Mental Health Issues and Contracting

[evilagent]

Clientco could argue that a breakdown of some sort, would render the contractor incapable of fulfilling the role.

Unlike a physical disablement, such as a broken arm, which may heal, a mental issue, such as depression, could recur.

There would also be the stigma attached.

A CV showing a 6-month gap due to some kind of recovery from a broken limb, is quite different from a 6-month gap due to clinical depression.

Does anyone know if Critical Illness Cover covers psychological disabilities?

[jmo21]

Suppose I meant "good cause".

They don't need that either.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Anyone, including employers, should be able to discriminate against anyone else for any reason, including age, sex, race, mental health, or whether they have an annoying accent.

It may not be rational to do so (discriminate according to some of those things, that is), but holding an imaginary moral high ground by using violence, via law enforcement, to enforce personal preferences & warm fluffy feelings is hypocritical at best.

So yes, employers should be allowed - business is all about trading value for value. No business (which is just people) owe anything to anyone else that is unearned.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Clientco could argue that a breakdown of some sort, would render the contractor incapable of fulfilling the role.

Unlike a physical disablement, such as a broken arm, which may heal, a mental issue, such as depression, could recur.

There would also be the stigma attached.

A CV showing a 6-month gap due to some kind of recovery from a broken limb, is quite different from a 6-month gap due to clinical depression.

Does anyone know if Critical Illness Cover covers psychological disabilities?

I think it comes down to 'education' (i'm really looking for some alternative to 'enlightenment'). An awful lot of mental health issues are comparable to a broken arm, or some other physical illness. Once the correct medication is found and correctly balanced then there's no reason to view that person any differently, in many cases.

It just feels different because the idea of not being ourselves scares us so much.

[SueEllen]

I bet she was tired (and sore)

Just saw this.

The one who came back was in her 20s and had her mother helping her a lot, while the one who did the handover was in her 30s.

[SueEllen]

In my current engagement, direct with an insurance company, the contract contains this clause...

The company may at any time and without prejudice to any rights or claims it has against the consultant company by notice in writing, terminate this agreement... If the individual shall become of unsound mind, be or become a patient under any mental health legislation....

I've never seen that before in a contract.

Looks like it could breach:
1. Equality law as mentions individual worker.
2. Health and safety at work legislation if the client's work environment triggers the mental health problem then they have a liability.

That blanket statement is also daft as if someone suddenly found they were on the autistic spectrum but high functioning, according to how that clause is interpreted they could now be "of unsound mind".

There are ways of getting rid of people with illnesses and if they are contractors you can probably do it without breaking the law. Putting it in a contract leaves you open to very bad publicity if things go wrong.

[SueEllen]

Clientco could argue that a breakdown of some sort, would render the contractor incapable of fulfilling the role.

Unlike a physical disablement, such as a broken arm, which may heal, a mental issue, such as depression, could recur.

There would also be the stigma attached.

A CV showing a 6-month gap due to some kind of recovery from a broken limb, is quite different from a 6-month gap due to clinical depression.

People can injure the same limb more than once within the same environment or trigger as the initial injury e.g. person who plays sport for years.

You can also injury a limb once and have one episode of mental illness e.g. postnatal depression, so it's a poor analogy.

If you had a 6 month gap for any reason - illness or otherwise you aren't going to tell an agent.

[petergriffin]

I thought that a mental health issue was a prerequisite for IT professionals. One should be able to turn their perceived bad qualities into good ones.

For example one with OCD, paranoia and schizoid personality would do great as an IT security person.

Pathological liars also excel as IT project managers or recruitment agents.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Suppose I meant "good cause".

Not being able to fulfil the contract is the only cause a client needs to terminate with a supplier.

If YourCo has a single employee and is unable to work for whatever reason and YourCo cannot supply a suitable replacement (or is unable to contractually) then YourCo is unable to fulfil the contract. The reason why single employee is unable to work is not the client's concern (nor should it be), it's YourCo's problem.

If anything, it highlights the good business case for having a good unfettered substitution clause in your contracts regardless of IR35.

[Damon]

I have just read the 'Dressing Gown' thread and found some great insights to life on the bench...

Coincidently today a friend shared a video on Facebook which mentions 'Black Dog'....RC mentioned Black Dog very early in his thread....

Thought provoking: