In recent years, some companies have started encouraging their employees to take mental health, self-care, or wellness days off of work. Even companies that don’t officially designate time off for mental well-being may allow workers to use personal days, sick days, or other paid time off for such reasons. (And the sad reality is that millions of U.S. workers still don’t have paid sick leave at all.)

Just as adults occasionally need a day off to take care of their mental health, so, too, do kids— a concept that’s been gaining more traction. In 2018, Utah lawmakers expanded the definition of an excused school absence to include mental, as well as physical, illness. The following year, Oregon passed a similar law recognizing mental or behavioral health concerns as valid reasons to miss school. Other states have since followed suit by enacting (or proposing) like-minded measures.

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