Back in 2010, I called in sick to work. I told my manager I wasn't feeling well. The truth? I was mentally and emotionally exhausted from juggling too many big life changes at once. But admitting that felt too risky, so I said I was under the weather instead. I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't eating. I could barely concentrate. And I definitely wasn't okay.
Fast forward to 2025. I send my manager a quick message: "Taking some time off today to rest and recharge." She replies with a thumbs up. "Enjoy!" That's it. No interrogation. No guilt. No wondering if this will hurt my career.
That difference? That's the shift we're talking about. In just 15 years, mental health days went from something you had to lie about to something your manager responds to with a thumbs up emoji. And it's not just about being nice—as workplace burnout reaches epidemic levels, employers are realizing that supporting employee mental health and wellbeing is essential for business success and employee retention.
For decades, the rule was simple: leave your personal problems at the door. It didn't matter if you were having panic attacks in the bathroom or crying in your car during lunch—at your desk, you better look fine. Mental health struggles were seen as weakness, a character flaw, or worse—a liability. Admit to depression or anxiety? You'd get labeled as "not tough enough" or "unable to handle pressure."
This workplace culture of "toughing it out" created an environment where suffering in silence was the norm. Employees would drag themselves to work while battling panic attacks, depression, or overwhelming stress, terrified that admitting the truth would damage their professional reputation or cost them their job. The message was clear: physical illness was acceptable, but mental health struggles were something to hide.
The fear was real. A 2008 study found that 58% of employees would never tell their employer about a mental health condition, and 65% were convinced it would tank their career. They weren't being paranoid—employees who did disclose mental health struggles often faced discrimination, got passed over for promotions, or worse, lost their jobs entirely.
Talk about a double standard. Break your arm? Take all the time you need. Got bronchitis? Stay home, feel better. But having a panic attack so severe you can't drive to work? Yeah, you better figure it out and show up anyway. Or at least lie about why you're not coming in.
The cost? Astronomical. Employees dragged themselves to work while mentally unwell—physically there, but functioning at maybe 30% capacity. This phenomenon has a name: "presenteeism." And it cost companies way more than if people had just stayed home. Research from the early 2000s showed that presenteeism cost employers more than absenteeism, with depression alone accounting for an estimated $44 billion in lost productivity annually in the United States.
Meanwhile, workplace stress was reaching crisis levels. A 2012 survey found that 65% of adults cited work as a significant source of stress, with 25% calling it their number one stressor. Yet most employers offered little more than an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) brochure tucked away in an HR folder—resources that fewer than 10% of employees ever used.
So what changed? A few things happened all at once.
First, younger workers changed the game. Millennials started flooding the workplace, and they weren't interested in playing by the old rules. They'd grown up with therapy being normalized and mental health awareness being increasingly common, not stigmatized, and they were more willing to talk openly about mental health. They'd actually prioritize wellbeing over climbing the corporate ladder. By 2015, studies showed that millennials valued work-life balance and mental health support as much as—or more than—salary when evaluating potential employers.
Gen Z accelerated this work-life balance trend even further. As digital natives who grew up with social media conversations about mental health, therapy, and self-care, they brought an unapologetic attitude about mental wellness to the workplace. They didn't just want mental health support—they expected it, and they weren't afraid to walk away from employers who didn't provide it.
Then 2020 happened, and everything broke. The pandemic didn't just expose existing mental health challenges—it amplified them exponentially. Suddenly, mental health struggles weren't happening to "other people"—they were happening in our own homes, to our own families. The collective trauma of lockdowns, feeling cut off from people, trying to work from your kitchen table while your kids screamed in the background—it made mental health impossible to ignore because we were all living it.
Remote work blurred the lines between home and office, making "always on" culture even more intense. Parents tried to work while managing virtual schooling. People lost loved ones and weren't able to properly grieve. Healthcare workers faced unimaginable stress. The facade that everyone had it together completely crumbled.
The numbers from 2020-2021 were brutal: 76% of employees reported experiencing burnout, anxiety and depression rates tripled, and mental health-related emergency room visits surged. Employers watched turnover rates spike as burned-out employees quit in record numbers during what became known as "The Great Resignation."
High-profile advocates helped accelerate the conversation. When Simone Biles withdrew from Olympic events to prioritize her mental health, when Naomi Osaka spoke openly about depression and anxiety, when Prince Harry discussed therapy and trauma—these moments normalized mental health struggles and showed that even the most successful people face these challenges.
But you know what finally got companies to pay attention? The business case became impossible to ignore. The numbers were undeniable:
Forward-thinking employers realized that ignoring mental health wasn't just harmful—it was expensive. Supporting employee mental health wasn't a nice-to-have perk; it was a business imperative.
Today? It's a whole different world. Mental health days are no longer a radical concept—they're becoming table stakes employee benefits for employers who want to attract and retain top talent while improving employee engagement and workplace wellness.
Now, let me be clear: not every company has figured this out yet. Plenty of workplaces still operate like it's 2005. But the tide is shifting, and the companies leading the charge are seeing real benefits.
Leading companies are pioneering different approaches to mental health time off. Some, like LinkedIn and Nike, have instituted company-wide mental health days where everyone takes time off simultaneously, sending a powerful message that rest and mental health are organizational priorities, not individual weaknesses.
Others have introduced designated mental health days as a separate category from regular Paid Time Off (PTO). Bumble famously gave its entire workforce a paid week off for mental health. Citigroup implemented "Zoom-free Fridays" and discouraged employees from scheduling meetings before 9 AM or after 6 PM.
Some companies have moved to unlimited PTO policies, which theoretically include mental health days. But here's the dirty secret about unlimited PTO: it often backfires spectacularly. When there's no clear expectation of how much time off is "acceptable," employees actually take less time off. Nobody wants to be the person who takes three weeks when everyone else took one. The ambiguity creates anxiety, which is...the opposite of the point. The companies getting this right combine unlimited time off with explicit encouragement to use it, including for mental health.
The laws are changing too. Several states and cities have passed laws expanding paid sick leave to include mental health reasons. Oregon became the first state to explicitly allow workers to take mental health days under its paid sick leave law. New York, Nevada, and Washington have followed with similar provisions. California's expanded family leave law now covers time off to care for a family member's mental health needs.
Here’s where things stand: 44% of employers now offer mental health days as a separate benefit, up from just 14% in 2019. Another 28% include it in their general workplace wellness programs. And 70% say they're planning to invest even more in mental health resources.
Acceptance is growing too. While 74% believe it's appropriate to discuss mental health concerns at work, 58% say they feel comfortable sharing about their mental health at work. This represents a seismic shift from the silence and stigma of just a decade ago.
The results? Pretty impressive, and they keep getting better as more companies adopt mental health benefits. I've seen this play out firsthand. When people actually feel supported—not just given a policy to check a box, but genuinely supported—they show up differently.
Mental health support has become a critical factor in retention. 92% of employees said it is important to them to work for an organization that provides support for employee mental health.
When employees feel supported during challenging times, they develop stronger loyalty to their employers.
It helps with hiring too. Mental health benefits have become a differentiator. 81% of job seekers say they consider a company's mental health benefits when evaluating offers.
Employees who take mental health days when needed are more focused and show higher employee engagement when they return. Companies prioritizing employee wellbeing report up to 20% higher productivity and reduced absenteeism.
The concept of "presenteeism"—showing up to work while unwell—has decreased at companies with mental health day benefits. When employees feel supported in taking time off for their mental health, they're less likely to drag themselves to work in a diminished state. Instead of struggling through unproductive days at their desks, workers feel empowered to rest and recover when they truly need it, returning to work more focused and effective.
And yeah, let's talk about return on investment (ROI). Because at the end of the day, that's what gets budget approval. Companies offering comprehensive mental health benefits see a $3 return for every $1 they invest—mostly from reduced healthcare costs, fewer disability claims, and people not burning out and quitting. When you let employees rest before they hit crisis mode, you avoid expensive emergency interventions, long-term disability claims, and all the health problems that come from chronic stress.
But the biggest change? Company culture has transformed at organizations that have embraced mental health days. Employees report feeling more valued, more trusted, and more willing to be authentic at work. This psychological safety extends beyond mental health—teams that feel safe discussing mental wellness also communicate more openly about challenges, mistakes, and ideas, leading to more innovation and better problem-solving.
The stigma, while not completely eliminated, has decreased dramatically. Employees increasingly view taking a mental health day the same way they view taking a sick day for the flu—as a responsible act of self-care that enables them to return to work at full capacity.
Look, you can't just add "mental health days" to your employee handbook and expect anything to change. I've seen too many companies do exactly that—announce the policy, pat themselves on the back, then wonder why nobody ever uses it. Implementation matters. A lot.
Be crystal clear about what you're doing. Vague policies leave room for interpretation and perpetuate stigma. Instead of burying mental health in general wellness language, call it what it is. State clearly that mental health is a valid reason to take time off. Explain how employees should request mental health days—whether through the same process as sick leave, as part of PTO, or through a separate system.
Your leadership team has to walk the walk. And I mean actually walk it, not just talk about it in a company-wide email. When a VP takes a mental health day and mentions it in a team meeting, when a director says "I'm taking tomorrow off to recharge," that's when employees realize this is real. But if the C-suite never takes a day off and middle managers send emails at 11 PM? Nobody's buying what you're selling. They'll assume the policy is just for show.
You've got to actively fight stigma. That means:
Train your managers. You can't skip this part. Frontline managers are the gatekeepers of culture, and their responses to mental health day requests shape whether employees feel safe using the benefit. Training should cover:
Track what's working (and what's not). Monitor usage rates, employee satisfaction surveys, retention data, and engagement scores leading to higher employee satisfaction and retention. If mental health days are available but no one uses them, that tells you something's wrong—stigma still exists. Regular pulse surveys can gauge whether employees feel comfortable taking mental health time off.
Don't make these mistakes:
The companies getting this right view mental health days as one piece of a larger mental health strategy that includes access to therapy, stress management resources, reasonable workloads, and a culture that values wellbeing alongside productivity.
Here's the thing we should've figured out decades ago: mental health is health. Just as we would never expect someone with pneumonia to work through it, we shouldn't expect someone in a mental health crisis to maintain peak performance. Rest, recovery, and early intervention aren't luxuries—they're necessities that enable sustainable, long-term success.
The future of work isn't about pretending mental health struggles don't exist. It's about acknowledging them, supporting employees through them, and creating systems that prevent burnout before it happens. Mental health days are a crucial part of that equation.
For HR leaders and business owners looking to improve workplace mental health, the time to act is now.
Supporting your employees' mental health goes beyond time off policies—it's about creating a culture of wellbeing that shows your team they're valued. At Access Perks, we help organizations build comprehensive benefits programs that support the whole employee, from mental health resources to lifestyle perks that make daily life easier and less stressful. When your people feel supported, they show up as their best selves.
Ready to create a workplace where mental health isn't just acknowledged but actively supported? Access Perks helps relieve financial pressure and makes the experiences that restore us—travel, entertainment, time with family—more accessible. Learn more about a benefits program your employees will actually use.