Practices of Return-to-Work Coordinators Working in Large Organizations

Abstract

Purpose Although the role of return-to-work coordinators (RTW coordinators) is associated with reducing long-term disabilities, little has been written about their practices. The objective of this study was to clearly identify their tasks and activities and the stakeholders with whom they collaborate. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a web-based self-administered questionnaire. Participant inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) working for a large organization with 500 or more employees; (2) being responsible for managing disabilities and coordinating the return-to-work process; and (3) having been involved in coordinating the return to work of at least one person in the past year. Results 195 RTW coordinators completed the questionnaire. The three tasks or activities rated as most important were applying laws, policies, and regulations related to work absences and return to work; contacting the absent worker; and planning the return to work. A nursing or occupational health and safety training background significantly influenced the RTW coordinators' practices. In addition, RTW coordinators collaborated mainly with workers and their supervisors. Conclusion Despite a wide variety of contexts and diverging definitions of competencies, a set of common RTW coordination practices appears to exist across industrialized countries. RTW coordinators with a training background in the health field seem better able to assimilate the various dimensions of work disability. Moreover, concerted action was found to be minimal and a far cry from recommendations. The practices defined could serve as a benchmark for describing RTW coordinators' responsibilities in greater detail and allow for cross-organization and cross-country comparisons.

Return-to-work: Exploring professionals’ experiences of support for persons with spinal cord injury

“…A majority of those with a traumatic SCI in Sweden are in working age [59], and coordination of RTW derived from the SCI rehabilitation setting has the potential of organising the early RTW process for them. The use of coordinators is increasingly reported [35][36][37][38][39][40], and coordination of RTW within healthcare is legally required in Sweden [30]. Yet, persons with SCI in Sweden typically lack coordinator availability, and the evidence for coordination of RTW is still uncertain [41,42].…”

“…These are: challenges to coordination [31]; divergent perspectives on work ability assessments [32,33]; fragmentation of the RTW process due to lack of routines [31,32]; and lack of knowledge about others' expertise and capacity for actions [31,34]. As a response to poor coordination of RTW, integration of services using a coordinator is being increasingly reported internationally [35][36][37][38][39] and is also described in Sweden [40]. The evidence for such services is still uncertain [41,42] and implementation strategies vary [41].…”

Horizontal return to work coordination was more common in RTW programs than the recommended vertical coordination. The Rapid-RTW cohort study

“…Reviews of RTW-coordinators revealed the activities of workplace assessment, planning transitions and facilitating stakeholder cooperation with focus on communication and problem solving [16, 22]. Still, a recently published Canadian paper concludes that the integration of services is far below recommendation [23]. Instead, the RTW-coordinators in large companies mostly focused on the employee-supervisor dyad, a horizontal integration, and did not coordinate towards health and welfare services or other stakeholders [23].…”

“…Still, a recently published Canadian paper concludes that the integration of services is far below recommendation [23]. Instead, the RTW-coordinators in large companies mostly focused on the employee-supervisor dyad, a horizontal integration, and did not coordinate towards health and welfare services or other stakeholders [23].…”

Stratégies de retour au travail d’employés ayant fait l’expérience d’une dépression : perspectives des employeurs et des cadres des ressources humaines

“…Les absences dues à un trouble mental peuvent aussi avoir un impact sur les collègues qui doivent parfois absorber le travail de l'employé absent. Au Québec comme ailleurs, nombreux sont les gestionnaires qui se questionnent sur la gestion de l'absence de l'employé et son éventuel retour dans l'équipe de travail 11 .…”