Narcolepsy in the Workplace: Managing Employees' Sleep Disorders

Narcolepsy is a common neurophysiological complication that affects thousands of working adults each year. For many, the complications of narcolepsy are well managed with the use of medications, controlled diet, and the use of exercise and regulated sleep schedules. For some narcoleptics, the sleep-wake cycle can continue to be disturbed and this may adversely affect the individual's ability to work. If you are the manager within a company, and you believe your employee may suffer from narcolepsy, there are some important steps you need to take to ensure your company is protected from legal or public relations complications.

Excessive daytime sleepiness in an employee can certainly be related to an employee's poor management of their personal time but, in some employees, the complication may be associated with narcolepsy. When an employee is fatigued or bored, there is a greater tendency for their narcoleptic behaviors to manifest and so it is important to keep your employee's engaged in regular activities.

If the employee you suspect of narcolepsy seems to make mistakes on the job, it will be important to provide accommodations, and work, that is more suitable to their needs. For some employees, this could possibly mean moving to an entirely new area of the company to work. Offering the employee break times to nap or times to get up and move about to get the blood and oxygen flowing in their bodies may be necessary. The key to your successful management of the narcoleptic employee lies in the accommodations you can make in the type of work and to keep the employee engaged so that boredom and fatigue do not set in.

When the narcoleptic employee is still unable to work under the conditions set forward for them, there may come a time when discussions about resigning or moving to an associate company are in order. In some cases, employees who are not able to well mange their narcolepsy at work may take FMLA which is a medical leave of absence from work for up to 12 weeks, only to return in the same state as when they left. Short term and long term disability are also options for the employees with narcolepsy so when accommodations at work are not proving beneficial, then consider moving forward into new options and make recommendations under the advice of your company's lawyer.

Sources: From Difficult to Disturbed, by Laurence Miller, Ph.D., pp. 140-141.