HR employee single-handedly establishes a company's mental health day policy to improve office morale, gets a private ‘thank you’ from the burnt out coworker that inspired them: ‘I realized HR could be more than just paperwork’

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 17, 2025 12:00 AM EDT

Wholesome work stories are few and far between. 

Most of us, dragging out feet to clock in for the day with our wilted lunch bag and coffee thermos in hand, can only think of a few moments in the workplace that have genuinely been uplifting. Despite your boss's silly team-building exercises and the pizza days, morale can remain low in the office simply because we're all getting burnt out. With only a meager 10 sick days (combined with PTO of course), we're spending most of our lives under the fluorescent lights and surviving on weak, watery break room coffee. 

Let's be real for a second—workers need a break from that. 

Nobody is meant to be cooped up all day inside of a cubicle. We were born for fresh air and wide open spaces, not spreadsheets and mandatory meetings debating which 2-ply toilet paper to use in the bathrooms. But the employees of the company in this next story, they had a hero up in the HR department who not only saw that they were getting burnt out from the workplace, but actually did something to solve it. 

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  • It's rare that we hear anything good coming from the HR department. Oftentimes, the HR workers seem like drones set out to annihilate any defectors, protecting the interests of the company before defending the workforce. But this dutiful HR employee did quite the opposite, advocating for the instatement of mental health days ON TOP OF regular vacation days and sick leave. What a concept!

  • "The best HR policy came from a break room chat"

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    via Korrawin

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I work in HR, and most of my job is policies, paperwork, and the occasional workplace drama. Nothing too exciting.
    via sarahmoom
  • One day, I was in the break room when I overheard a conversation between two employees. One was clearly having a rough time, venting about feeling overwhelmed
    via sarahmoom
  • with work. The other just listened, then casually said, you should take a mental health day. No one's going to thank you for burning out.
    via sarahmoom
  • That stuck with me. Employees never hesitate to take a sick day when they have the flu, but when they're mentally exhausted, they just push through. So I brought it up in a meeting with leadership.
    via sarahmoom
  • Surprisingly, they listened. A few months later, we rolled out a policy allowing employees to take mental health days no explanations needed. The best part? People actually used them.
    via sarahmoom
  • One day, I got an email from the same employee I had overheard in the break room. Just a simple "thanks for making this happen."
    via sarahmoom
  • That was the moment I realized HR could be more than just policies and paperwork.
    via sarahmoom
  • NANNYNEGLEY You work for good people! Do you realize how rare that is?
    via NANNYNEGLEY
  • Alternative-Cat I had a mental health day in my last company!! One day a year no questions asked. You are one the good ones in HR. I took my after an ectopic pregnancy, sat on the beach. Absolute bliss!
    via Alternative-Cat
  • R. . When I worked at Eddie Bauer, we called those Balance Days, and at one point there was a poster in the employee bathroom that said "Call in Well to Work"
    via R
  • Swimming_Educati My new employer offers up to 12 "Wellness Days" a year. They can be used if you're sick, if you need a mental health day, if you have a Dr appointment, or for taking care of your kids/parents if they're
    via Swimming_Educati
  • sick/have appointments. You don't need to tell anyone the reason, just that you're taking a wellness day and will be back at work tomorrow. It's an amazing policy for which I'm super grateful.
    via Swimming_Educati
  • Mighty_warrior89 As someone who is never sick, I've debated many times on taking mental health days. My sick hours literally go to waste.
    via Mighty_warrior89
  • goodashbadash79 That's amazing you brought it up, and you're SO lucky to have forward-thinking management who listened to you. Here's my history with that sort of thing...
    via goodashbadash79
  • At my office, there was 1 employee who had the nerve to request a mental health day. HR had to grant it - but my god the talking behind her back from management was disgusting!
    via goodashbadash79
  • This one cackling department manager laughed about it for an hour, then went on to berate anyone with mental health issues.
    via goodashbadash79
  • We have a 1 person HR department, but she's spineless and joined in on making fun of this poor employee. It's been 2 years ago now, and that one department manager STILL
    via goodashbadash79
  • makes sarcastic jokes. If someone is flustered, she'll say "awwww do you need a mental health day?" as she cackles away.
    via goodashbadash79
  • At my job, they act like mental health simply doesn't exist, we're expected to act like robots. It feels like I've lost my humanity and soul from working here.
    via goodashbadash79

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boss worker employee hr manager job work coworkers working ceo employees supervisor workplace company mental health day coworker business
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