It’s #WorkforceWednesday. To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, and to dive deeper into a topic that is top of mind during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re focusing today’s edition on how employers can support employee mental health:

Telemental Health Benefits During COVID-19 (Video)

One way employers can support employee mental health in today’s environment is ensuring that their benefits offerings include telemental health services. Attorneys Cassandra Labbees and Amy Lerman tell us more about telemental health and evaluating your benefits plans.

Other Highlights

Considerations and Myths

• Onboarding, workplace safety, tracking hours, unpaid interns, management, and mentoring—the five considerations for the “tele-summer job” season.
• Few, if any, of the wage-hour laws that employers deal with today were in place during one of the last major pandemics, the Spanish flu in 1918. As employers navigate these laws now, there are six myths worth debunking.
• The U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule, effective immediately, withdrawing the “retail” and “not retail” lists that have complicated the Section 7(i) exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read more here.

Health Industry Hub

• Behavioral health care providers considering delivering services through telemental health technologies should review recent regulatory changes in the Telemental Health Laws app.
• New York and New Jersey require COVID-19 staff testingat long-term care facilities.

How to Support Employee Mental Health (Video) 

In addition to telemental health benefits, vacation, leave, and the interactive process are important tools available to employers to support employee mental health. Watch for a few quick tips.

Global Employers Balance Safety and Privacy

Global employers are looking to utilize COVID-19 testing, temperature checks, face covering requirements, and questionnaires to disclose COVID-19 exposure as ways to protect employee safety after a return to work. Read more on the considerations for balancing employee safety and privacy in each of these areas.