Introduction Sickness absence is characterized by individual’s withdrawal from work, for reasons of health and can be indicator of existing problems with the context work, in addition to triggering consequences and damages for the worker and society. An analysis of sickness absence due to mental and behavioral disorders contributes to the dimensioning of the problem and to the search for factors related to work that are potentially stressful, in addition to favoring the identification of possible exposure scenarios for illness due to mental disorders, to which workers may have been submitted.

Objective To describe the indicators of sickness absence due to mental disorders of public servants in the judicial sector in Brazil in the period from 2011 to 2016.

Methods This is a retrospective cohort study on the casuistry of absenteeism. Workers who were on sick leave at the time of the study were excluded. The sociodemographic and occupational profile was observed, in addition to estimated epidemiological indicators (prevalences, cumulative incidence, prevalence ratios and risk ratios).

Results There was a total of 1023 events, with a greater number of episodes among servers with more than 10 years of service. The magnitude and occurrence of incident cases of absenteeism tended to decrease over the years, yet women were the most affected group, with prevalences higher than those of the men. Mood disorders, neurotic and stress-related disorders were the clinical diagnoses with the highest prevalences attributed to absenteeism.

Conclusion This approach and considerations are valid externally for the analysis of other services and pose challenges for the health services of the institutions, especially in the early detection of the risk of withdrawal and monitoring of working conditions.