Canadian teachers with mental health issues and workplace accommodations

Our quantitative research study aimed to explore Canadian teachers’ experiences with formal workplace accommodations for mental health issues by directly surveying 461 Canadian teachers (kindergarten to Grade 12, mean age of 41.7 years, 82.6% women) who self-reported having experienced a mental health issue. We found that only a small percentage, 15.7%, requested a formal accommodation. About half of the teachers who requested a formal accommodation had difficulty both requesting and obtaining the accommodation. The majority of teachers (73.6%) who made an accommodation request ultimately did receive the accommodation. A change in the number of hours worked was the most frequently requested accommodation, followed by a change in grade/course/role/position, and then a change in school. Teachers reported receiving varying levels of support from their supervisors for the accommodation (19.7% very unsupportive, 21.1% unsupportive, 21.1% neither supportive nor unsupportive, 23.9% supportive, 14.1% very supportive). Implications for teacher self-advocacy, the process for accommodations, the duty to accommodate, as well as principal support for accommodations, are discussed. By being the first known Canadian quantitative study on the topic, our research fills a gap in the literature on workplace accommodations for teachers dealing with mental health issues, offering quantitative insights into the self-reported experiences of teachers.