Colleagues often ‘picking up all the pieces,’ managing day-to-day processes
Two new qualitative studies conducted by researchers at the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) in Toronto show co-workers play a vital role in the return to work accommodations of workers who have been absent from the workplace.
A positive workplace culture with a return-to-work policy where all parties involved understand their role proved to foster the best results, according to the studies.
The first of the two studies shows the contributions co-workers make can positively influence the return to work process, but it largely goes without acknowledgment.
“The main point was that the coworkers’ contribution to return to work was invisible,” says Ellen MacEachen, IWH scientist and co-author of the first study. “The co-workers weren’t acknowledged in any policies about return to work in the workplace. The supervisors didn’t even recognize how much co-workers were doing to help make it work.”
A lack of communication between supervisors and workers can lead to an unpleasant return to work procedure, according to the research.
No co-workers reported knowledge of any prescribed role they should have in the return to work process, but all had experience the expectation to modify work tasks or routines to accommodate a returning worker.
“What I think is going on is that the bosses sort of hand it over. They set up a return to work and they find some accommodation and they just sort of think, ‘Okay, it’s going, my job is done now,’” MacEachen says.
“Meanwhile, the co-workers are picking up all the pieces and managing the day-to-day process.”
MacEachen’s study found a coworker’s ability to support returning workers was based on the following four characteristics:
•
the quality of the return to work arrangements, including the manager’s attention to the arrangements• most co-workers in the study knew little of why and when the worker they had supported was returning
• the co-worker’s relationship with the returning worker — co-workers seemed more inclined to help out if they had a pre-existing, positive relationship with the returning worker
• the state of the work culture, including whether or not people “pitched in” and acted as a team
• the duration of the required support.
“It’s not too hard to help someone out for a couple of weeks when they come back, but it is harder on the coworkers when it goes on and on,” she says.
Return to work arrangements that seemed to have been subject to attention, such as the bringing in of extra staff, helped co-workers adapt to return to work situations.
Giving return to work policies an adequate amount of attention is the key to a smooth transition back into the workplace, says Victor Andres, president of Winnipeg-based Independence Incorporated, a vocational rehabilitation company.
“The greatest risk of people suffering relapse is within the first two weeks of returning to work,” Victor says. “That extra support during the transition is going to be crucial for those clients.”
Closely monitoring the returning workers’ progress is a strategy MacEachen suggests all managers do.
“One thing employers or supervisors could do is gain a better understanding of how the accommodation is playing in a day-to-day level,” she said. “Talk to co-workers about how it’s going, too, so that they can find out how to optimize the process.”
RTW in electrical construction
The second IWH study looked at the role of co-workers in the return to work process in the electrical construction sector.
The findings parallel those in MacEachen’s study and conclude the structure of work can contribute to making injured workers’ experiences difficult.
Some conditions that lead to the difficulty include the following:
• workplaces that see injured workers as a liability and expenditure
Communication is one of the biggest struggles for employers because there is an obligation to keep personal information about the worker who has been away confidential. “That’s sort of an ongoing problem,” MacEachen says. “The confidentiality issue… means that coworkers have to be kept out of the loop, even though workers are so critical to the success or failure of return to work.” Workplaces should communicate that patience needs to persevere in a return to work program, she explains. “The longer they’ve been away, the more difficult the transition is going to be coming back to work — there may have been changes in policy, changes in procedures,” says Andres. “There needs to be some understanding that they’re going to need some time eventually to catch up on the changes.” Co-workers should indicate concern for the returning worker’s well-being and give them positive reinforcement about seeing them returning to work, according to Shawn Friedenberger, spokesperson for WCB-Alberta, the province’s workers’ compensation board. “It’s important they help out their co-workers and… reinforce positivity because (the returning worker) might worry about that,” he says. Everyone on a worksite also has the right to know how much their jobs are going to be modified, Friedenberger says. But communication should actually begin before the employee returns to work, according to Andres, who says when the worker is off on disability, someone should be responsible for keeping in touch with the individual. “The biggest complaint I hear at my end from people who have been off work is that nobody calls anymore,” he says, adding workers feel neglected when left out of the loop. “The least expensive thing that any company can do is to make sure that somebody is staying in touch with the person that is off work. That takes care of so many road bumps when they are finally ready to start looking at coming back.” Andres suggests including the injured worker in events at the office. “If there’s a party going on, if there’s a retirement going on… make sure somebody sends that person a memo,” he says. “Consider them an ongoing part of the organization… I can’t stress enough how important that really is.” Insurance help: Bringing workers back on a supernumerary basis Andres suggests employers and returning workers look at the coverage offered by the company’s insurance provider to see whether the employee may qualify to come back on a supernumerary basis, which is when the returning employee is essentially considered an extra body on the worksite. Insurance companies continue to pay disability benefits, but the employee is back at work doing light duties, limiting the imposition on others’ jobs, he says. “The duties are gradually increased as tolerated and you have a follow up meeting where you decide this person is now ready to resume large shared duties, he says. “That’s an arrangement that needs to be worked out with the provider of the benefits… most are quite accommodating that way.”
• job insecurity
• minimum modified work
• inadequate communication among workplace parties.
