How to help ADHD colleagues with payday
Just the other day, Eliana Bravos submitted a reimbursement request for a conference she’d attended for ND Connects, the peer networking platform she co-founded. It was from October. For months, it had been looming over her to-do list, and been on her team’s radar.
Bravos has ADHD, a neurodevelopmental condition shared by between 4 and 6 percent of the adult Canadian population according to the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada. Typically, ADHD makes it difficult to regulate attention, hyperactivity, or impulses. For many people with the condition, sitting still or focusing on life around them can be difficult.
As Bravos is quick to point out, ADHDers such as herself often bring intense creativity and boundless energy to tasks they find enjoyable. (A surprising number of high-profile CEOs such as Virgin Group founder Richard Branson have ADHD). But payroll documents aren’t always one of them. ADHD employees struggle to keep on top of their pay stubs, benefits paperwork, or tax forms.
This isn’t due to laziness. ADHD often affects executive function, or the ability to organize, remember, and plan to meet long-term goals. If an employee with ADHD receives their 2023 T4, for instance, they might keep forgetting to bring it from the office to their accountant. Once they bring it home, they might not remember to call up their accountant and arrange an appointment. They might forget the appointment they agreed on.
When unsupported, ADHD employees can have serious difficulty handling payroll tasks many of their colleagues find routine. However, as Bravos pointed out, there are strategies to help ADHD employees manage critical payroll tasks on time.
Reminders are key
Filling out a timesheet or sending a tax return to an accountant are little tasks which can easily be lost in the shuffle. At ND Connect, the team leans on Clockify, a simple browser extension anyone can easily turn on at the beginning of a workday, and off at the end.
When it comes to handling tax forms, Bravos says sending out reminders for employees can go a long way. This shouldn’t just consist of a one-off reminder over the watercooler: Bravos says giving instructions or reminders in writing, and breaking down processes step-by-step, can also be helpful.
A flurry of emails sent in succession before a deadline can ensure ADHD employees don’t forget. “That sort of thing, I think, is really useful for a lot of us,” Bravos says. So, too, is having a very clear and easily searchable list of important payroll information for ADHD employees to look up.
Bring ADHD employees together
Aside from reminding employees, Bravos says bringing together employees with ADHD to help each other can be an incredibly useful tactic for handling payroll tasks like tax season. She says launching a workshop, or simply a team-building activity when everyone works on their taxes together, can give ADHD employees the motivation (and accountability) they need to finish.
“I think also directing your employees to communities or other resources and supports can be helpful,” Bravos says. Even connecting ADHD employees with an accountant or coach could be quite helpful.
Pay on time
No one loves being paid late, but Bravos says payroll professionals need to be especially wary of missing the boat on payday for ADHD employees. Many people with ADHD depend on automated bill payments to ensure they don’t rack up penalties for forgetting to pay off their credit cards, car loans, mortgages, or other major expenses.
Missing these payments isn’t just disruptive – it can contribute to a phenomenon known as the ‘ADHD tax’. Coined by the ADHD community itself, it refers to all the extra costs associated with forgetfulness or impulsivity as a result of ADHD. For a series of missed credit card payments, ADHD tax might look like a higher interest rate, or even a cancelled card.
Payroll has an important role to play in ensuring ADHD employees can spend their hard-earned money on their life, rather than constantly paying the ADHD tax. “Things cost more because our systems break down,” Bravos explains. “And when our systems break down, it’s really hard to get back on track sometimes.”
Don’t judge
Late paperwork can be frustrating for payroll professionals, but Bravos says a lot of HR or payroll managers don’t realize which of their employees is struggling to stay afloat. She says they should try to have a conversation about difficulties, rather than simply assume someone doesn’t care about doing their job properly.
Many people with ADHD are very aware of their issues, and struggle to manage their concerns about what their colleagues think of them on top of the stresses of disorganization. Instead of blaming them, Bravos says payroll managers should try and work with their ADHD employees to build systems that actually work for them.
“A lot of your ADHD employees might already have a lot of their own feelings of guilt and shame around not keeping up with payroll,” Bravos says. “It’s not like they’re not trying. It’s a struggle because of the way these systems are set up.”
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