ComPsych Corporation, a worldwide leader in organizational mental health, well-being, and absence management, has announced new data demonstrating the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on employee leave, establishing new baselines and reshaping norms across industries. The second annual analysis of ComPsych’s absence book of business, which covers six million people, shows continued and concerning elevation in employee leaves of absence. Overall leaves increased 30% between 2019 and 2024, with a staggering 300% increase when looking specifically at mental health leaves of absence.  

Despite these sizable increases from prior to the pandemic, the data shows things are starting to stabilize. While last year’s analysis showed a 33% increase in mental health leaves in 2023 over 2022, from 2023 to 2024, levels remained flat year-over-year. The same was also true for overall leaves of absence. 

“The pandemic fundamentally reset norms in absence management for employers,” explains ComPsych CEO Paul Posey. “In the ‘new normal,’ we’re seeing elevated levels of leave across the board, and especially for mental health. This means employers need to reevaluate both their approach to absence management and overall employee well-being to foster workforces that thrive. 

While employee leaves of absence are significantly elevated from the pre-pandemic levels, and particularly for mental health reasons, a new report from ComPsych shows that employer behavioral health and well-being services can move the needle. On average employees who take a leave of absence for any reason and use their employer-provided behavioral health services return to work six days sooner than those who don’t. This trend persists for those who specifically take leave for mental health, with leave duration increasing by 12% when a person does not use available mental health services, but also for those who take leave for other reasons, including surgery (12% increase in leave duration) and pregnancy/maternity-related leaves (15% length in leave duration). 

“The data shows that engaging in behavioral health services helps individuals, and ultimately their teams, by getting them back to work sooner,” said Dr. Jennifer Birdsall, chief clinical officer at ComPsych. “It’s especially encouraging to see this remains true regardless of the leave reason – mental health, physical, parental – as it demonstrates investing in well-being is beneficial across diverse employee populations and life events.”