Psychiatric Consultation in Problem Employee Situations

Occupational psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry that focuses on workplace behavioral health issues, including conflicts that arise between employees and employers. This article discusses some of the clinical and consultative roles that psychiatrists may be asked to fill with regard to problematic employee situations. In keeping with the theme of this issue, this article focuses on roles that are primarily forensic in nature (ie, dealing with issues that involve or could lead to adversarial proceedings). Many other important issues that fall under the rubric of occupational psychiatry, such as treatment of workplace-related conditions, workers compensation evaluations, consultation on employee health issues and organizational behavior matters, disability management, executive coaching, and team building, are not covered as part of this discussion.