over 1,500 HR professionals in the US and found that one in four HR departments have begun to use AI or automation in their recruitment or hiring processes, and the majority said AI improves the speed of hiring. However, HR teams are underwhelmed by vendors’ transparency.

The good. Among HR professionals surveyed, 85% agree that using automation or AI saves them time or increases their efficiency by some degree, and 64% believe the tech automatically filters out unqualified applicants.

The mixed. When asked to describe how much time AI and automation save HR, 53% of survey respondents said the time to hire is only “somewhat better” than before. Two out of three recruiters surveyed reported fewer applications to manually sort through after adopting AI, but 19% reported noticing that the AI tool had inadvertently overlooked or screened out qualified applicants for the role.

The muddy. 92% of survey respondents said they source their tech in part or entirely from vendors—and the majority aren’t over the moon with the vendors’ transparency. Only two in five respondents said vendors were “very transparent” about the specific steps they took to protect against bias, and 46% of respondents wanted to see some more information on how to identify potential bias when they use the tech.

Bottom line: As California, the state with the most employees in the country, is considering regulating automated decision processes, including AI hiring tech, the use of these tools could increasingly raise compliance questions for HR departments. New York City instituted a similar law in December.

Andrew Greenberg, founder and president of ContractRecruiter, told SHRM, “We’ve seen a substantial increase in litigation surrounding HR algorithm bias, screening, hiring, and discrimination. Many states are already beginning to introduce legislation restricting the ways that you can use AI in HR. Predictive analytics has its merits, but you could potentially end up running into problems without careful monitoring.”—SV

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @SusannaVogel1 on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Susanna for her number on Signal.

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: 49% of all warehouse injuries in the US last year happened at Amazon facilities, according to a report by the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of unions. (CBS News)

Quote: “If you let everybody choose what they want to do, it looks like women and minority group members will spend less time on the worksite than men and white employees…People seem to like the workplace less when they are in a distinct minority.”—Steven Davis, professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, on return to office efforts (CNN)

Read: Education nonprofit Healthwise transitioned to a four-day work week in August 2021 and is seeing increased employee productivity, happiness, and customer satisfaction. (Business Insider)

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