Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations (FFDEs)

The purpose of a psychological fitness-for-duty evaluation (FFDE) is to determine whether a worker can psychologically, emotionally, and/or cognitively carry-out their daily job tasks without risk to themselves and/or others. FFDEs can be conducted as a condition of employment (pre-employment evaluation) or after employment if there is a reasonable suspicion that the worker may not be fit-for-duty due to the presence of a behavioral health disorder.

Pre-employment Fitness Evaluations

Some occupations require a FFDE as part of their hiring process as it helps employers determine whether the applicant is mentally able to handle the job. First responders, such as law enforcement (police officers, deputies), firefighters and EMT are required to undergo pre-employment FFDEs due to the sensitive nature of their work, handling of weapons, as well as engaging in a higher-than-normal number of critical incidents. Jobs that require use of weapons (police officers), sensitive duties (ministers), and mental alertness (heavy equipment operators, nuclear power plant operators, firefighter) also undergo fitness-for-duty evaluations.

Post-Employment Fitness-For-Duty Evaluations

When an employer has reason to believe that an employee is experiencing a mental health condition that is impacting his or her ability to work (a serious work performance issue) or if there are observations of unsafe behavior in the workplace, then the employer may request that the employee undergo a mental health FFDE. A referral for a FFDE may occur because the employee has self-disclosed a psychological condition that could impact his or her work, or the employee has demonstrated behaviors within the workplace that raise legitimate concerns regarding the employee’s potential harm to self, others, or the workplace.

Examples of behavior or issues that could result in a FFDE include but are not limited to the following:

Odd behavior in the workplace that suggests mental illness such as severe depression, anxiety, saying bizarre things, making threatening gestures or statements, physical and/or verbal aggression, use of alcohol or illicit drugs.

Goal of FFDE

The goal of a fitness-for-duty evaluation is to provide a comprehensive assessment of an employee’s ability to safely perform all essential job function of his or her position from the time that he or she reports to work and throughout the entirety of the employee’s scheduled work shift. Dr. Royce Jalazo’s FFDEs include the following:

• Clinical interview and mental status examination of the employee (either in-person or via Telehealth).
  
• Administration of objective psychological testing (either in person or via online testing platform).
  
• Identification of any current behavioral health condition(s) that are impairing the employee.
  
• An opinion to within a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether the employee is fit or unfit at the time of the evaluation.
  
• Recommendations to the employer regarding the outcome of the evaluation, such as an identified diagnosis and the impact that the diagnosed mental health condition has on the employee (and potentially others within the workplace).
  
• Recommendations for the treatment of the employee’s specific behavioral health condition(s).
  
• Recommendations for risk management where a violence screening outcome indicates the presence of any potential risks.

Outcomes of Fitness-For-Duty Evaluations

When an employee is considered “fit for duty” this means that the employee’s psychological evaluation does not currently identify any mental, emotional, behavioral, and/or cognitive issues that prevent the employee from safely completing his or her job tasks or to remain safe behaviorally toward others.

Fit for duty, with restrictions and/or modifications: this occurs when an employee is essentially safe to perform his or her work tasks, but that due to an active behavioral health disorder, some modifications should be made to the employee’s work setting and/or duties.

Temporarily unfit for duty: this occurs when an employee has been determined to have an active behavioral health disorder that is impairing his or her ability to work, but that there are known treatments for this disorder (or disorders) that could restore the employee to fitness. In these cases, Dr. Jalazo will make specific recommendations for treatment that are tailored to the employee’s unique symptoms and recommend a second fitness-for-duty evaluation to be performed after the minimum treatment recommendations have been accomplished by the employee (usually 6 to 8 weeks from the time the employee is informed of the need for treatment).

Unfit for duty: this typically occurs when an employee who was found to be temporarily unfit for duty previously, either did not attend treatment (and his or her behavioral health symptoms continued at a level of impairment), or the employee attended treatment and the treatment was unsuccessful (with the employee remaining impaired).

Bear in mind that only the employer makes the final decision about an employee’s job status. Dr. Jalazo’s FFDE is just one piece of information that employers may use in their decision-making process.