Depression and Disability in the Workplace
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
South African law prohibits unfair discrimination against people with disabilities and the law recognizes mental illness as a form of disability. It follows that it is impermissible to discriminate against people on the basis of mental illness. In this essay, I unpack the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of this claim, specifically in regard to depression. What complicates the question of discrimination on the basis of mental illness is the fact that not all discrimination is unfair, and one can justly remove people from jobs when they cannot perform these jobs to a required level. This seems to imply that it might be fair to discriminate against depressed employees when they cannot do their jobs on account of depression. The duty not to discriminate against people on the basis of disability includes a positive duty to provide reasonable accommodations that will help them to do their jobs. Just as employers are obligated to help those who cannot walk to access their places of work, something similar is true of depression. But what does it mean to accommodate depression? In this research report, I go beyond the status quo and introduce positive suggestions for how reasonable accommodation can work for depressed employees. This will be to offer an account of how the workplace ought to be restructured in order for employers to fulfil their legal and moral duties not to discriminate against people with the disability of depression. In particular, I argue that a person who suffers with depression would be in a better position to fulfil his job role, on the same level as other employees, if employers drove a culture of inclusion and dismantled the stigma that surrounds mental illness.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Ethics for Professionals to the Faculty ofHumanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
Keywords
Depression, Disability, Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodation, Employer, Employee
Citation
Barnes, Tracey-Lee Ursula. (2024). Depression and Disability in the Workplace [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].